How Brad Pitt's green housing dream for Hurricane Katrina survivors turned into a nightmare

[TexasTowelie]

by Judith Keller
International Research Scholar of Geography, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign


Brad Pitt’s Make It Right Foundation built 109 eye-catching and affordable homes in New Orleans for a community where many people were displaced by damage wrought by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Now this housing development is in disarray. The vast majority of the recently constructed homes are riddled with construction-related problems that have led to mold, termites, rotting wood, flooding and other woes.

At least six are boarded up and abandoned. Many residents have filed lawsuits that are still pending. That is, a nonprofit that built houses with input from Frank Gehry and other prominent architects amid much fanfare for survivors of one disaster then ushered in another disaster.

Structural and other problems are making many residents fear for their health. Make It Right, despite what its name might suggest, has not resolved these issues and has stopped assisting residents. Instead, the movie star-led nonprofit has apparently become defunct.

As an urban geographer who researches on housing development, I’ve been following Make It Right’s travails since 2018, when residents tried to get the New Orleans City Council involved and have municipal authorities inspect the homes. The situation has only deteriorated since then, highlighting the perils that can accompany nonprofit housing development.

Read more: https://theconversation.com/how-brad-pitts-green-housing-dream-for-hurricane-katrina-survivors-turned-into-a-nightmare-175597

[blm]

1. Should have stuck with Habitat for Humanity

who knows how to build houses correctly. You can’t trust partnering up with most developers.

[wildheart]

2. I've done work for habitat for humanity

and in my area, the houses they are buying, to restore, have been condemned houses, in bad neighborhoods. I love working with the retired volunteers, Drs, lawyers, etc. But I question the wisdom of buying in high crime locations where I would not want to raise children. I was told to not work there after dark.

[druidity33]

3. Many reasons...

Homes can be bought cheaper and rehabbed for less in these areas. Habitat is all Donation oriented (other than re-stores) so that is important. They often sell homes at a loss, but every person housed is important. Also OWNING your own home helps an areas stability and home values. Most people applying for homes in "bad neighborhoods" already live in said neighborhoods. People work and live in all types of places... they should be allowed a path to affordable home ownership. It's the first step to revitalizing these "bad" neighborhoods...

[SharonClark]

4. No overhangs, no gutters and down spouts,

and no waterproof paint? Where are the city inspectors who approved the plans and materials?

The homeowners had their hopes raised and dashed. What a shame.

[localroger]

5. The MIR houses seem to have been conceived in some alternate universe

...where there is no weather and where appearance is everything. It reminds me strongly of the accusations of the "winners" of the reality show that pimped peoples' homes did everything half-assed because, well, movie carpentry only has to work for the duration of the shoot, not for a lifetime. The MIR houses were all wacky and while fun-looking from a distance were not really practical. They were kind of like a Frank Lloyd Wright house like Falling Water, beautiful but not really meant to live in and a nightmare if you tried to actually live in one.