State & Local Government Policy, Business and Technology

New Orleans Brings Data-Driven Tools to Blight Remediation

Data-Smart City Solutions: Since New Orleans began its recovery after Hurricane Katrina, the city has been tackling its problem with blighted properties in a variety of ways. Reducing blight has been one of Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s top priorities since he took office in 2010.

The city’s successful BlightSTAT performance management approach has been the backbone of efforts that resulted in the elimination of over 15,000 blighted units from 2010 to 2015, accomplished through a mix of demolition, sale, and owner repairs. BlightSTAT, along with the city’s other performance management efforts, is led by the Office of Performance and Accountability (OPA), the city’s team dedicated to improving services and delivering results through data. The OPA team is responsible for both performance and analytics, which director Oliver Wise points to as a “huge advantage” because the team is able to identify use cases from being deeply embedded in operations. The OPA, in collaboration with the city’s Department of Code Enforcement, has continued to apply the latest data-driven tools to advance the city’s goal of eliminating blight.

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