At NOLA Book Fest at Tulane University, Mayor Helena Moreno strikes a hopeful note for New Orleans’ future

After a little more than 60 days in office, New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno said her administration has fixed more than 1,600 street lights, is in the process of hiring 50 new street repair workers and watched the city's murder rate fall to its lowest point since the 1970s. Moreno laid out her record of achievement so far during a conversation with veteran journalist Evan Smith at the New Orleans Book Festival at Tulane University. The discussion was as much about the city's future as its present.

The talk was part of The Atlantic's "Atlantic Across America" national tour, which chose New Orleans as its fifth stop on a journey planned to go to all 50 states. Smith, managing director of events at The Atlantic and co-founder of The Texas Tribune, noted that New Orleans was a natural stop for a series focused on the importance of American cities.

Moreno credited her early results to a leadership team, which includes a notable number of Tulane graduates, that she described as disciplined, creative and willing to think outside the box.

One of Moreno's biggest priorities is to make New Orleans easier to navigate for businesses and entrepreneurs. That means fixing systems like the permitting process while also creating space for new ideas and industries to take root, she said.

"I know how amazing this city is and can be," Moreno said, returning again and again to the idea that New Orleans' future depends on making the city easier to live in, easier to work in and full of opportunity for the people who call it home.

Moreno pointed to Austin as a model for New Orleans, noting that intentional investment in entrepreneurs decades ago helped transform that city. She said Newlab's recent $50 million investment at the former Naval Support activity site in the Bywater is the kind of development she hopes to encourage, part of a broader push to grow an innovation economy.

At the same time, she was adamant about what can't change.

"There is no sustainable New Orleans without our culture," Moreno said. On the question of what success ultimately looks like, Moreno was clear. Short term, she said, residents should feel the difference in their daily lives - better streets, working lights, a government that responds. Long term, her benchmark is straightforward: reverse the population loss that has made New Orleans one of the fastest-shrinking large metros in the country since 2020.

"I do want that to be my legacy, that I made the city a much better place to live in, and that I created the level of opportunity necessary to keep people here," she said.