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Once the city of New Orleans declares Mardi Gras and other holiday events to be officially ended, their police order the people to clear the streets and sidewalks, then their fire department hoses down the streets and sidewalk to clear the litter and related filth that accumulate on Bourbon and other streets in the French Quarter.

Several other members posted more graphic terms to describe the contents of the litter and related filth. 

The term "cajun" is a corruption of "Acadian" the correct term for people of French (and to a lesser extent Spanish) ancestry who lived the French controlled region of Canada known as Acadia. At the conclusion of the French and Indian War 1763, the victorious English [1] renamed the region Nova Scotia and [2] exiled anyone who would not sign a loyalty oath to England and, by inference, renounce their Roman Catholic religion. Many of these exiles ended up in southern Louisiana. The city of Lafayette, LA (approximately 140 miles west of New Orleans) promotes itself as "the metropolis of Acadiana (a portmanteau of Acadia and Louisiana). Unlike much of the southern United States, this area is predominantly Roman Catholic.

The city of New Orleans and its suburbs is more cosmopolitan. In addition to its "cajun" population, New Orleans has a significant "creole" population who emigrated from places other than Canada. For the purposes of this posting, the term, creole, is not race specific. African Americans are the most numerous ethnic group in present day New Orleans.          

For those who want to combine shopping with educational/entertainment activities, the Baybrook Mall is only 10 minutes (5.5 miles) from the NASA Johnson Space Center. 

Starting from Galveston near the site where the Galvez Mall once occupied, online references show the Mainland City Centre in Texas City (formerly known as the Mail of the Mainland) is 18.4 miles (approximately 25 minutes) away. Starting from the same place in Galveston, The Baybrook Mall in Houston is 31.1 miles (approximately 39 minutes) away.

According to online references, the Mainland City Centre has approximately 800,000 square feet of retail floor space, compared to the Baybrook Mall with approximately 1,500,000 square feet of retail floor space. It follows that the larger mall will likely offer a better selection of competitively priced products for sale.   

Don't recall a retail center in Galveston, Texas named "Galvez Plaza". After the Galvez Mall was demolished circa 2000, Home Depot and Target opened stores on the original site which became anchor stores for the present-day Galvez Shopping Center. In common usage, the terms "shopping mall" and "shopping center" tend to overlap.

As has been stated by other HAIF members, a significant number of the better paying jobs in Galveston County have "moved away" from the City of Galveston to League City and other areas, incorporated or otherwise, in Galveston County.

Despite attempts to diversify to more year round jobs, many of the remaining jobs in the City of Galveston are highly seasonal due to their direct or indirect dependence on tourism. In other words, wages + gratuities (tips) might provide a reasonable standard of living, but only for part of the year. Subsidized housing (free or reduced rate) and UTMB free medical care can offset this to some extent. What any particular group of people consider to be a "reasonable standard of living" is highly subjective.        

Looking again at my March 13 posting, it would be more correct to say that, at any given time, an occupied city or other political entity displays the cumulative attitudes of its residents. 

Although it's been nearly 15 years since Hurricane Ike made landfall on Galveston Island and, among other things, caused severe damage to its steel wheel trolley fleet, only limited progress has been made to repair the damaged trolleys and return them to active service. My assumption is the limited progress is due to the high cost of mechanical and cosmetic repairs needed to restore the steel wheel trolleys to safe operating condition, combined with the high cost of transporting them to and from the repair facility. The rubber-tired trolley replica vehicles currently operating in place of the steel wheel trolleys have several advantages: [1] during normal conditions, they can operate on ordinary paved roads, allowing greater flexibility in selection of routes due to the far greater mileage of existing paved streets compared to that of the existing steel trolley rails; [2] in the event of an anticipated tropical storm, they can be driven over existing highways to safer inland locations. Once the storm passes, they can be driven back to Galveston Island and returned to service as soon as the streets are cleared of debris and flooding. Although the rubber-tired replica vehicles are not as realistic and their steel-tired counterparts, they might be the most practical alternative.

By coincidence, Galveston Houston Electric Railway began operations in 1911, three (3) years before the outbreak of World War I in 1914, and ceased operations in 1936, three (3) years before the outbreak of World War II in 1939. Years ago, a relative told me [1] when he graduated from college with a BA (Business Education) in 1939, the economy was still depressed and decent jobs were hard to find; but a year later in 1940, "war industries" had revived the economy, making it much easier to find decent jobs.

It's the dunes! Kudos to s3mh for pointing out (now that I have read the posting) what should have been obvious. If I understand the posting correctly, dunes to block surging water, preferably in conjunction with adjacent marshlands to soak up the excess water, are needed to facilitate the more gradual release of the water in a manner less likely to cause flooding.

Regarding housing & related construction on Galveston Island's west end...  I'm likewise curious why do "new houses on the west end decrease the island's ability to mitigate flooding and why do they increase the risk to everyone else?"

As a long time tourist, I've always assumed that Galveston Island's west end begins where westbound traffic transitions from Seawall Blvd to Termini-San Luis Pass Road.

My previous posting about Mall of the Mainland stated (incorrectly) that it was not visible from I-45. As was pointed out by editor, based on his 1999 observations, [1] there was a "big sign facing I-45" that advertised the Mall of the Mainland and [2] Although the mall itself was visible from I-45, "it was set far back from the freeway with no obvious exit for access, especially at 70MPH" (posted speed limit). As noted previously, Mall of the Mainland opened in 1991. 

Mall of the Mainland addendum: Previous comments about this shopping mall located in Texas City TX were mostly from the point of view of Galveston County and Harris County residents who were familiar with where this mall was located and how to get there. From what I've read on various postings, The Mall of the Mainland was not visible to motorists driving on I-45 (Gulf Freeway) between Houston and Galveston. Most tourists (myself included) who traveled on I-45 between Houston and Galveston would have been unaware of its existence unless they had prior knowledge of the mall's location, what exit to take to get there, and how to get back to I-45. Keep in mind this was during a time before the era of smart-phones and other electronic aids.

