The Desire Projects: The Rise, Fall, and Erasure of New Orleans Public Housing
A historical investigation into the Desire Housing Project, the erasure of New Orleans public housing, the 1970 Panther standoff, and post-Katrina diaspora.
The Desire Housing Project was the largest public housing development ever constructed in New Orleans, covering nearly 100 acres in the Upper Ninth Ward with 262 barracks-style brick buildings that housed over 13,000 residents at its peak. Authorized by the Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO) under the federal framework of the U.S. Housing Act of 1937 and opened in 1956, the complex came to symbolize both the structural promise and the institutional neglect of mid-century American urban policy: situated over soft, subsiding swamp subsoil adjacent to a toxic municipal landfill, hemmed in by freight railways and industrial canals, and systematically starved of municipal resources, Desire stood as a crucible of civil rights organizing, community survival, and eventual state-directed demolition.
Today, zero traditional, high-density brick housing developments remain in New Orleans. Every single complex was systematically demolished or extensively reconfigured between 2001 and 2015, replaced by privatized, mixed-income suburban-style subdivisions or reoriented toward federal Section 8 housing vouchers. Tracing the history of Desire reveals not an accidental municipal tragedy, but an institutional architecture engineered through racial zoning, environmental sacrifice, federal disinvestment, and post-disaster land clearance.
The Desire Footprint: Historical Density vs Post-Katrina Clearance
97 contiguous acres in Upper Ninth Ward with 262 two-story brick barracks.
1,860 units housing over 13,000 working-class Black residents at peak.
100% low-income public housing administered directly by municipal authority.
Zero forced displacement during early operational decades; deep generational roots.
Suburban-style cul-de-sacs, duplexes, and single-family rental cottages.
Roughly 425 total units, with fewer than 200 deeply subsidized public units.
Privatized tier: market-rate rentals, workforce housing, and voucher caps.
Over 85% of original pre-demolition families permanently excluded or diaspora-bound.
Construction and Geographic Isolation
The placement of the Desire Housing Project in 1956 was an exercise in urban containment. Hemmed in by the Florida Avenue drainage canal, the Industrial Canal, and active freight rail corridors, the development had few entry or exit arteries. The streets carried aspirational names surveyed in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries: Desire, Piety, Benefit, Humanity, Industry, and Abundance: yet the physical reality was defined by immediate environmental hazards and engineered isolation.
Desire Environmental & Infrastructural Stress Cascade
Swamp Subsoil Siting
Shallow concrete slabs poured over uncompacted swamp peat without deep pilings.
Landfill Toxicity
Direct boundary with Agriculture Street Landfill, later an EPA Superfund site.
Betsy Inundation
Hurricane Betsy (1965) submerges site under 6 feet of water; pumps overwhelmed.
Budget Starvation
1969 Brooke Amendment caps tenant rents without offsetting federal maintenance subsidies.
HOPE VI Clearance
Federal grants authorize total demolition and replacement with reduced density.
Engineering compromises crippled the complex from day one:
- Unstable Foundations: Rather than driving deep pilings into the swampy, low-lying alluvial silt, contractors poured shallow concrete slabs directly over soft subsoil. Within a decade, the buildings began subsiding unevenly, ripping apart exterior porches and fracturing buried natural gas, potable water, and sanitary sewer conduits.
- Resource Desert: Municipal authorities failed to zone or incentivize commercial retail, grocery stores, medical clinics, or reliable public transit links to match the density of 13,000 inhabitants. Residents were physically marooned inside an industrial perimeter.
- Environmental Toxicity: The development shared an immediate border with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Superfund Site known as the Agriculture Street Landfill. Operating as an open municipal burn dump from 1909 until the late 1950s, the site was reopened after Hurricane Betsy in 1965 to bury toxic storm debris.
- Flood Inundation: In September 1965, Hurricane Betsy overwhelmed municipal drainage stations and submerged the entire Desire tract under six feet of stagnant floodwaters, causing permanent sub-surface electrical corrosion that local housing authorities never fully remediated.
