Sixty-one percent of the property parcels in the Hoffman Triangle neighborhood in Central City contain a permanent structure, while 35% are empty lots. That’s according to a comprehensive parcel-by-parcel survey by WhoData.org and students from the University of New Orleans Department of Planning and Urban Studies (UNO-PLUS) conducted for Associated Neighborhood Development.
The study documented and mapped many “quality of life” indicators in the neighborhood such as building vacancy, blight, overgrown lots, the location of streetlights, illegal tire dumping sites and crime statistics.
The students involved in the project were enrolled in “Information Technology for the Planning Profession,” taught by Michelle Thompson, assistant professor of planning and urban studies. WhoData.org is a collaborative community property mapping application, supported by UNO-PLUS, that enables residents to highlight properties that show indicators of blight.
Some key findings of the study include:
• Of the 881 property parcels within the Hoffman Triangle neighborhood, approximately 61% of the parcels contain a permanent structure while 35% are empty lots. The remaining 3% are parking lots.
• A total of 20% of the parcels were overgrown, defined as more than 18 inches of untended growth. Of the 180 overgrown parcels, 69% were empty lots with no permanent structure attached. The majority (82%) of overgrown parcels with an attached permanent structure appeared to be vacant. Less than 3% of the occupied structures had overgrown yards.
• Using the July 25, 2011 “Total Guilty Code Enforcement Cases” City of New Orleans Office of Code Enforcement for database, seventy-five (75) blighted commercial or residential properties or 9% of the properties are blighted.
• A total of 34 of the total 311 empty lots in Hoffman Triangle, or 11%, are illegal tire dumping sites.
The UNO-PLUS study will aid the Associated Neighborhood Development (AND) in making key decisions about ongoing community development efforts. The success of the study reveals the key role that area universities can play in helping neighborhoods that continue to struggle with issues such as crime, blight and a lack of investment.
“It is often a concern of graduate students that when they do a study like this, it ends up collecting dust on a shelf somewhere,” said Michelle Thompson. “That is not the case with the Hoffman study as AND has already turned the work into action by creating a NeighborWatch program in coordination with the NOPD and partnering with Project GreenLight on a ‘Tip the Block’ campaign.”
“The information on blight and illegal dumping that is being captured by Dr. Thompson and her students is a critical component to further improving the quality of life for all residents of the area,” said Fred Johnson, CEO of Neighborhood Development Foundation, AND’s parent company.
AND has been actively working to transform Hoffman Triangle since 1996 by placing low and moderate-income families into high-quality, new construction in the neighborhood.
To view the full report visit: http://ndf-neworleans.org/?cat=10.