No More New Orleans

[Alfred Molison]

What's the future shape of New Orleans that you see?

Does anyone on this list want to move to New Orleans?

***

My biased opinions:

The architecture is important but the architecture follows the people.

They shut down the schools and laid off all the school distric employees. They're laying off most city employees except for police officers and firefighters. (I guess they'll guard the toxic ruins and keep the abandoned buildings from burning down.)

That city is dead! It takes a long time to properly hire people for all those positions.

The tap water is still undrinkable.

Wealthy people don't want to move someplace without good city services, (even if they don't want to pay for those services.)

What's the replacement population going to be? Low wage, unorganized labor without legal recourse?

I hope that the lowest lying areas will be turned into unpopulated parkland. But what about the areas that didn't flood?

Will the government pay people to replace their homes? If not in New Orleans then elsewhere in the country?

[TJones]

What's the future shape of New Orleans that you see?

Does anyone on this list want to move to New Orleans?

***

My biased opinions:

The architecture is important but the architecture follows the people.

They shut down the schools and laid off all the school distric employees. They're laying off most city employees except for police officers and firefighters. (I guess they'll guard the toxic ruins and keep the abandoned buildings from burning down.)

That city is dead! It takes a long time to properly hire people for all those positions.

The tap water is still undrinkable.

Wealthy people don't want to move someplace without good city services, (even if they don't want to pay for those services.)

What's the replacement population going to be? Low wage, unorganized labor without legal recourse?

I hope that the lowest lying areas will be turned into unpopulated parkland. But what about the areas that didn't flood?

Will the government pay people to replace their homes? If not in New Orleans then elsewhere in the country?

Alfred I'm sure that the positions that were terminated will be refilled by the same people, if they want the job back, when the city can get back on it's feet. The city cannot afford those jobs right now, so, of course those people are going to be let go. I would say that new Orleans is still about a month away from "drinkable" tap water. You might be able to bathe with it in a couple of weeks. The government isn't going to let a city of that size just turn into a ghostown.

[Guest danax]

Nature abhors a vacuum and, even though the city will be a true dump for years, there are those who will repopulate and who have proven that they will live in the worst of areas; the illegal aliens.

Not putting them down, but they are willing to live in conditions that most Americans aren't and the work they do is largely construction oriented and Nueva Orleans will be a boomtown for them, especially since El Presidente Bush has relaxed the 1931 wage law as mentioned in this article.They won't be standing around in a shelter waiting for another check, but will be living bunched up in whatever they can find, working from "can to can't" making a ton of money.

Watch for the first cantinas to sprout up within months. Then, within a year, formerly flooded African-american areas will start to get " the look". Will the former residents complain that the "Mexicans" are taking over? Perhaps, but the advantage always goes to those who exploit opportunity.

[J.A.S.O.N.]

I personally don't think it would be a good idea to allow low income developments near their immediate tourist areas again. This is an opportunity for New Orleans to rid those areas of blight and crime.

[kjb434]

My sentiments exactly. The must not build any public housing.

They ought lean towards more ownership situations through Habitat for Humanity. Even Section 8 housing would be better than projects.

New Orleans has a chance to rid themselves of a failed social governing policy and to try at better they city.

The city is not completely lost.

The port is back in operation and is handling cargo. It's not at full capacity, but more is coming online each day.

The westbank of New Orleans wasn't that hard hit. Many places are opening back up. The eastbank areas in Jefferson parish weren't hard hit either. The areas close to the lake are another story.

Proposals are being brought to alow the temporary housing for residents who own homes to be placed on their driveway. This would happen when power, water and sewage gets restored. Living essentially in your front yard will allow the residents to work on their houses and not have to be located many miles away at refugee city in the middle of nowhere.

Apartment and government housed residents will not be able to do this, but will be able to live in the refugee cities. One is ready to go on the north side of Baton Rouge.

At much of the city that was destroyed, there are many portions that are ok. A smaller base population have returned to the unaffected areas (mostly in Jefferson Parish, except for lakefront areas) are trying to return to their normal lives.

