b.rox

It would have been nice if this big old house could have been preserved. It would have been nice if someone had taken responsibility for this property and not allowed it to further deteriorate and become a haven for vagrants and a (perceived) threat to the residents across the street.

Instead, we get another empty lot. [...]

WWL-TV will do a feature on the Lafitte Corridor this Thursday morning at 7:45 AM.
This is part of a series called “In the Zone.” They’re covering a different recovery zone each segment. They’ve done almost all of them, so this is one of the last. If you want to see previous episodes in this series, [...]

We’ve always drunk the tap water here in New Orleans, much to the dismay of some of our friends. Our water supply comes from the Mississippi, which is kind of like the nation’s toilet, they’re fond of pointing out. The implication is that we are drinking from the toilet.
The Sewerage & Water Board regularly issues [...]

OK, so those were gunshots I heard Thursday morning. I got the direction wrong, though. Here’s the relevant excerpt from the 1st District Crime Activity Report for June 26, 2008, reproduced verbatim and without editorial comment:

Type: Automobile Burglary
Location: 3200 block of Bienville
Gist: At 2:225am, the victim was awakened by loud noises outside the residence. Upon [...]

I heard gunfire early this morning, about 2:30 AM. A dozen shots. It sounded like it was coming from around the corner, the 3100 block of Iberville.
I wish I could say it was the first time I’ve ever heard such sounds in the night in our neighborhood. Unfortunately it’s a sound I hear far too [...]

I almost missed this story in today’s paper… There’s supposed to be an accompanying slideshow with audio on nola.com but I can’t find it here.

When we first moved to New Orleans in 1999, we saw flyers in the Quarter warning tourists not to be suckered into making any wagers on the provenance of their footwear. Over the intervening years, I’ve been accosted by any number of fine gentlemen who’ve assured me that they know where I got my shoes, [...]

I wrote a letter to the owner. I talked to him too. I made a video about it. I wrote an editorial about it. I talked to my City Council rep about it. I went on the evening news about it.
But nothing seemed to happen.
I’m talking about the infamous grocery at 3126 Bienville, just around [...]

I was sorting through some old photos the other day, and I came across a set taken on October 16, 1999. As I looked at them I was overwhelmed by a sense of bittersweet melancholy. (Is there any other kind of melancholy?)
This was the first coherent group of digital pictures I ever took. I published [...]

The recent news that Victory is open to selling the Lindy Boggs Medical Center site jogged a memory. I know rumor-mongering isn’t wise, but I can’t help passing this on. I recently heard from someone who seemed to be well-informed (but promised to deny this if it ever came back to him) that the Oschner/Tenet [...]

I had no idea how many people to expect for today’s 4th Annual Hike of the Lafitte Corridor. Last year we had 16 or 17, the year before that, the same. But this year we had better publicity thanks to the sponsorship of Massey’s Professional Outfitters. If we doubled our numbers we’d be successful beyond [...]

As we hike the length of the abandoned rail line known as the Lafitte Corridor tomorrow, we’ll pass by the Lafitte public housing development. Or perhaps I should say the ruins of this development. These buildings are currently being demolished, and the sight is quite dramatic to say the least. The demolition of these properties [...]

One of the most frequent questions I field as a new dad are various inquiries into my sleep patterns. People seem mystified or nonplussed when I assert that I have never slept better in my life. It’s not a joke, though. Xy feeds the girl at night and usually sleeps in her room as a [...]

Despite my sterling reputation for civic-mindedness, I hardly ever write to my representatives in city gov’t. It just doesn’t seem like a good use of time. But I did it today. I just sent a quick note in support of the proposed charter amendments that would give the master plan the force of law and [...]

What are you doing for National Trails Day? If you’re in New Orleans, please join us for the 4th Annual Hike of the Lafitte Corridor.

It’s hard to believe this is the fourth such event. The first one only had three hikers and no fanfare. The second hike led to the formation of Friends of Lafitte [...]

Sometimes it’s worth it. All the trouble, the endless meetings, the grant proposals, the paperwork, navigating bureaucracies, building consensus, wrangling volunteers, the phone calls, the e-mails, did I mention the meetings?
I started the Mid-City sign project last year, when I was serving as Communications Director for the Mid-City Neighborhood Organization. We wrote a grant to [...]

I’ll be at the FOLC booth at the Mid-City Bayou Boogaloo this morning, from 10 ’til noon; stop by and say hi.

Just learned of the untimely passing of New Orleans’ own Robert Asprin, creator of Thieves’ World and Another Fine Myth and many other science fiction and fantasy works.

The internet and this old world can still blow my mind. Browsing through a random Wikipedia article I discovered that before the Cuban Revolution there was a ferry that sailed twice daily between Havana and New Orleans. This bears further investigation.

I wanted to record before I forget that as Xy and I were coming home from an errand Friday, we saw there were lots of firetrucks clustered around Lindy Boggs Medical Center (aka Mercy). Later we learned that someone had broken in and started a small fire. [WWL has video.]
I further learned (through discussion with [...]