The New Orleans Index at Twenty Collection

More folks started businesses in Metro New Orleans following both Hurricane Katrina and the COVID-19 pandemic at a higher rate than people did so nationally, filling gaps in recovery efforts and beefing up household resiliency to weathering ever increasing shocks. This report examines entrepreneurial resilience in Metro New Orleans and offers policy recommendations to sustain and accelerate business growth.

Philanthropic giving poured in following Hurricane Katrina, aiding the recovery efforts. This report examines the philanthropic landscape as the region transitioned out of the recovery phase and philanthropic investments in the region shifted in focus.

Demonstrating their resiliency post-Hurricane Katrina, many local universities cooperated, offering students the ability to take courses at different universities in Metro New Orleans, while these universities recovered. In the years since, these same institutions have hardened their campuses and offer degrees in emergency management, green energy, and coastal restoration, contributing to long-term regional resilience.

Negative shocks, such as natural disasters, are part of the social determinants of health and can interfere with our ability to be resilient when faced with hardship. Understanding what social determinants of health are and making investments based on this understanding to create healthier communities, will in turn help folks be better prepared and better able to bounce back when the next disaster strikes.

Despite enormous efforts to rebuild, many thousands of New Orleans' properties remained blighted five years later. New Orleans became a leader in data-driven blight reduction, addressed heirs’ property issues, and showed that supportive enforcement, community-led redevelopment, and legal reforms are key to preventing further displacement.

Following the events of Hurricane Katrina, reforms were put in place that reduced the overall prison population, but investments in “social determinants of safety” were still lacking. With a recent return to “tough-on-crime” policies, this report examines how past and present policies and investments in crime reduction have influenced community safety and well-being.

Post Hurricane Katrina, during a series of events that sought to quickly reform failing schools and ensure every child that needed school placement had one, all NOLA PS schools were converted to charter. As the transition was taking place, OPSB’s role transformed and the community's relationship to local schools changed dramatically. This paper assesses the pros and cons of this transition to a mostly charter system and describes how the school environment has changed since Hurricane Katrina.

This paper examines how the presence of pollutants, and inaction on part of the state to mitigate, before and after Hurricane Katrina burdened Metro New Orleans communities with increased levels of toxicity, leaving many residents vulnerable to the effects of unhealthy levels of toxins in the air and water.

Increased investment in cross-parish, public transportation can help spur economic and business opportunity and decrease the cost-burden of owning a private vehicle in Metro New Orleans. This paper identifies opportunities for improving the regions public transportation system and highlights investments already made toward this effort.

Hurricane Katrina was a wake-up call for the region. New Orleanians realized we need to innovate and adapt to be able to remain in the places we love. This paper highlights how residents of Metro New Orleans have addressed the increasing impacts of climate change through partnerships and ingenuity.

In New Orleans, civic engagement thrives through deep-rooted participation in cultural traditions and social clubs, which double as networks for mutual aid, professional opportunity, and community service. But in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and the failure of the federal levees, voter participation has steadily declined. This paper offers recommendations to increase electoral engagement as residents work toward a more resilient future.

Mitigating against climate-related risks is an ongoing effort, not a destination. This paper examines whether Metro New Orleans has sufficiently invested in flood mitigation efforts and what it’ll take to be resilient against ever more frequent extreme weather events.

Focused on capacity for building greater resilience by coalescing around a shared vision for infrastructure investment and workforce development in the water management sector, this paper highlights past efforts to lessen the region’s vulnerability to extreme weather, as well as provides insights on strengthening it further.

If you want to understand pre-Katrina New Orleans, use 2000 Census Decennial numbers. Data from 2005 estimates and 2005 ACS just aren't reliable. Here's why.