AFL-CIO plans New Orleans boom

In what may be the start of the city's development boom, the AFL-CIO plans to invest $1 billion to develop 10,000 affordable homes and a new downtown hotel. The investment, confirmed Monday by the AFL-CIO, is the labor coalition's most ambitious funding project ever. It also is one of the largest yet for New Orleans and seeks to bring new housing to a city where Hurricane Katrina destroyed more than 100,000 homes.

from USA Today