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Greauxing Resilience at Home — St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana: Resilient Planning, Affordable Housing, Environmental, and Funding Initiatives
June 16, 2022
St. John the Baptist Parish is one of Louisiana’s oldest settled areas. The parish is water-adjacent and predominantly rural. Over the last decade, significant weather events have highlighted the flooding and other risks that come with proximity to both the Gulf of Mexico and Lake Pontchartrain, the latter of which borders the parish. The parish’s location in the path of New Orleans’s evacuation routes compounds the need to prepare for flooding and hurricane events. The parish has undertaken several initiatives to adopt development trends and patterns that will guide population growth in ways that make the parish and its communities more resilient to future rainfall and flooding risks. Namely, the parish developed a Comprehensive Land Use Plan in 2014 and a Coastal Zone Management Plan in 2016. Most recently in 2019, the parish partnered with the state and nonprofit philanthropy Foundation for Louisiana through the Louisiana Strategic Adaptations for Future Environments (LA SAFE) capital improvement process to create an Adaptation Strategy. Collectively, the plans offer a variety of principles, goals, and policies related to the parish’s growth and development. Those policies and development planning goals encompass prioritizing natural features, such as adopting green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) solutions and conserving open space, in addition to addressing the socioeconomic dynamics that come with planning for affordable housing. In general, the parish seeks to preserve low-density and conservation-oriented development trends across most of the parish, much of which is flood-prone. This approach will discourage floodplain and open space development by directing population growth and affordable housing investments toward drier, denser areas of the parish. These efforts are supported by public engagement, external partnerships, and federal and innovative funding sources. Other local policymakers working to address rural flood, population growth, and housing management issues can look to St. John the Baptist for their policies directing population growth toward denser, more urban areas. Those policies allow the parish to preserve rural and flood-prone areas and maintain parish character and reduce risk to homes and infrastructure. This case study is one of 24 case studies featured in a report written by the Georgetown Climate Center, Greauxing Resilience at Home: A Collection of Lessons and Case Studies from Louisiana and Beyond.
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Greauxing Resilience at Home — City of Denham Springs, Louisiana: Denham Strong Long-Term Community Recovery Plan
June 16, 2022
In August 2016, a historic flooding event severely impacted the infrastructure and people in the city of Denham Springs in Louisiana. In response to the flooding, the city worked with its residents to create a long-term recovery plan called Denham Strong. The goal of the plan to increase community resilience in the aftermath of the disaster. The plan lists various affordable housing and mitigation recovery projects under three main categories: (1) Flood Recovery; (2) Disaster Resilience; and (3) Community Development. Denham Strong is a guiding document with the ability to adapt to future changed circumstances in Denham Springs. Denham Strong is a noteworthy example of a recovery plan that encompasses community input, provides examples of projects for stormwater management, includes resilient affordable housing considerations, and keeps the community updated as projects are implemented. Other local governments impacted by disaster events can consider similar opportunities to supplement local comprehensive plans and engage residents with proactive thinking about building long-term resilience. This case study is one of 24 case studies featured in a report written by the Georgetown Climate Center, Greauxing Resilience at Home: A Collection of Lessons and Case Studies from Louisiana and Beyond.
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Greauxing Resilience at Home — City of Donaldsonville, Louisiana: Donaldsonville Strategic Plan 2020–2025
June 16, 2022
The City of Donaldsonville, Louisiana has developed a strategic plan for 2020–2025, which identifies eight strategic priorities to revitalize the city by fostering business development and increasing the city’s standard of living. Among other strategic priorities, the plan addresses: (1) Economic Development; (2) Workforce Development, Job Creation, and Training; (7) Housing, RV Parks, Campgrounds, Mobile or Manufactured Homes; and (8) Infrastructure Revitalization and New Development. Noteworthy recommendations include updating zoning ordinances, launching the Donaldson FIRST program for workforce development, updating aging infrastructure, enhancing mobility and resident’s connectivity to city centers and amenities, and growing green space. The plan was developed through a robust community engagement process that leveraged external support to supplement and expand limited government staff and resources. This plan can serve as an example of how regional and local planners and policymakers in smaller or rural jurisdictions can set and then implement an overarching vision across multiple sectors to address local challenges and increase overall social resilience in a coordinated way. Due to the intersectional nature of this plan, the recommended objectives also have implications on affordable housing and green space efforts, which are especially highlighted. This case study is one of 24 case studies featured in a report written by the Georgetown Climate Center, Greauxing Resilience at Home: A Collection of Lessons and Case Studies from Louisiana and Beyond.
