New Orleans City Park visitors want more nature and easier access to it
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.

New Orleans City Park is the city's largest green space. Photo: Courtesy of City Park Conservancy
New Orleans City Park leaders are looking for ways to make it easier to get around the park and take a walk in nature — two top changes users say they'd like to see.
Why it matters: About 16 million people visit the park annually, according to the City Park Conservancy, the nonprofit that oversees the park.
- The group is creating a master plan that will guide development for the next 100 years.
The big picture: The 1,300-acre park spans from Mid-City to Lakeview and is the city's largest public green space.
- The previous master plan from 2005 focused on rebuilding the southern half of the park, according to Randy Odinet, the vice president and chief planning officer at the conservancy.
- The new plan focuses on the northern half of the park: Couturie Forest, the golf courses, the lagoons and the acreage on the lakeside of Interstate 610.

What's happening: Park leaders and landscape architecture firm Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates have two key takeaways from the initial user survey, Odinet says.
Improved access: Users want easier and safer ways to get around the park on foot, bike and in vehicles.
- Leaders want to make it easier to visit more than one thing, Odinet tells Axios, such the Louisiana Children's Museum and Storyland.
- Officials are also looking at creating a promenade that would run through the park and create protected areas for bicyclists and pedestrians.
More nature: Visitors want more access to nature, including shaded woody areas, lagoons and water features.
- People want to "get outside and have a comfortable place to walk around," Odinet says, a request that was loudly voiced during COVID.
Zoom in: Leaders are revisiting the idea of the "Wooded Island" proposed in the 1933 master plan.
- This would create a 180-acre nature area in a space that includes Couturie Forest, Scout Island, property along Harrison Avenue, ball fields and golf courses, Odinet says. For reference, Couturie Forest is roughly 20 acres.
- "The concept has eroded over time, a lot by golf," he tells Axios. "We're trying to test this concept and see if this is something the public is excited about."

By the numbers: The plan could result in about $200 million in initiatives to implement over the next 20 years, City Park CEO Cara Lambright told NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune.
- The plan will be funded by earned income (events and park venues), government grants and fundraising, Odinet says.
- The city's millage supports ongoing operations and equipment needs.
What's next: The City Park Conservancy has a town hall meeting Wednesday night to get feedback on initial proposals for the park.
- The meeting, which will be in the auditorium at Warren Easton Charter High School from 5:30-7:30pm, is come and go. Attendees will be able to look at models of the park and ask questions.
- The final master plan is expected to be presented in December 2024, according to the conservancy.
See the schedule for upcoming park public meetings

