New Orleans

Kiva City: Using Microloans To Revitalize Small Businesses In Struggling American Cities

Building off its incredible success funding entrepreneurs in the developing world, the microloan company has turned its eye toward America, where it is giving loans in cities like New Orleans and Detroit. READ»

Venture For America Will Do For Entrepreneurship What Teach For America Does For Education

Sending young entrepreneurs to companies outside of major cities gives struggling economies an infusion of new talent, and budding business people a chance to be at the front lines of innovative startups.READ»

What Makes a Smarter City? IBM Bets on 24 Winners

IBM's $50 million Smarter Cities Challenge just picked its first round of recipients this week, and they're diverse, to say the least. Here's how they got IBM's attention. READ»

Mardi Gras Mambo

For many Americans, New Orleans and Mardi Gras are near synonymous -- and last year’s Carnival marked a 25-year high in partygoers visiting the Big Easy. Before we break out our feather boas and doubloons, here’s a look at the festivities, by the numbers.READ»

Mr. Peanut Tips His Hat at New Orleans: Planters Converts Neglected Lot Into Urban Oasis

Mr. Peanut can now be found sitting on a bench in a peanut-themed green space in New Orleans' crime-ridden Central City, courtesy of Planters and the Corps Network.READ»

Miami and New Orleans Could Lose 10 Percent of Their Land by 2100: Study

Over 40 million people in the coastal United States--including New York City and D.C.--could be impacted by rising sea levels in the coming decades.READ»

The Next Katrina? California's Looming Levee Catastrophe

As the Governator steps down he faces widespread criticism about the economic and environmental condition of California, but there is one particular issue that hasn't seen a whole lot of attention--and it should.READ»

Hoaxes and the Chevron Debacle

The hijacked "We Agree" campaign stung Chevron. Yet, hoaxes have a deep history in our culture. Back in August, I wrote a piece about our fascination with figures like P.T. Barnum, Andy Kaufman, and World Wrestling Entertainment's Vince McMahon who constantly blur the distinction between fantasy and reality. They play a crucial role in our society.READ»

Brian Bordainick, Founder and Executive Director, 9th Ward Field of Dreams

Bordainick's 9th Ward Field of Dreams started in 2008 with a group of 30 kids with way more courage than means. Today, he runs a $1.85 million sports facility open to all public schools. Bordainick tells us about facing a seemingly impossible goal, exceeding it, but never forgetting that it all grew out of some patchy grass, cinder blocks, and two-by-fours.READ»

How Sewage Could Save New Orleans

It sounds like a joke: New Orleans, that most unlucky of cities, could be protected from hurricanes and wetland degradation by ... sewage?READ»

The Post-Katrina Demographic Shift: Older, Whiter, Wealthier

A Nielsen study finds that New Orleans has lost diversity since hurricane Katrina.READ»

Dead in the Water: A Floating Cemetery for Hong Kong

A concept building gives a whole new meaning to burial at sea.READ»

Why You Should Start a Company in... New Orleans

The Saints recently marched in clutching the Lombardi Trophy and the good times certainly don't end there. Now is a very active time for Big Easy entrepreneurship. READ»

Two Questions to Make Your Product Irresistible

I could not sleep the night before my birthday. My mind was buzzing, not with dreams of birthday cake but with thoughts of what I had experienced earlier in the day. I was flying home overnight from Ecuador where I had just ...READ»

Super Bowl Lesson #3 - Find A Moral Force

Von Clausewitz, the great Prussian military strategist, introduced us to the concept of “moral force.” He believed that armies that wanted to win with great conviction enjoyed a tangible advantage over less-motivated ...READ»

What the Super Bowl Means for Innovation

My wife can pronounce “Tchoupitoulas.” She loves red beans and rice. She peels crawfish faster than you can toss popcorn in your mouth, and last Sunday night, when the New Orleans Saints (the American football team) won ...READ»

The New New Orleans: Best of Times for the Big Easy

New Orleans is on one formidable good times roll.READ»

• Read more from The Upswing.

The Career-Saving Surgery Behind the Saints' Super Bowl Win

Without the exquisite handiwork of Dr. James Andrews, the top surgeon in sports, Drew Brees couldn't have won the Super Bowl. In fact, he couldn't have come back and played at all.READ»

Brad Pitt's Foundation Unveils Floating Home That Rises Up (and Away) in Floods

It's inevitable that a Katrina-style hurricane will strike again. But maybe this time we should be prepared to go with the flow--literally. Brad Pitt's Make it Right Foundation unveiled today the Float House, a home that can break ...READ»

Five Endangered Cultural Monuments That Need Your Help

The World Monuments Fund has released its annual watch list of architectural and heritage sites desperately in need of preservation. Five are especially hard-hit from recent political and environmental events.READ»