Please Drive Slowly on Neutral Ground

August 26, 2019 NOLA Ready Alert instructing residents regarding parking restriction lift during flood warning.

My son, Jay, is a sophomore at Loyola University in New Orleans, so the worrywart parent I am signed up for NOLA Ready alerts to track emergencies during hurricane season. The above flash flood alert caught my eye, particularly the reference to parking restrictions on sidewalks and neutral grounds. Flooding in New Orleans streets can get dangerous so the city allows residents to to park cars in neutral areas during heavy rainfall.

The phrase “neutral ground” caught my eye in particular. I am co-chairing the Information Architecture Conference to be held in New Orleans next April. Since I am in charge of Experience, I’m especially interested in spotting terms and contexts that might be unique to New Orleans.

One of Jay’s favorite places to hang out in the Uptown neighborhood is the Neutral Ground Coffeehouse. It’s a place where people of all ages can gather, sip coffee, listen to live music and generally enjoy themselves. Like Temple Sinai on Charles Street across from Loyola’s Jesuit campus, Neutral Ground is a place where a Jewish kid from New York City can find some familiar culture and feel at home, with nightly programming, a weekly poetry hour and open mic on Sundays.