<GNOCDC> Desire Development Neighborhood Snapshot

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This information is pre-Katrina.
Although the information on this page is out-of-date, we are continuing to make it available, as it provides insight about this neighborhood pre-Katrina.

Post-Katrina, we will not be making any changes or updates to this page. As a result, you may find outdated information and broken links.

For current data about New Orleans and its neighborhoods, visit our homepage.

Desire Development Neighborhood Snapshot

Census 2000 Data Tables: People & Household Characteristics, Housing & Housing Costs, Income & Poverty, Transportation, Employment, Educational Attainment, Immigration & Language, Disabilities, Neighborhood Characteristics

In recent years, many housing developments in New Orleans have undergone massive renovations and redevelopment. The numbers from the 2000 Census for this neighborhood are no longer accurate. Please check with the Housing Authority of New Orleans and the Desire Resident Council for the most current status.

According to a June 2004 personal interview with Resident Council Treasurer, Bonnie Peters, as of that date 107 new units had been built, 73 were occupied and the remaining 34 had applications pending. Many former residents had returned. Three of the original Desire buildings were still standing and occupied but scheduled to be demolished after residents are relocated. There is no separate senior facility scheduled for construction because elderly residents wanted to live among younger residents. Seniors have first floor apartments some of which have handicapped access.

A little history

In 1949, a new United States Housing Program was begun. Desire was the last project built in the city of New Orleans under Title III of that program. Two elementary schools, Moton and Lockett, were included in the construction.

	© Desire Street Ministries
	Aerial view of the Desire Development before demolition

The total cost of the project was nearly $24 million. The Dunn Elementary School and the Carver Complex (a middle school and a high school) were built to serve the students in the Desire Project in 1958. The development was built on the site of the memorable Hideaway Club where Fats Domino played regular gigs until it was torn down in 1949 to make way for the housing development.

Offbeat’s article about Fats Domino
www.offbeat.com/text/fats.html

The site picked for the Desire development is completely isolated from the rest of the city. Surrounded by the Industrial Canal, Florida Canal and railroad tracks on all four sides, this isolation hampered residents’ participation in economic activities in other parts of the city.


Picture from Urban Decay
A view from a deteriorating Desire building

To save building costs, Desire's structures were built of wood with a brick veneer. But difficult repairs and high insurance costs for the non-fireproof buildings made these buildings very expensive to maintain. It is said that tenants often waited years for the Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO) to make repairs to their apartments, plumbing, and light fixtures. Eventually units began to fall apart.

New Orleans Police Department and Desire

The historical relationship between Desire residents and NOPD is long, complex and violent. In 1970 there were two highly-publicized standoffs between police and the Black Panthers (then the National Committee to Combat Fascism) in Desire. The sit-in, confrontation and shoot-out brought much attention to the ills of Desire. In a 2000 interview with Malik Rahim, an activist who was present during the shootouts, he explained:

The reason that we survived the shoot-out was because the community stood with us, they wouldn't leave and allow the police to do their dastardly deeds. During the short period we'd been in the Desire we reduced crime to just about 0%, the Desire projects went from one of the highest crime areas in the city to one of the lowest. It was compatible to any middle class white community by the time of the shoot out. And so the community looked at what we did and they looked at what the police came in their telling them... all these contradictions about what we were gonna do and what was gonna happen, they didn't believe it. They were defiant. They not only didn't believe it, but they stood up for us in the second shoot-out.

In the early 1990s, documented problems with police brutality and corruption occurred in the Desire development. Most recently, Community Oriented Policing Squads (COPS) have been located in Desire/Florida, with the 5th Police District reporting a reduction in crime in the area in the late 90s.

Some articles on the past and present

The 30th Anniversary of the Desire Shoot-out: An Interview with Malik Rahim and Ahmad Rahman
www.endsound.com/nopf/socialcomment/desireshootout.htm
(Has scans of 1970 newspaper articles on the subject.)

Why Twenty-Four Panthers are Political Prisoners in Louisiana a 1971 article published in The Black Panther
http://www.angola3.org/noprisoners.shtml

Human Rights Watch’s report on police brutality in New Orleans
www.hrw.org/reports98/police/uspo94.htm

US State Department’s report on reduced crime in New Orleans
usinfo.state.gov/journals/itdhr/1197/ijde/neworlen.htm

HOPE VI grant

In February 1995 the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development approved a HOPE VI grant to HANO to improve the living environment either through rehabilitation of the housing or complete redevelopment of the housing. In 1996, HANO subcontracted to Tulane University a significant portion of the management of the Desire Development. Tulane was able to assist the community with building repairs and job placements. Still the audits of the HOPE VI grant by the Office of the Inspector General of HUD, testimony at the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the House of Representative’s Committee on Financial Services’ hearing on the Housing Authority of New Orleans, and a recent lawsuit by current and former residents against HANO for their implementation of the HOPE VI grant, all point to continued hardships for the residents of Desire. The development is now being completely redeveloped.

Various articles & reports related to the Desire Housing Development

Audit report of the Inspector General’s Office of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on Housing Authority of New Orleans’ HOPE VI grants
www.hud.gov/oig/ig861004.pdf

June 4, 2001 Field Hearing on the Inspector General's Report
on the Housing Authority of New Orleans at the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Financial Services’ Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
financialservices.house.gov/Hearings.asp?formmode=detail&hearing=50

Common Denominator’s article about the lawsuit against HANO for its implementation of the HOPE VI grant
www.thecommondenominator.com/100801_news3.html

Article about Robert King Wilkerson, a Black Panther recently released who fought for prison reform with other Black Panthers jailed after the shootout in the Desire Projects.
www.bestofneworleans.com/dispatch/2001-03-06/news_feat.html

More about the neighborhood and its residents

St. Petersburg Times’ article on Marshall Faulk, professional football player, who was raised in the Desire Housing Development, returning to New Orleans to play in the 2002 SuperBowl
www.sptimes.com/News/012800/SuperBowl/In_the_clear.2.shtml

Housing Authority of New Orleans’ web page on the Desire Housing Development
www.hano.org/desire.htm

Neighborhood Profiles Project Document prepared by the City of New Orleans Office of Policy Planning and the City Planning Commission. Published December 1980. Study available at the Williams Research Center (non-circulating collection).

The 30th Anniversary of the Desire Shoot-out: An Interview with Malik Rahim and Ahmad Rahman. (n.d). Retrieved 10/5/02, from www.endsound.com/nopf/socialcomment/desireshootout.htm
(Has scans of 1970 newspaper articles on the subject.)

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Last modified: December 8, 2006