by Mary Devon-Dupuy

There's a lot of ideas floating around for the future of New Orleans, and a lot of organizations trying to improve the future of New Orleans. But if it seems like the two never quite meet, take heed in a Thursday night NOMA gathering serving as the culmination of an initiative to bring the ideas and the orgs together. Neighborland, an interactive website that provides a virtual billboard where residents can post what they want to see in their community, identified four actionable challenges facing the city and allocated $500 toward addressing each.

by Mary-Devon Dupuy

BYWATER - Despite the glare, the heat, and the noise surrounding the small group of activists and residents who showed up at a neighborhood rally Tuesday, there was palpable excitement about bringing the streetcar to Poland Avenue. It’s fitting that a campaign to improve neighborhoods in New Orleans would take place in the very neighborhood it could benefit most, smack dab in the middle of the neutral ground where residents dream it will one day roll by.

Earlier this year, the Bywater was tricked into believing the vacant property at the corner of St. Claude Ave. and Bartholomew Streets would fall prey to one of the ultimate infiltrating corporate forces: Starbucks. But a sign that urged all to make way for the triple macchiatos was a joke, perhaps designed to force the neighborhood to look at its future. By Saturday, the planning cycle for the property will go full circle. Even though no deals have been signed or development plans have been made, locals will go from thinking they are at a corporation’s whim to having a say in the process. At a nighttime market, residents will get a chance to provide their own ideas for the future of the lot.

MARIGNY - The comment period has concluded over on the blighted house at the corner of Burgundy and Marigny Sts. But for once the end of memorable public art wasn't the work of the Gray Ghost. Last week, two of the crafters of the "Before I Die" wall painted a white coat over the giant chalkboard. The wall, which went up within the first two months of the year, offered pedestrians a chance to write down their aspirations by finishing the phrase, "Before I Die I want to..." The wall's life cycle simply ran its cours, said project staffer Alan Williams.