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A new Brookings Instiitution report says that on the eve of the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, “greater New Orleans is rebounding and, in some ways, doing so better than before” though “key economic, social, and environmental trends in the New Orleans metro area remain troubling.”

The fascinating study notes that the recovery effort — “in the last five years, hundreds of citizens, government leaders, business and civic leaders, nonprofits, and philanthropies have been tirelessly working together” — is becoming a case study of regional community resilience.

The report. “An Overview of Greater New Orleans: From Recovery to Transformation,” was written by Amy Liu and Allison Plyer. It is part of a joint project of Brookings’ Metropolitan Policy Program and the  Greater NewOrleans Community Data Center called the New Orleans Index at Five.

In the introduction, the authors write:

It has been often said that New Orleanians are resilient. They have to be after being dealt three crises in five years—Hurricane Katrina and the levee breaches, the Great Recession, and now the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. To be resilient is to be able to recover from a major stress or shock. But New Orleanians have issued a more laudable challenge for themselves after Hurricane Katrina: They must not only bounce back, but do so better than before.

Yet, as the nation witnesses another disaster unfolding in the Gulf Coast region on the eve of the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, some have questioned whether New Orleans can rebound at all. The answer is yes. The city and metro area have been recovering from Katrina and, in fact, may even be on the path to transformation.

National attention on the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has overshadowed the more mundane but herculean task of reinventing New Orleans. In the last five years, hundreds of citizens, government leaders, business and civic leaders, nonprofits, and philanthropies have been tirelessly working together to ensure that the city they love emerges from the 2005 hurricanes with all of the city’s assets preserved but its flaws corrected.

The report’s research found:

• Despite sustaining three “shocks” in the last five years [Katrina, recession and oil spill], greater New Orleans is rebounding and, in some ways, doing so better than before.

• Further, greater New Orleans has become more “resilient,” with increased civic capacity and new systemic reforms, better positioning the metro area to adapt and transform its future.

• Yet, key economic, social, and environmental trends in the New Orleans metro area remain troubling, testing the region’s path to prosperity.

The report (as well as the related work in the Index project) has some really interesting research and analysis on New Orleans recovery thus far and the road ahead. It notes that the community has used the post-Katrina period to make major reforms in its public schools, health care delivery, criminal justice system and neighborhood development efforts, though obviously there is a long way to go. The full study can be found here.

Thanks to the Recovery Diva, Claire Rubin, for posting this on her blog.