Bruce Katz, head of the Metropolitan Policy Program at The Brookings Institution, discusses rebuilding New Orleans. Katz says the areas hardest hit in the city were also the most impoverished. Efforts to bring these areas back, he says, must include plans to eliminate poverty that have been successful in other urban centers.
RENEE MONTAGNE, host: And the devastation that has hit New Orleans destroyed many of the city's      poorest neighborhoods.  Planners are trying to figure out what to do      next. Many say these neighborhoods should not be rebuilt as they were.      Bruce Katz is director of the metropolitan policy program at the      Brookings Institution. He says efforts to rebuild New Orleans must begin      with an understanding that the city's poverty didn't happen by chance.</s>Mr. BRUCE KATZ (Director, Metropolitan Policy Program, Brookings      Institution): The untold story is that the federal government, for 40      years, created this hyperconcentration of poverty in inner-city New      Orleans through the concentration of subsidized housing in many of the      neighborhoods that were most affected by the flood.  The places that were      hardest hit were federal enclaves, essentially.  And the federal      government going forward really has to rethink the principles of      rebuilding so that we don't replicate the mistakes of the past.</s>RENEE MONTAGNE, host: And mistakes of the past leading to...</s>Mr. BRUCE KATZ (Director, Metropolitan Policy Program, Brookings      Institution): One out of five poor families lived in neighborhoods of      extreme poverty; poverty rates of 40 percent or more in the neighborhood.      One out of three poor blacks lived in those kinds of neighborhoods.  And      what we know about neighborhoods of extreme poverty is the schools don't      function, businesses don't invest and there's an absence of jobs and      employment opportunities.</s>RENEE MONTAGNE, host: But is there then a way to design neighborhoods so that poor      people, poor families can emerge from poverty?</s>Mr. BRUCE KATZ (Director, Metropolitan Policy Program, Brookings      Institution): Absolutely.  In fact, we've been doing this in the United      States for really the past 10 or 15 years.  Many suburban counties have      enacted inclusionary zoning ordinances which say when you build more than      50 or so units, 10 or 15 or 20 percent of them must be reserved for      low-income families.  We have a housing voucher program in this country.      Two million families are served with it who give them the choice to move      to areas of low poverty if they want and, for the past 10 years, we've      had a very successful effort to tear down the worst public housing and      replace it with economically integrated communities.</s>RENEE MONTAGNE, host: Well, given the cau--the damage and the level of damage in      certain neighborhoods, does New Orleans offer an opportunity to do that      kind of rebuilding?</s>Mr. BRUCE KATZ (Director, Metropolitan Policy Program, Brookings      Institution): I think there's a huge opportunity in New Orleans to create a      completely different social mix and income mix within the city and within      neighborhoods, and to do it in such a way that many of the low-income      households are better off than they were before the hurricane.  The      lessons that we've learned is you can greatly reduce the concentration of      poverty in these neighborhoods by helping people move to other      neighborhoods, by building a different kind of mixed-income housing, by      using your zoning and regulatory systems to basically compel the private      sector to do this.</s>RENEE MONTAGNE, host: Take us on a step-by-step tour, if you will, of how you bring      together housing, schools, shopping areas, jobs.</s>Mr. BRUCE KATZ (Director, Metropolitan Policy Program, Brookings      Institution): Right.</s>RENEE MONTAGNE, host: What comes first?  How does it work?  What can you do?  And      what can't you do?</s>Mr. BRUCE KATZ (Director, Metropolitan Policy Program, Brookings      Institution): Well, I think part of the issue in New Orleans is whether      there's going to be a transportation infrastructure.  Because, obviously,      if you built light-rail or rapid bus lines, you might be able to create      communities that sort of coalesce around that transportation      infrastructure.  Having a vision about density, so as housing is built,      for every hundred units, let's say 15 or 25 units are set aside for      low-income families.  If you have economic integration, to be frank, the      businesses will come because small business, regional grocers, the      Wal-Marts or even the Walgreens will track economically integrated      communities and communities that can show that they have purchasing      power.  If you build neighborhoods of extreme poverty, the businesses      won't return and whatever schools you build will have a burden that they      can't overcome.</s>RENEE MONTAGNE, host: Bruce Katz, thanks very much for joining us.</s>Mr. BRUCE KATZ (Director, Metropolitan Policy Program, Brookings      Institution): Thanks for having me.</s>RENEE MONTAGNE, host: You're listening to MORNING EDITION from NPR News.