Renovated food markets in New Orleans offer lessons for Cincinnati
A feature story on the rebirth of three neighborhood markets in New Orleans, two as traditional food markets and one as a museum, reminds us of our local treasure Findlay Market and has lessons for neighborhood co-op market efforts in Cincinnati.
New Orleans once had 34 neighborhood food markets, with historic roots to a time before modern refrigeration when neighborhood shopping was central to daily life. Many closed post-WWII, as population moved to the suburbs, and most of the remaining markets were shuttered by Hurricane Katrina.
Next City has a feature story on the rebirth of three neighborhood markets in New Orleans, two as traditional neighborhood markets and one as a museum.
“In all of our post-Katrina work, what we find is that people want what they had, except they didn’t understand that what they had was very difficult to have to begin with,” says Cedric Grant, executive director of the New Orleans Building Corporation, which is spearheading the renovations. “And now you have to really imagine something new.”
These efforts remind us of the tremendous asset Cincinnati has in Findlay Market, a neighborhood market that has withstood the decline of its Over-the-Rhine surroundings and seems poised to benefit from redevelopment there, including the new streetcar line.
Description of the efforts to revive neighborhood food markets in New Orleans — including interaction with residents and struggles to develop the right business model — might offer lessons for movements to bring co-op markets to local neighborhoods like Clifton and Northside.