The 1970 Black Panther Standoff on Piety Street
By 1970, the New Orleans chapter of the Black Panther Party recognized Desire as the front line of municipal neglect and community defense. Establishing their local headquarters at 3315 Piety Street, Panther organizers launched a Free Breakfast for Children Program, held political education seminars, and organized tenant councils around rent strikes and police accountability.
Tensions between community organizers and local law enforcement escalated into a historic confrontation documented by The Historic New Orleans Collection:
- The September Shootout: A brief armed exchange erupted between police officers and Panther members on Piety Street. While the clash ended without fatalities, it triggered widespread municipal panic.
- The November 19 Mobilization: New Orleans Police Superintendent Clarence Giarrusso deployed approximately 250 heavily armed officers, tactical rooftop sharpshooters, surveillance helicopters, and an improvised armored tank nicknamed the "war wagon" to evict the Panthers from Piety Street.
- The Civilian Human Shield: Before tactical units could breach the apartment, hundreds of Desire residents: predominantly grandmothers, mothers, and young children: stepped out of their barracks and linked arms, forming a living human wall between police shotguns and the Panther headquarters. Recognizing that a frontal assault would require slaughtering unarmed women and children in daylight, police brass ordered the force to disengage and withdraw.
- The Disguised Infiltration: One week later, undercover detectives disguised as Roman Catholic priests and postmen infiltrated the perimeter, arresting Panther leaders without warning. A local Orleans Parish jury subsequently acquitted the defendants on all primary charges.
Community Life, Systemic Disinvestment, and Cultural Endurance
During the 1970s and 1980s, federal urban policy shifted away from maintaining conventional public housing. White flight eroded the city's commercial tax base, while federal operating subsidies dwindled. The Housing Authority of New Orleans experienced chronic administrative paralysis:
| Factor | Manifestation in Desire | Impact on Residents |
|---|---|---|
| Federal Disinvestment | Deferred maintenance backlogs exceeded tens of millions of dollars. | Pervasive plumbing failures, collapsed ceilings, uncollected garbage piles. |
| Crack Epidemic | Illicit drug distribution networks exploited isolated breezeways and blind alleys. | Intense localized turf violence and pervasive criminalization of youth. |
| Boarded Units | Hundreds of apartments shuttered while citywide waitlists exceeded 10,000 families. | Physical blight, squatter occupation, and accelerated structural decay. |
| Communal Solidarity | Tight-knit kinship networks, second-line celebrations, courtyard sports leagues. | Generational pride, youth mentorship, and cultural identity preservation. |
Despite severe material deprivation, Desire produced extraordinary athletic and cultural talent. Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk grew up in the courtyards of the Desire Projects, developing the footwork that would carry him to Carver High School, San Diego State, and a Super Bowl championship.
Demolition and Redevelopment: The HOPE VI Pivot
In 1998, HANO secured a $44.2 million federal grant under the HUD HOPE VI Program to demolish the 1956 brick barracks. The federal objective was to replace high-density public housing with low-density, mixed-income suburban designs.
Demolition crews began leveling Desire in 2001. When Hurricane Katrina struck in August 2005, the storm flooded the Upper Ninth Ward, destroying all 318 rental units under construction and 107 newly completed homes. Construction eventually resumed, culminating in The Estates at Desire.
Because the redeveloped site contained only a small fraction of the original housing capacity, thousands of displaced families were barred from returning, establishing a precedent for the total dismantling of public housing across New Orleans.
The 10 Historical Housing Developments of New Orleans
Between 1941 and 1965, the Housing Authority of New Orleans built 10 major conventional public housing developments. Under the racially segregated dual-system mandated at construction, projects were designated specifically for Black or white families.
The Ten Historical Developments of HANO (1941-1965)
Opened 1941 in Central City for Black residents; 1,403 units in brick courtyards.
Opened 1941 in Central City for Black residents; expanded to 1,546 units.
Opened 1941 in Tremé adjacent to Claiborne corridor; 896 sturdy brick units.
