Streetcars & Recovery: An Analysis of Post-Katrina Building Permits Around New Orleans Streetcar Lines

This research explores the impact of traditional streetcars on development and reinvestment activities through an analysis of post-Hurricane Katrina commercial and residential building permits in areas of New Orleans surrounding streetcar stops. Negative binomial regression is employed to estimate how the number of building permits in a street block changes in relation to the block’s distance to the nearest streetcar stop, while controlling for damage rate, proximity to significant commercial areas and the central business district, and pre-Katrina neighborhood demographics. The authors find significant higher frequencies of commercial building permits near streetcar stops both in downtown and neighborhood areas than in areas more distant from stops. Residential permits are found to decrease in frequency in the areas closest to neighborhood streetcar stops by a similar amount as commercial permits increase. Potential policy implications are discussed.

Language

  • English

Media Info

  • Media Type: DVD
  • Features: Figures; References; Tables;
  • Pagination: 17p
  • Monograph Title: TRB 89th Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers DVD

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 01154278
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Report/Paper Numbers: 10-2087
  • Files: TRIS, TRB
  • Created Date: Apr 14 2010 7:14AM