NEIGHBORHOOD SNAPSHOT
The JPNSI service area, bounded by Tulane Avenue, Broad Street, Jefferson Davis Parkway, and the Lafitte Corridor, prior to Hurricane Katrina generally mirrored the same indicators of poverty and social inequality as the city of New Orleans overall. This neighborhood was home to a racially diverse community with African-American residents comprising nearly 67% of the populat
ion, whites 23% and Latinos 10% (as compared to 3% for the City as a whole). Over 72% of occupied units in the neighborhood were rental households, in contrast to 54% citywide and 32% statewide. Almost 33% of the residents in this area were living in poverty, including more than 50% of children under the age of 5. Like much of the City after Hurricane Katrina, most of the homes in the JPNSI community were damaged by floodwaters, with the entire community receiving 4 to 8 feet of flooding. In the past six years, the JPNSI community has witnessed a surge of dramatic changes, from the loss of much needed affordable housing in the area, to increased blight and vacancy, and ongoing speculative development in response to the medical complexes under construction. BioDistrict New Orleans encompasses most of the JPNSI footprint and has the right of eminent domain to acquire private property as it desires with little to no oversight and zero input from community members. The recent displacement of over 600 residents in the nearby lower Mid-City neighborhood as a result of the LSU and VA medical campuses and the increased housing cost in the area are all contributing to the increased pace of neighborhood change that’s displacing and disproportionately impacting low-income residents of color. While there are ongoing efforts to create affordable housing since the hurricanes, HUD’s 2009 New Orleans Metropolitan Area Housing Survey reports that there has been a decline of “mid-priced” rental units ($300-$600/month) from 66,300 in 2004 to just 19,300 in 2009. HUD estimates that the number of “worst case” renter households (who spend more than half their income on rent) grew by nearly 6,500 or 22 percent since 2004. Additionally, in a recent study by the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center, 65% of renters spent at least 30% of their pre-tax income on housing and utility cost in 2008, and 41% of renters in Orleans Parish were severely cost burdened, spending 50% or more of their pre-tax income on housing and utility cost. As more new market-rate apartment complexes in Mid-City enter the housing market in direct response to the medical district and more people are encouraged to move to the area, the neighborhood change we are witnessing today will no doubt accelerate—thus making JPNSI’s mission of creating and preserving permanently affordable housing through the CLT model of shared equity much more necessary. JPNSI’s program activities are focused on affordable housing & land stewardship; community building initiatives; and equitable development advocacy.
