<GNOCDC> Desire Area Neighborhood Snapshot

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This information is pre-Katrina.
Although the information on this page is out-of-date, we are continuing to make it available, as it provides insight about this neighborhood pre-Katrina.

Post-Katrina, we will not be making any changes or updates to this page. As a result, you may find outdated information and broken links.

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Desire Area Neighborhood Snapshot

Census 2000 Data Tables: People & Household Characteristics, Housing & Housing Costs, Income & Poverty, Transportation, Employment, Educational Attainment, Immigration & Language, Disabilities, Neighborhood Characteristics

From its beginning, the development of the Desire area was focused primarily on infrastructure to support industry such as railroads and canals. This same infrastructure isolates residents from the rest of the city and hampers the prosperity of the neighborhood. Still Desire is a vibrant community with many assets and great pride.

A little history

The Desire neighborhood was a low-lying, cypress swamp well into the twentieth century. Around the middle of the nineteenth century, railroad development began in the area.

J. P. Lamb photo © 2002, from Mike Palmieri's LA Rail Site.
New Orleans Public Belt Railroad locomotive, June 1954. This particular engine pulled trains up the steep grades leading up to the H P. Long bridge

The New Orleans, Mobile and Texas Railroads ran along what is now Almonaster Avenue and the New Orleans and Northeastern Railroad along Peoples Avenue.

Low-income whites settled in makeshift housing in a small area between Almonaster and Chef Menteur, Peoples and St. Ferdinand. The Colored Industrial Home and School Association was one of the major property owners in the Desire area at the turn of the century.

In 1923, the Industrial Canal was built and became a catalyst for much industrial development along its banks. The Public Belt Railroad was extended alongside the western side of the canal.

	© GNO Community Data Center
	A sign in the Desire Area.

By 1940, streets in the neighborhood were laid out as they are today anticipating later development. Following World War II, the neighborhood was provided with utilities and expansion increased rapidly. Many African American families bought homes in the neighborhood. The Desire neighborhood was one of the first to encourage black homeownership and homes on lots approximately 60 X 80 in size were priced between $3,000 and $4,000. Public transportation did not come to the area until after the Desire Public Housing Development was completed in 1956.

In 1956, the Gentilly Industrial District was created between Alvar Street, Louisa Street, Almonaster Avenue and Higgins Boulevard. By 1965, many industries had located there. In September 1965, Hurricane Betsy hit New Orleans and floodwaters in the Desire area reached six feet high causing severe damage.

The Free Southern Theater (FST) moved into a supermarket flooded out by the hurricane and became an important part of the Desire Community. FST produced a play called "Ghetto of Desire" that, according to their website: “exposed the gross inequalities people living in the Desire projects faced on a daily basis. In the play, the problems getting in and out of the project due to the railroad tracks and canals that surrounded the area, the inadequate recreational facilities for kids, and the poor condition of the roads within the development came under scrutiny. When CBS decided to broadcast the play...the Housing Authority of New Orleans went up in arms, demanding its cancellation.”

Read more about the Free Southern Theater

The Legacy of the Free Southern Theater in New Orleans:
Interviews with Karen-Kaia Livers and Chakula Cha Jua
www.nathanielturner.com/legacyfreesouttheater.htm

Junebug Productions is the organizational successor to the Free Southern Theater
www.gnofn.org/~junebug/about.html

In the late 1990s the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began to develop plans to expand the Industrial Canal. The residents of the Desire area have organized to minimize the adverse affect this expansion may have on their neighborhood, and they have been active in the acquisition of mitigation funds from the Army Corps.

More about the Industrial Canal

Community Based Mitigation Committee
www.gcr1.com/gcr%5F2004/what_we_do/planning/ihnc_cs.htm

	© GNO Community Data Center
	Barbara M. Andrews, Barbara Hooker, Willie Polk Jr., Memorial Multi-Service Center

What are some of the community’s organizations?

There are a large number of community services and organizations at work in the Desire neighborhood. The Barbara M. Andrews, Barbara Hooker, Willie Polk Jr., Memorial Multi-service Center provides a variety of services to the community. The Desire Community Housing Corporation assists low-income homebuyers. NORD’s Sampson Playground is available to residents. Tulane’s Project Desire provides tutoring, mentoring, field trip and social activities to children at Edwards Elementary School. St. Philip Community Center provides services for the young and elderly as well as food for families and seniors. The Louisiana Technical College, Sidney N. Collier Campus provides technical and academic education to the community.

And a major feature in the community is Desire Street Ministries. This organization’s goal is to revitalize the Desire neighborhood through the development of indigenous leadership. In their new facility, they provide the community with health care, housing, educational, economic development, and recreational programs.

Links to learn more about these local programs...

The Clarion Herald’s article entitled “St. Philip the Apostle looks toward bright future"

Louisiana Technical College, Sidney N. Collier Campus

Desire Street Ministries

The Desire community is rich musically. Second lines (jazz parades) are regularly hosted in the Desire neighborhood. Alvin Bridges and the Desire Community Choir was named the “Best of New Orleans” in Gospel by the Gambit Weekly for 2001. They frequently perform at the Annual Jazz & Heritage Festival.

For more information

Web pages that provide information about Desire Community Housing Corporation
www.homepath.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects4/HomePathWOF.woa/wa/
FindCounselor?title=Credit%20Counselors:%20Louisiana%20

Web pages that provide information about Desire Community Housing Corporation
www.financeauthority.org/training.html

Robert Montreuil named one of the streets that cut through his plantation for his daughter Désirée. Desire is a muddled English translation of Désirée
bywater.org/desire.htm

Information about Sisters of Saint Joseph and the Henriette Delille Middle School
www.sistersofstjoseph.org/publications/journey/2001_spring.html#article6

Opportunities Industrialization Center
www2.servicept.com/new_orleans/comm_guide/viewagency.php?Agency_id=701

1999 Land Use Plan New Orleans City Planning Commission
www.new-orleans.la.us/cnoweb/cpc/1999_dist_seven.htm

Neighborhood Profiles Project Document prepared by the City of New Orleans Office of Policy Planning and the City Planning Commission. Published December 1980. Study available at the Williams Research Center (non-circulating collection).

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Last modified: October 5, 2002