From time to time, I write here about the issue of noise and rowdy behavior, and how it affects residential neighborhoods in some of our great American cities — particularly in my hometown of New Orleans. My native city has always been known as a place to have a good time, and our great music spots and some of our classic bars and nightclubs remain a civic treasure. But — as noted...
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Louis Armstrong is safely resting in his grave, and just to reassure all readers, the great, New Orleans-born jazzman of the 20th Century and his immeasurable legacy have nothing to fear from the new ordinance on noise pollution that’s coming before the New Orleans City Council. In fact, I believe he would be horrified at what has happened to Bourbon Street. The class acts he knew are...
In writing about noise pollution and quality-of-life issues that are plaguing key residential neighborhoods across New Orleans, one thing I’ve been clear and consistent about is this: The city would be in pretty good shape if police and code officers simply enforced the laws already on the books. But nowhere is that more true than the Marigny, the trendy zone just downriver from the French...
The struggle over not just noise pollution but historic preservation and the basic quality of life in New Orleans — and more specifically the Vieux Carre, or French Quarter — is coming to a head. Officials here seem eager to approve a new project that would be the final nail in the coffin of livability in one of America’s great neighborhoods. A chain fast-food restaurant...
I’ve written quite a bit about the noise pollution issue — especially in New Orleans — over the last couple of years. It’s an important topic, and often the devil is in the details. In seeking the broader goal of more livable neighborhoods throughout the Crescent City, I’ve written about decibel limits and enforcement funding, and efforts to change the city’s...
Here’s one thing everyone can agree on: This Monday was a good day for democracy in the city of New Orleans. For three years now, City Councilwoman Kristin Gisleson Palmer has been looking at the intertwined issues of noise pollution, city laws and enforcement. She’s been trying to find common ground for residents who want to live free from unwanted assaults on their eardrums and those...
It’s not really breaking news at this point that Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is a hypocrite. Not just in the environmental laws that his agencies consistently fail to enforce, but in his other policies like taxpayer funding of schools that teach religious creationism or slashing spending on children, Jindal talks up the 21st Century even as he tries to push Louisiana back into the 19th...
There’s a welcome new sound in New Orleans — the sound of citizens banding together to fight for positive change, to make America’s most colorful city a better place to live, and to visit. In recent months, I’ve told you frequently about a kind of pollution here that doesn’t get its due: Noise pollution. The problem — I must once again reiterate — is not...
Did you hear about the latest iPhone app? It alerts you when you find yourself under aural assault, when the decibel level where you’re at reaches the point where it could actually damage your hearing, or worse. If you’ve been paying attention to the posts here about noise pollution over the last couple of years, you probably won’t be surprised at all where the inventors headed...