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Greauxing Resilience at Home — City of Gonzales, Louisiana: Gonzales Comprehensive Plan
June 16, 2022
The City of Gonzales, Louisiana is located in the eastern part of Ascension Parish and centrally located between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Facing increasing retail and commercial development, the city updated its local comprehensive plan to accommodate rapid growth. The Gonzales Comprehensive Plan was created in collaboration with Gonzales’s residents, city staff, various stakeholders, and Gonzales’s elected officials. In the plan, the city presents a clear strategic framework for the future growth of Gonzales. The city addresses Gonzales’s land use and urban design, mobility and transportation, housing, economy, quality of life and city services, and redevelopment of its downtown area. The plan’s affordable housing considerations include diversifying the options and affordability of the housing stock in Gonzales. The plan’s environmental considerations include emphasizing the city’s green spaces and community amenities and benefits, and reducing future flood risk/building overall community resilience. The plan is an example of a local comprehensive plan that addresses growth, while also balancing community needs and environmental conservation in an increasingly suburban area that is experiencing high demands for new development. This case study is one of 24 case studies featured in a report written by the Georgetown Climate Center, Greauxing Resilience at Home: A Collection of Lessons and Case Studies from Louisiana and Beyond.
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Greauxing Resilience at Home — City of New Orleans, Louisiana: Resilient Housing Prototype in the Seventh Ward
June 16, 2022
In the Seventh Ward of New Orleans, Louisiana, a local project team is planning to construct a resilient housing prototype that can adapt to changing conditions in a flood-prone neighborhood. Spearheaded by J.B. Holton and Associates and in partnership with Healthy Community Services and others, the prototype will create two affordable housing units in a duplex specifically dedicated for low- to moderate-income community members. The two single-family homes will be elevated above base flood heights and use hemp-based materials for insulation as a sustainable building material that is more resistant to moisture and pests than traditional insulation. The site will also be landscaped with green stormwater infrastructure features. Overall, this pilot project can be a model for other home developers and communities of what homes in Louisiana can look like to overcome negative stigmas around affordable housing and inspire future actions to increase local resilience in the face of flooding and economic challenges. This case study is one of 24 case studies featured in a report written by the Georgetown Climate Center, Greauxing Resilience at Home: A Collection of Lessons and Case Studies from Louisiana and Beyond.
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Greauxing Resilience at Home — City of Baton Rouge–Parish of East Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Imagine Plank Road Plan for Equitable Development
June 16, 2022
The Imagine Plank Road: Plan for Equitable Development (plan) is an equitable transit-oriented development (TOD) plan developed to guide revitalization of the Plank Road corridor, an area in north Baton Rouge and East Baton Rouge Parish (parish). Released in November 2019, the plan is a response to historical disinvestment in the Plank Road corridor and addresses issues of infrastructure decay, jobs and commerce, and health and safety. The plan is anchored by a new bus rapid transit (BRT) system that will run along the corridor and connect it to other parts of Baton Rouge. There are seven new developments proposed along the corridor, each designed to provide quality of life amenities and generate tax revenue while preserving local neighborhoods’ history and culture. The Plank Road plan is notable for its goals, metrics, and recommendations for equity-focused community revitalization. At the project level, local policymakers can look to the plan for specific efforts related to urban affordable housing, community-driven development, green infrastructure, and community engagement. More broadly, the plan demonstrates how policymakers can integrate equity across various development initiatives in order to lay a foundation for long-term stability and growth. Build Baton Rouge (BBR) is the lead agency on the plan and took an approach that emphasized community engagement and public-private partnerships in planning and implementation. The Plank Road plan will be implemented concurrently with FUTUREBR, the comprehensive master plan adopted by the parish and the City of Baton Rouge in 2011. This case study is one of 24 case studies featured in a report written by the Georgetown Climate Center, Greauxing Resilience at Home: A Collection of Lessons and Case Studies from Louisiana and Beyond.
