Welcome To Main Street Park

Welcome To Main Street Park. Fostering Awareness and Appreciation of the Natural World. , The LA SAFE Origin Story , Louisiana's Strategic Adaptations for Future Environments (LA SAFE) was a planning effort integrating flood risk planning with planning for stormwater management, housing, transportation, economic development, education, recreation. and culture. Led by the Louisiana Office of Community Development and the Foundation for Louisiana, LA SAFE was Louisiana's first large-scale, regional planning effort focused on long-term climate resilience and adaptation for coastal Louisiana (www.lasafe.la.gov) The effort featured an outreach and engagement campaign encompassing 71 individual public meetings across 5 rounds of events in each of LA SAFE's 6 target parishes- Jefferson, Lafourche, Plaquemines. St. John the Baptist, St. Tammany, and Terrebonne , LA SAFE's Mission , Working together for community resilience, prosperity and a better quality of hide for everyone in Louisiana. , LA SAFE's Goals , To generate parish wide, community-driven adaptation strategies focused on opportunities for residents and stakeholders to proactively adapt and prepare for anticipated environmental change the next 10, 25, and 50 years , To implement a catalytic project in each of the six perishes that demonstrates adaptive development practices that conform to current and future flood risks. Furthermore, LA SAFE is intended to identify and support development of resilience-building projects and practices that can serve as models for entire region. , To create a statewide adaptation model that enhances long term stainability and resilience for all Louisiana parishes. , Our Background , Louisiana is projected to lose more land and wetlands along its coast than it can rebuild, even if restoration efforts are completed as planned. With less wetland buffer, the state's coastal regions face increased storm surge and flood risk that will impact families and communities in ways large and small, acute and chronic. LA SAFE proposed a series of land use and development considerations designed to mitigate these negative impacts and maximize potential opportunities that may come with changing environmental conditions. , Airline and Main Complete Streets , The Airline and Main Complete Streets project was one of 10 projects selected for funding at the conclusion of LA SAFE's planning process. It is a Resilient Infrastructure and Community Nonstructural Mitigation/Flood Risk Reduction project to provide both green infrastructure and transportation improvements along both Airline Highway and Main Street in LaPlace. This project serves as a model of how the Parish can plan for a future of heightened flood risk in a low risk area by incorporating stormwater management strategies into public infrastructure projects while providing residents with enhanced transportation options. , LaPlace Cultural and Historic District , Originally home to the Acolapissa, Chitimacha, and Choctaw Native American tribes, the area known as LaPlace was settled by Germans in the early eighteenth century. Due to the fertile soil from the Mississippi River, LaPlace's main industry was the cultivation of sugarcane throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. In the 1920s, a large tract of agricultural land was sold and developed into residential lots, ushering in an era of more development. The construction of Airline Highway and commercial development in the 1930s, and the emergence of refineries in the latter half of the 20th century, greatly increased LaPlace's population. Facilities such as schools, stores, and housing soon dominated the landscape., However, as development grew, stormwater began outgrowing municipal culverts and pipes causing nuisance flooding in the area. In addition, development was strictly automobile focused, with little infrastructure for biking or walking. Due to the improvements made through LA SAFE, Main Street is now considered a complete street, providing facilities for cyclists and vehicular traffic while offering a friendly, safe environment for pedestrians. Improvements also include permeable pavement, parallel parking, and rain gardens which alleviate stormwater runoff.