Community Voice in Lower 9th Ward, New Orleans 

In 2018 - 13 years after Hurricane Katrina, Communities by Design visited the Lower 9th Ward community in New Orleans to begin working on an economic revitalization planning process with residents. This film was produced to give residents a voice in setting the context, narrative, and framework within which the team's work was based. It captures the authentic community narrative on the experience of residents and the frustration and distrust that have resulted from years of neglect and 16 planning processes that failed to produce momentum. The L9 also provides a stark case in the conversation around the geography of urban inequality across America. The 2018 community process involved hundreds of local residents and resulted in a plan that the community used to enact a special economic development district for the Ward to begin the reinvestment process.