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Greauxing Resilience at Home — City of Baton Rouge–Parish of East Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Ardendale Master Plan and Guiding Principles
June 16, 2022
The Ardendale Master Plan and Guiding Principles (plan) is a planned community development in the Ardenwood area of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Ardendale consists of 200 acres purchased in 2012 by Build Baton Rouge (BBR), the city’s redevelopment agency. The site currently includes public housing, the automotive technology campus of Baton Rouge Community College, and several acres of wetlands. As proposed under the plan, Ardendale will become a new urbanist community that will include the following types of planned projects: mixed-income affordable housing, infrastructure, quality-of-life amenities, and cohesive landscaping. Specifically, the new vision for Ardendale is to build amenities like housing, businesses, and green space and integrate public access across various community resources to grow socioeconomic resilience. As part of this vision, the plan also includes landscaping design rules that aim to encourage outdoor recreation and community gathering, mitigate natural hazards, and enhance neighborhood aesthetics and culture by using native plants. By balancing community needs and character, the plan demonstrates a multi-faceted and integrated approach to redevelopment that may be illustrative for local policymakers preparing for population growth due to climate change. This case study is one of 24 case studies featured in a report written by the Georgetown Climate Center, Greauxing Resilience at Home: A Collection of Lessons and Case Studies from Louisiana and Beyond.
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Greauxing Resilience at Home — City of Baton Rouge–Parish of East Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Scotlandville Community Strategic Plan
June 16, 2022
Between 2019 and 2022, Southern University worked with community partners in Scotlandville, located in north Baton Rouge, to develop a blueprint for improving housing and other socioeconomic outcomes for Scotlandville’s residents. The Scotlandville Community Strategic Plan (Community Plan) is an example of how one Louisiana community has used public participation and community planning to address housing shortages and other challenges in a chronically disinvested community. The Community Plan also helps to highlight the role that universities and other nongovernment institutions can play to develop and implement comprehensive community visions for housing and other services to help increase local resilience. This case study is one of 24 case studies featured in a report written by the Georgetown Climate Center, Greauxing Resilience at Home: A Collection of Lessons and Case Studies from Louisiana and Beyond.
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Greauxing Resilience at Home: A Regional Vision
June 16, 2022
Greauxing Resilience at Home: A Regional Vision is an innovative legal, planning, and policy resource to promote community resilience through housing and nature-based solutions in places where flooding, extreme weather events, and other factors are driving population changes and transitions. It was developed by Capital Region Planning Commission and Georgetown Climate Center, in collaboration with policymakers, community members, and other stakeholders in Region Seven of the Louisiana Watershed Initiative located in southeast Louisiana.
Authors or Affiliated Users: Katie Spidalieri, Rachelle Sanderson, Suhasini Ghosh, Annie Bennett, Katherine McCormick, Jennifer Li
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Greauxing Resilience at Home: A Collection of Lessons and Case Studies from Louisiana and Beyond
June 16, 2022
This report is composed of 24 individual case studies developed by Georgetown Climate Center to support, Greauxing Resilience at Home: A Regional Vision, a collaborative partnership effort with Capital Region Planning Commission in Louisiana. These case studies describe best and emerging practices, tools, and examples from Louisiana and other U.S. jurisdictions to make progress on the complex and interrelated challenges of housing, flooding, and resilience. These case studies are intended to provide transferable lessons and ideas for regional and local governments addressing housing and mitigating flood risk as integrated parts of comprehensive community resilience strategies. Collectively, these case studies present a suite, although not an exhaustive list of tools and approaches that can be used to facilitate any of these efforts.
Authors or Affiliated Users: Katie Spidalieri, Suhasini Ghosh, Katherine McCormick, Jennifer Li
Resource Category: Solutions
