The fortunes of Treme, however, could soon be improved. One proposal being considered in the master plan would tear down the Claiborne Expressway between Elysian Fields and the Superdome. A boulevard with two lanes for through traffic in both directions with a third outer lane for neighborhood access would replace the expressway.
Oak trees would once again return to Claiborne Avenue, where the only remnants of their existence for the past 50 years have been the crude paintings of trees on the (concrete) buttresses holding up the freeway.
A “Raleigh Rye”-drinking rent-a-lady became the most instantly recognizable subject of New Orleans photographer E.G. Bellocq’s depictions of seedy Storyville life. Public domain.
Urban renewal has a literally storied history in the Treme. Part of the area housed Storyville, a red light district immortalized in E.G. Bellocq’s photos of whorehouse denizens and in the spicy tale of how Jelly Roll Morton honed his protean jazz piano chops in its bordellos.
See the full article from “Examiner.com”
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