Breakfast with the NOLA Fellows and their Supervisors

A Sad Day in New Orleans

It is a sad day in New Orleans - Aditi and Jackie left!

Although I did not get to overlap with them as much as I had hoped, it has been inspiring to see the energy and commitment that they have brought to their work - and to the city - this summer as NOLA Fellows.

This is the first year of the official DUSP NOLA Fellows Program - and it is a great contribution to the continued work residents are doing in this city.

Jackie and Alex Dancing Zydeco

One of our favorite New Orleans activities!

Who's on Broad?

This summer, I have been working on a community story and oral history project for Broad Street, a newly designated Main Street in New Orleans.  The corridor is really diverse and houses several different types of businesses including coffee shops, liquor stores, non-profits, law offices, and bail bond services.  Different people from across New Orleans travel to Broad Street everyday for work, school, or recreation.  Through the community photo project, Broad Community Connections is trying to capture the stories and experiences of these individuals to show the history, diversity, vibrancy, and functions of the thruway.  The concept is simple: leave a disposable camera with Broad Street employees or residents, allowing them to photograph important aspects of their day and life in general.  We then interview the participants to learn more about their images and thoughts about working and living on Broad.  Eventually, the multi-media material will be compiled on to an interactive website and exhibition.  Below are portraits of some of the individuals who work on Broad.

From Top to Bottom: Kine invents drinks at Black Coffee.  Mama Jennifer recommends books to her customers.  Knowledge mentors youth who attend the Freedom School on Broad.

Photos of Trumpet

Trumpet

The BCC Office is located in the Trumpet Advertising building, which was once an ice-packing factory.  The structure stands in the middle of a residential street and has been converted into modern, shared workspace with large desks, breakout rooms, and a kitchen.  People who work here are even allowed to bring their pets to work.  Different organizations including non-profits, radio stations, artists, and writers rent desk space at Trumpet.  Recently, acrobats have been renting the work space over above out heads, rehearsing their routines while the rest of us sit at our laptops. 

More of our favorite things in New Orleans

The peach lemonade at Il Posto. There are real bits of peach in it!
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An Energy Efficiency Plan for all of New Orleans

Its been a few days since we posted.  A lot has happened.  We defeated our Mouse Invaders, Aditi's parents and my brother experienced Zydeco dancing, and we all watched the New Orleans Fireworks display on the Fourth of July.  The display is apparently rated one of the top five in the country.  There were two barges synchronized on the river.  I was impressed.

Another big even of the last week was the deadline for Entergy New Orleans to submit its plan for a city wide energy efficiency program.  Tomorrow is the first public meeting for comment on the plan.  I expect it should be filled with some characters, so I will update tomorrow.  For now, I wanted to comment on the time frame New Orleans is meeting in creating the program.  After debating what Energy Efficiency should like during the years since Katrina, since this winter the program has been developing at lightening speed.  It does appear the stimulus money available through the American Reconstruction and Recovery Act was the impetus the city needed to get the program started.  Its hard to quantify an impact like that, but in New Orleans at least, the ARRA will have long term effects on both the efficiency of the city and local construction training programs.  That is exciting to see.

We had to Evacuate...

because of a MOUSE!

A family of mice attacked our home last night.  We caught one in the closet and we caught one in the living room.  We saw another scurry across our floor mattress beds and another hanging out on our stove.  It was a real nightmare.  Eventually we were able to rid of the stove mouse, but fear of rodents lingers in our little shotgun.

When we ran to Walgreens at 1 AM to buy traps and poison (apologies to animal rights activists) to reclaim our house, the sales person behind the register explained to us that Nutria, a large rat-like breed had infested New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.  We did not even want to think about the possibility of Nutria living in our house!  Lucky for us, this sales lady had a lot of experience in combatting the City's creatures and provided us with some helpful tips.

Phil, our exterminator told us that we have commensal rodents.  Commensal means the sharing of food.  He says that commensal rodents depend on humans and their waste and leftovers in order to exist.  Everyone always says that small animals are more scared of us then we are them, but Phil believes this is just not true!

Something we haven't seen too much of this summer.

We are having a good afternoon soaker right now - something that New Orleans had been missing for almost three weeks.  This summer has been unusually dry in the Big Easy.  Aditi and I are working today from the cafe Rue de la Course on Oak Street.  Oak Street is another Main Street here in New Orleans, similar to the organization that Aditi is working for.  This street recently received a facelift from the city and now has some of the least hazardous sidewalks in the city along with well defined curb and very fancy granite crosswalks.  The street looks great! 

The section of St. Roch Avenue that FSRP works along also recently received street scape improvements funded by Community Development Block Grants from the City of New Orleans.  Most of the streets in New Orleans have not seen this sort of investment from the city in years, but Oak Street and St. Roch avenue are two prime example of what a difference well maintained curbs and sidewalks can make in creating a welcoming neighborhood.

And, as I watch the rain pour down, I cannot help but make a plug for subterranean drainage as well - I am lucky to be parked on a street right now that isn't flooded in 6 inches of water!

Cornerstones Project

The Cornerstones Project celebrates the everyday monument and gathering places of New Orleans' neighborhoods.  Through written narratives, interviews, photographs, and architectural drawings, Cornerstones documents the intersection of places and people that make New Orleans great.  This past week, Jeff and I met with Bethany - the coordinator of this project and nominated Crescent City Steakhouse on Broad Street to be the next Cornerstone.  The restaurant opened 65 years ago, and still has many loyal patrons. 

Aseem comes to visit!

Aditi's brother sample bread pudding and schools Aditi and I in the slang of the new generation.
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The BEST bread pudding in New Orleans.

Aditi at lil Dizzies.
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New Orleans is havin' a heat wave

Aditi and I really can't complain when we see the weather forecast for the New England, but the weather here in New Orleans has been HOT!  We'll use this as an excuse for not posting all of last week.  

Of course, anytime temperatures get this high, the power grid struggles to keep up.  I am pretty sure our neighborhood experienced a bit of brownout last night, when power was cut for around 10 minutes.  (At least, I am being generous to Entergy New Orleans by giving the power cut a demand side reason.) One the most important aspects of investing in Energy Efficiency is helping municipalities to reduce the peak power pull.  If New Orleans made a serious commitment to weatherizing its homes and right-sizing the air conditioner units I would have been spared the 10 minutes of absolute horror that I might have to try to sleep through a night of 87 degrees and high humidity without air conditioning.

An excellent way to weatherize a home in New Orleans is using Thermal Coupling.  This technique reduces the moisture exchange with the ground -  a major problem in humid sections of the country.  This allows homeowners to set their thermostats higher on these hot days because A/C really serves two purposes - cooling and dehumidifying.  By reducing the need to dehumidify, a home can significantly reduce the amount of coolant required to maintain a comfortable interior temperature.

All of this ran through my head when the power cut at 1am.

Aditi's Goal

To get a picture with the entire Saints organization by the end of summer.
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