Sea-Arama Marineworld Park was one of the Galveston attractions I wanted to visit, but never "got around" to visiting before it closed.

Years later, I made several visits to Sea-Arama Marineworld Park, near St. Augustine FL, while working as a public school teacher. This was one of several attractions in the St. Augustine area that met my employers' requirement that all student field trip destinations must have legitimate educational content. 

The opposite (antonym) for "precious" is worthless, useless, or valueless. Although the people living in any given city are capable of "indifference", blunt or otherwise, the city itself is an inanimate political entity, not capable of anthropomorphic behavior.

Several former Houston residents I've talked to stated they liked Houston because of its [1] diverse population and culture and [2] many quality restaurants and night clubs.

According to a long-time and current Houston resident, the severe economic recession in Houston during the 1980s caused many people to move away from Houston and find employment elsewhere. When the recession subsided and the economy recovered, things were subjectively different. According to this resident, the traditional uniqueness of Houston's culture was replaced to some extent with what he termed a "generic big city" culture.

Either example could be a starting point for a more disciplined study with adequate sample sizes          

Another Houston first: With a total area of approximately 665 square miles, Houston TX is the largest city in the United States by total area that is not consolidated with a county, parish, or borough government.

According to what I've read, back in the 1950s and 1960s, many Texans came to southern Louisiana to work for various petroleum (exploration, drilling, production) companies. Fortunately for them, the Ford Motor Company assembly plant in Dallas TX provided "Built in Texas by Texans" decals and stickers for those who wanted to show off their "Texas pride." Due to depressed nationwide economic conditions, Ford closed the Dallas assembly plant in 1970.

The interesting posting of Houston "firsts" is correct, provided there are certain qualifications:

The world's first heart transplant (human) took place on 12/03/1967 at Groote Schuur Hospital, Capetown, South Africa. The USA's first successful (survival time measured in months and/or years) heart transplant (human) took place on 05/02/1968 at St. Luke's Hospital, Houston TX.

Mission Control for the first manned landing on the Moon (07/20/1969) was at Johnson Space Center, Houston TX; however the actual launching took place at Kennedy Space Center, located on the northern portion of Merritt Island, a peninsula in Brevard County, FL.

The Houston Texans, having lost again (12/18/2022), this time to the Kansas City Chiefs, maintain and probably improve the likelihood of their (the Houston Texans) ending the current season in a favorable draft position compared to other NFL professional football teams. Update: The Texans' week 18 (32 to 31) victory over the Indianapolis Colts puts them #2 in draft position behind the Chicago Bears who are #1 in draft position. As things stand at the end of regular season games, Lovie Smith is the second consecutive Texans Head Coach to be fired after one season.  

Regarding the recent posting (11/20/2022 by sir_racha), the positive opinions he expressed about the Galveston novel and its author, Nic Pizzolatto, are similar to my own.

As an aside: Nic Pizzolatto lived with his parents in Lake Charles LA from age 5 (circa 1980) until he left home to attend college at Louisiana State University (circa 1993). Lake Charles LA to Galveston TX is roughly a 2.75 hour drive, convenient for tourists from Louisiana to visit Galveston's beaches and other attractions. Conversely, its similarly convenient for tourists from Texas to visit and gamble at the various legal gambling casinos in the Lake Charles LA area. As most people probably know, casino gambling is illegal in Texas with the exception of some Native American (American Indian) reservations and tribal lands where the the principle of Tribal Sovereignty, as codified by federal (United States) law as the Indian Gaming Act of 1988, limits the ability of states (including Texas) to forbid gambling on Indian reservations and other tribal lands owned by Native American tribes.         

Dan H;  On Saturdays when I have free time, one of my favorite activities is playing pinball and console games at Anastasia Island's Arcade Museum located in St. Augustine Beach, FL, about 33 miles from my house. Usually, I pack food and drinks in a cooler, but when I don't, there's a modern, well maintained 7-11 store across the street from the pinball museum with a good selection of packaged sandwiches, drinks, etc., along with self-service gasoline pumps. Similar convenience store brands commonly seen around this part of FL are: Circle K, Gate, and WaWa. Likely you are more familiar with Circle K than with Gate or WaWa.

Having a diner within walking distance must have been really convenient for the Ball High students who preferred not to eat at the school cafeteria and could afford to pay somewhat more for their lunch.      

For those of you who lived in, worked in, or visited Galveston during the 1970s, you might like to check out the recently-posted (by HAIF member Dan H) You Tube video: Galveston in the 70s. 

As far a I know, none of the postings pertaining to Mall of the Mainland, state that Baybrook Mall was the main causal factor for the decline of the Mall of the Mainland. The language in my own posting, "due in part to competition from the Baybrook Mall," clearly allows for the existence of other causal factors for the decline of the Mall of the Mainland.

The statement about the Mall of the Mainland being "a place to be seen and to shop" is the opinion of one Galveston resident at the time explaining why he and others he knew (at the time) went there. Likewise, the contrasting statement about the Mall of the Mainland as "never the 'place to be be'" is the opinion of another Galveston resident at the time explaining why he and others he knew (at the time) went elsewhere.

Causal relationships allow for reasonable inferences to be made, but the only way to establish actual cause and effect is a controlled experimental model. For example, if it were possible to create an alternate reality in which Baybrook Mall was never built, but all other variables were identified and left unchanged, then what happened to the Mall of the Mainland in this alternate reality would be likely to prove or disprove a causal relationship between the two malls (but only within this alternate reality).