Discuss specific examples of how Musicians' Village fosters a sense of community among its residents.
Musicians' Village is a neighborhood in New Orleans, which was built mostly for musicians after the hurricane Katrina. 80% of people who live in this community are musicians. That is one example of how Musician's Village fosters a sense of community. Music is very important for people living there. They believe they breathe music and that it is in the air, in the water, and for them music is everything. Al "Carnival Time" Johnson says that music is a form of life in New Orleans. Another resident, Michael Harris, says that he was in Brazil at the time of hurricane Katrina. There was a great feeling of loss. Al also says that they lost everything.
Branford Marsalis and Harry Connick Jr., who are also musicians and natives of New Orleans wanted to do something specifically for the musicians because many of them had been displaced. They wanted to show those people that there was a place they could come back to. Jim Pate (Executive Director of New Orleans Habitat for Humanity) helped them. It was a habitat approach to rebuilding. The plan was to make decent, safe and affordable homes for musicians. That would help rebuild the city. Now they have 72 single family houses, 10 duplex units, and the design is based on traditional New Orleans houses. They fit the streetscape. The current residents help build their own houses, and they also worked on other houses. They worked alongside thousands of volunteers.
Michael, the musician, thinks that man power and man hours helped shape the sense of community. Everybody worked according to their abilities. Now, all the neighbors understand each others' lifestyles. It is normal for them to come from work at 3, 4 in the morning.
Al, the musician, thinks that there is a chance to learn from each other, as there are so many musicians in one place.
Edward Lee, resident and musician, says that you can see everyday somebody jamming with each other on the porch or inside. They collaborate because they are all musicians.
The village provides also a place where they can show their passion. That is The Ellis Marsalis Center for music. Residents feel that is a community center. They have music classes after school, and it is a place where young musicians can congregate with the older ones, as well. The residents feel that Musicians' Village is a creation of beauty.
What are some of the ways in which the community of LeDroit Park has evolved over the past 140 years?
Alice, a resident, says that the house she lives in has been in her family since 1910. She has lived there for 34 years. Danielle, also a resident, says that her house has been in her family for over a 100 years. Lauretta Jackson has also lived in LeDroit Park for 62 years. James K. Hill says that his house was built in the 1880s. His porch has been a gathering spot for many community dwellers. However, he says that time has changed now and that the old camaraderie has passed on to the next generation.
LeDroit Park was established in 1873 as a predominantly white community, but by WW I majority of the residents were African-American because there was a university for them after the Civil war.
Alice says that, over the years, this community was a Mecca for artists, doctors, educators, writers and activists intellectuals. Even Duke Ellington lived there for a short time. Ernest Just, a very successful biologist, lived there, as well.
In the '60s, after the assassination of Doctor Martin Luther King, there was a major decline in property values and safety. Crime went up, and drug use was out of control.
Over the last five years, there has been a revitalization and homes are coming back to life. The community has become much more diverse, and there is a new passion for preserving its history and architecture. It is now a hip place to live.
Eric has been living there for 2,5 years, and, at first, he blogged about the history, but, later, he organized a walking tour around the neighborhood.
The residents of LeDroit Park have a park, a farm for fruits and vegetables and they are at a walking distance to night-life.
However, due to revitalization, many people can no longer afford to live there.
There was also a school there. It was an icon of black education, as one resident describes it, but, it was torn down, and now it is a dog park and a vegetable garden.
Residents want to be the ones to make decisions about LeDroit.
It is as fact that every house there has a story to tell that shaped America.
What are some of the benefits (as mentioned by the residents) of living in a planned community like Summerlin? What are some of the restrictions/downsides?
Summerlin is a "Master Planned Community". Tom Warden is a developer from the Howard Hughes Corporation. When the residents say that they live in Las Vegas, people usually think that they live in a hotel.
25 years ago, Summerline was open desert. Now, there are almost 40 thousand households. There are custom home communities, active adult communities, and there is even apartment housing.
Kam and Katherine Brian have lived there for 10 years. They say that Summerlin is family-friendly and that there is park security, neighborhood security, neighborhood watch and other programs for the protection that foster a sense of belonging to the community.
Jack, a resident, says that he enjoys going to the golf court every morning to talk to the golfers and watch them play. It makes his day. Faffie Moore also says that she can walk to the gym and that she is also close to the country club. She calls it "life on a circle".
In this community, everything is planned: open space, parks, trails, shopping areas, houses of worship and schools. They are building the social infrastructure of the community. The developers are thinking about how people will interact.
For every holiday, there is a community event. However, nothing is for free. Residents have to pay dues to the community association, and that is the organization that enforces rules and regulations. Its main goal is to preserve the value of the community. There are rules for everything, from parking to the color one can paint their house. It can be annoying for the residents. Kam Brian compares it with a Big Brother.
Jack, the resident, is satisfied that there are design guidelines because that makes the buildings look neat. The community is clean; there is continuity and the prices of properties there are declining, so that people can afford to live there.
Tom Warden says that the downturn of the economy has been extremely hard for Summerlin. However, there are 100 thousand residents there and plan for this community is to grow and evolve because people evolve.
Works Cited
http://www.nbm.org