Opened 1942 in Seventh Ward; 1,464 units across extensive campus.
Opened 1941 in Lower Garden District / Irish Channel for white residents; 1,510 units.
Opened 1942 bordering French Quarter / Tremé for white residents; 858 brick units.
Opened 1946 in the Ninth Ward; 734 units on low-lying ground.
Opened 1956 in Upper Ninth Ward; 1,860 units across 97 acres; largest complex in city.
Opened 1964 in Central City; 993 units including a 12-story high-rise tower.
Opened 1965 in Algiers on the West Bank; 990 units with a 13-story tower.
Demolished in 2008 post-Katrina; rebuilt as Harmony Oaks mixed-income community.
Demolished in phases (2008-2014); redeveloped into Marrero Commons.
Demolished in 2008; replaced by Faubourg Lafitte townhomes and scattered cottages.
Demolished in 2008; rebuilt as Columbia Parc mixed-income golf course subdivision.
Demolished in 2001 under HOPE VI; rebuilt as River Garden and Tchoupitoulas Walmart.
Demolished between 2013 and 2015; rebuilt as Bienville Basin apartments.
Severely flooded during Katrina; razed in phases and replaced by New Florida.
Demolished starting 2001; rebuilt as The Estates at Desire with ~425 total units.
Tower renovated for elderly housing; low-rise barracks leveled and replaced by Guste Homes.
High-rise imploded in January 2004; low-rises demolished for William J. Fischer Homes.
The Three Phases of Dismantling
The disappearance of traditional public housing in New Orleans occurred in three defined policy waves:
- Phase 1: Pre-Katrina HOPE VI Demolitions (1998-2004): HUD awarded grants to dismantle distressed developments. The controversial demolition of St. Thomas in 2001 cleared prime real estate near the Warehouse District and riverfront, replacing public homes with River Garden and a commercial supercenter. Fischer's 13-story tower was imploded in January 2004.
- Phase 2: Post-Katrina and the 2007 City Council Vote: Following the 2005 flood, developments like Lafitte and C.J. Peete suffered minimal structural damage because they sat on higher natural ground. Despite desperate pleas from displaced tenants who traveled back to reclaim their solid-brick homes, federal housing officials fenced off the properties. On December 20, 2007, amidst tear gas and stun-gun deployments against peaceful protestors outside City Hall, the New Orleans City Council voted 7-0 to grant demolition permits for the "Big Four" (C.J. Peete, B.W. Cooper, Lafitte, and St. Bernard), erasing over 4,500 units.
- Phase 3: The Iberville Choice Neighborhoods Clearance (2013-2015): Iberville remained the last intact original brick housing development. Situated adjacent to the French Quarter and the newly funded biomedical hospital corridor, Iberville was leveled between 2013 and 2015 under a $30.5 million Choice Neighborhoods grant, leaving only a token facade shell preserved as Bienville Basin.
Why Policy Moved Away from High Density
The transition away from conventional public housing was driven by four intersecting political, economic, and sociological currents:
- The Concentrated Poverty & Defensible Space Theories: Influenced by sociologists such as William Julius Wilson and urban planner Oscar Newman, federal policymakers argued that dense, 100% low-income housing fostered social isolation, disconnected residents from labor markets, and created un-policeable breezeways and stairwells.
- The Structural Defunding of Conventional Housing: In 1969, Congress passed the Brooke Amendment, capping tenant rent at 25% (later 30%) of adjusted gross income to protect poor families from rent burdens. However, Congress routinely failed to allocate compensatory federal operating subsidies. Local authorities like HANO, which housed increasingly impoverished populations, experienced catastrophic cash-flow deficits that resulted in deferred maintenance and roof collapses.
- The HOPE VI Doctrine & New Urbanism: In the 1990s, HUD embraced mixed-income, New Urbanist architectural principles. Federal funding shifted toward Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) that partnered private real estate developers with housing authorities, shifting management from public bureaucracies to profit-motivated private corporations.
