| Florida Avenue Housing Development | |
|---|---|
 | |
| General information | |
| Location | New Orleans, LA 70117  United States |
| Status | Demolished, Remodeled |
| Construction | |
| Constructed | 1945–1946 |
| Demolished | 1998-2004 (partial) 2005 (remodeled) |
| Other information | |
| Governing body | Housing Authority of New Orleans |
Florida Avenue Projects or Florida Projects was a public housing project in the city of New Orleans. The Florida housing development was built in 1946 on an 18.5-acre tract of land bounded by Florida Avenue and North Dorgenois, Mazant and Gallier streets in the Upper 9th Ward. It resembled most public housing complexes with 47 two and three-story brick buildings, for a total of 734 units housing 1,297 residents, that were arranged around courtyards and largely isolated from the rest of the community. It was Originally built for whites in but was desegregated and by 1970s becoming prominently black project. In the mid-1990s, Florida and nearby Desire Projects was dubbed as the most violent housing projects in the nation. In 1994, the Florida recorded the highest homicide rate out of all HANO developments with 26 slayings, surpassing the 13 killings in the Desire which previous held the highest record a year before. Majority of the Florida killings in 1994 were fuled by drug wars, specifically between the notorious Hardy Boys and the Poonie Crew. The homicide spike in the Florida and Desire contributed to the city becoming the "Murder Capitol of the America."[1][2] That year the city's homicide rate reached 424, 47 of those killings occurring in HANO developments.[3]
In 2005, the project was heavily flooded in Hurricane Katrina and was partly demolished by the end of that year. One half of the complex was remodeled.[4]
