New Directions: Community | Connectivity | Coordination

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As part of a multi-year Hurricane Katrina disaster response initiative, APA organized and sponsored a Planning Assistance Team (now the Community Planning Assistance Teams program) to Slidell, Louisiana in 2008 to assist with the city's ongoing recovery effort. At the invitation of Mayor Ben Morris, and help from the Tulane Regional Urban Design Center, the team was asked to assess current planning needs and urban design issues and offer planning guidance as the city continues its recovery.

The report is centered around three themes: community, connectivity, and coordination. The team developed an in-depth assessment of the challenges and opportunities of the city's corridors and nodes with detailed graphics for each, as well as economic development strategies. Slidell faces challenges beyond recovery. The city must be more than a stop along an interstate highway trip. Being so close to New Orleans means the traveler leaving that city is well past Slidell before stopping for a meal or the evening. The "big brother" relationship with New Orleans means Slidell must grow its own activity.

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