- Post-Disaster Real Estate Opportunism: Hurricane Katrina granted political cover for sweeping urban clearance. Complexes like Lafitte and C.J. Peete occupied well-drained, historic urban footprints near downtown and Uptown. Louisiana Congressman Richard Baker publicly captured the sentiment in September 2005: "We finally cleaned up public housing in New Orleans. We couldn't do it, but God did."
What Happened to the Displaced Residents?
Prior to Katrina, HANO housed over 7,100 families (more than 20,000 residents) in public housing complexes, with thousands more on multi-year waiting lists. Following demolition, the vast majority were permanently dispossessed:
- The Arithmetic of Dispossession: Replacement mixed-income communities slashed deeply affordable units by 60% to 80%. Sites like Columbia Parc (formerly St. Bernard) and Harmony Oaks (formerly C.J. Peete) reserved only roughly one-third of units for traditional public housing subsidies. The remaining two-thirds were designated for workforce and market-rate rentals that poor families could not afford.
- Exclusionary Screening Criteria: Private property management companies instituted rigorous screening protocols that disqualified returning tenants:
- Criminal background checks that rejected applicants for non-violent misdemeanor arrests or the records of non-resident family members.
- Credit score minimums and utility arrears checks on accounts degraded during storm displacement.
- Mandatory employment requirements (often 20 to 30 hours per week of documented wage labor), disqualifying informal gig workers, family caregivers, and the disabled.
- Regional Diaspora: Over half of New Orleans' public housing population never returned to the city. Thousands of families were forced to permanently settle in Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, and Baton Rouge.
- The Suburbanization of Poverty: Residents who returned with Housing Choice Vouchers (Section 8) found landlords in transit-rich, high-opportunity neighborhoods (Uptown, Mid-City, Lakeview) systematically refusing vouchers. Consequently, voucher holders clustered in car-dependent outer fringes: New Orleans East, Algiers, and across the parish line into Jefferson Parish communities like Harvey, Marrero, and Gretna.
The Institutional Roots of Repression in New Orleans
The hostility directed toward low-income and Black residents was an institutionalized architecture:
1. Topography and Environmental Segregation
New Orleans topography dictates social survival. The "sliver by the river": naturally elevated alluvial levee ridges: was preserved for wealthy white enclaves in Uptown and the French Quarter. Working-class laborers and enslaved populations were relegated to low-lying back-of-town swamplands. When A. Baldwin Wood's screw pumps drained these basins in the early twentieth century, newly dried lakefront tracts were fortified with strict racial deed covenants, while unpumped margins adjacent to municipal dumps were reserved for Black public housing.
2. Elite Oligarchy and Disenfranchisement
Following Reconstruction, Louisiana's ruling planter and commercial elites drafted the 1898 State Constitution with the explicit aim of disenfranchising Black citizens, reducing registered Black voters from 130,000 to fewer than 5,000 in four years. Municipal governance was dominated by private business fraternities (the Boston Club, the Pickwick Club) and aristocratic Mardi Gras krewes (Rex, Comus) that opposed public expenditures on education, sanitation, or safety nets.
3. Redlining and Infrastructural Destruction
In the late 1960s, state and municipal planners built the elevated Interstate 10 expressway directly over North Claiborne Avenue in Tremé. North Claiborne was the commercial, cultural, and political boulevard of Black New Orleans, lined with hundreds of majestic live oaks and over 200 Black-owned businesses. The highway destroyed the oak canopy and crushed neighborhood property values. Meanwhile, an identical proposal to run an elevated highway in front of the French Quarter was successfully defeated by wealthy preservationists.
4. An Economy Engineered for Low-Wage Extraction
New Orleans elites deliberately resisted heavy manufacturing and industrial unionization (such as the CIO) to keep wages low and prevent multiracial labor solidarity. The city hitched its economic wagon to tourism, port labor, and hospitality: low-wage sectors governed by state preemption laws that prohibited New Orleans from passing a local minimum wage or paid sick leave mandates.
5. Mass Incarceration as Social Policy
For decades, Louisiana held the title of the world's highest per-capita incarcerator, with Orleans Parish Prison at the center. The parish jail operated as a warehouse for the mentally ill, the unhoused, and non-violent detainees unable to pay commercial cash bail. Systemic police corruption and violence culminated in post-Katrina tragedies, including the Danziger Bridge police shootings and the murder of Henry Glover, ultimately compelling a sweeping Department of Justice federal consent decree in 2012.
6. Post-Disaster "Clean Slate" Policies
Katrina functioned as a catalyst for long-planned structural privatization:
- Public Housing Demolition: Erasing 4,500 units of solid-brick public housing in 2007.
- Charity Hospital Closure: Shuttering historic Charity Hospital (operational since 1736), which had provided free, dignified healthcare to all New Orleanians regardless of income.
- Public School Liquidation: Firing over 7,500 unionized, predominantly Black public school teachers and converting the entire school district into the nation's first 100% charter system.
Was New Orleans the Worst in the Nation?
Evaluating New Orleans against national benchmarks shows areas where the city was an absolute outlier:
| Domain | Historical Benchmark | National Comparison |
|---|---|---|
| Mass Incarceration | World Capital of Incarceration | Louisiana led the globe in per-capita imprisonment for over 30 years; Orleans Parish jailed residents at five times the national urban average. |
| Public Housing Erasure | 100% Demolition Rate | While Chicago and Atlanta demolished high-rises under HOPE VI, New Orleans is the only major American city that razed 100% of its traditional public housing footprint. |
| Economic Mobility | Bottom Decile Nationally | Chetty et al. mobility studies rank New Orleans near the bottom of all major metro areas for upward income mobility from bottom to top quintile. |
| Political Disenfranchisement | Severe Jim Crow Standard | Matched Deep South patterns in Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia, but weaponized through unique state-level preemption statutes. |
| Environmental Hazard Siting | Topographical Segregation | Deliberate placement of dense housing over uncompacted peat and adjacent to Superfund landfills in sub-sea-level flood bowls. |
Conceptual Ledger & Critical Framework
Within this historical and spatial framework, Institutional Decay explains the structural collapse of HANO maintenance budgets, roofing integrity, and municipal utility networks over four decades; Asymmetrical Enforcement characterizes the deployment of 250 tactical officers and an armored vehicle against civilian organizers in Desire while industrial polluters operated without environmental oversight; and Gentrification captures the post-disaster conversion of publicly owned urban land into privatized, mixed-income developments that permanently locked out thousands of generational residents.
Appendix: Primary Sources & Further Reading
- Housing Authority of New Orleans: Official Agency Overview & History
- The Historic New Orleans Collection: Desire Housing Project & Civil Rights Records
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development: HOPE VI Program Archive
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Agriculture Street Landfill Superfund History
- National Archives: United States Housing Act of 1937 Legislative History
- Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans: Neighborhood Architecture & History
Related Reading on Plod & Ponder
Conceived by the author as an initial seed note or prompt, drafted with AI assistance, and personally verified, edited, and refined through hands-on editorial passes.
Collegiate Glossary Cards
Core academic, philosophical, and conceptual terms deployed within this inquiry, calibrated for precision and rigorous critique.
Institutional Decay
nounThe progressive failure of municipal maintenance, bureaucratic stewardship, and structural investment within public infrastructure systems.
Illustrates the decades-long collapse of HANO maintenance budgets, utility integrity, and public housing facilities prior to demolition.
Asymmetrical Enforcement
nounThe selective deployment of state surveillance, regulatory barriers, and police force against marginalized populations while shielding elite institutions.
Describes the militarized policing tactics deployed against Desire residents and Black Panthers compared to regulatory non-enforcement against industrial polluters.
Gentrification
nounThe transformation of working-class urban neighborhoods through capital reinvestment, displacement of long-term residents, and escalating land values.
Analyzes the post-Katrina transition from high-density public housing to privatized mixed-income developments that permanently displaced thousands of families.