When we start seeing large tracts of houses cleared in the worst hit areas to prepare for rebuilding, this will show the city moving more towards normalcy.

Its ridiculous to just write off a city. The US didn't write off Chicago after the fire. They didn't write off San Fransisco after the 1906 earthquake either. New Orleans shouldn't be written off either.

[C2H]

Its ridiculous to just write off a city. The US didn't write off Chicago after the fire. They didn't write off San Fransisco after the 1906 earthquake either. New Orleans shouldn't be written off either.

i agree, New Orleans is too special and important of a city to just let go. Does anyone think if Houston had had this degree of damage done to the city that the governmt would try so hard to save it? Would anyone else care? Maybe not the tourists.

[Heights2Bastrop]

However New Orleans is rebuilt, I think it should be accomplished completely by the private sector and not with government dollars. If the PS wants to rebuild a city below sea level, then let them. I just don

[RedScare]

Well, I told the government not to spend MY tax dollars on stupid crap, but they did it anyway. So, I guess you don't get a vote on this one, cuz they are rebuilding, and they are using public money.

Seems to me, if we're going to use my dollars to rebuild Iraq, we can use your dollars to rebuild an American city.

[Alfred Molison]

From the Rumor Mill/Hearsay Division:

At my work people call us with their changes of address. According to my co-workers, many people are going back to Metarie, Kenner and Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. Electricity and water must be coming back on.

None of my co-workers has reported changes of address for people going back to New Orleans proper.

According to one co-worker businesses in areas where it didn't flood have re-opened. Unfortunately, their employees generally have no place to live and aren't coming back.

According a different one co-worker an elderly couple hitched a ride back to New Orleans. Their house was good enough to stay in but it has no electricity and the water is undrinkable. Supposedly it can be used for bathing. The wife was expecting a check from us. She went to the post office and the check had been returned. She had a bank account where the check could be direct deposited but the bank is closed. The atm machines aren't working because there's no electricity. She had a daughter living up in a northern state where we could mail her checks but how is she supposed to get it when we aren't delivering to her address anymore? Even if she did get it where would she cash it? My co-worker said the husband has alzheimers and the wife wanted to know how we could help her and her husband.

[TJones]

I saw reported last night that HALF of NAWLINS has drinkable tap water now. They are moving along.

[kjb434]

Half of NO means the suburbs like the Westbank and the Eastbank in Jefferson Parish.

My mom was in Meterarie last weekend to go the bridal shop.

My sister's wedding is January is getting all the dresses from a local shop in Meterarie. It was open but most of the city looks deserted.

They found and Olive Garden open with a limited menu near the airport.

Driving in and out wasn't a problem. The causeway and the I-10 bridge on the east side are were traffic can't pass.

[hartwell]

What's the future shape of New Orleans that you see?

Does anyone on this list want to move to New Orleans?

***

My biased opinions:

The architecture is important but the architecture follows the people.

They shut down the schools and laid off all the school distric employees. They're laying off most city employees except for police officers and firefighters. (I guess they'll guard the toxic ruins and keep the abandoned buildings from burning down.)

That city is dead! It takes a long time to properly hire people for all those positions.

The tap water is still undrinkable.

Wealthy people don't want to move someplace without good city services, (even if they don't want to pay for those services.)

What's the replacement population going to be? Low wage, unorganized labor without legal recourse?

I hope that the lowest lying areas will be turned into unpopulated parkland. But what about the areas that didn't flood?

Will the government pay people to replace their homes? If not in New Orleans then elsewhere in the country?

[hartwell]

Hey Al!

" The tap water is still undrinkable."

The water in New Orleans has never been drinkable in the first place,always

smelled like rotten eggs to me or some other bad smell. I never knew what

drinkable tap water was until I moved to Colorado!.

I was born in Houston,raised near Pearland and moved to NOLA in 1957

when I was nine. I lived all over the New Orleans area and lived in Metarie

before moving to Colorado in 1970.

It will be years before the city is livable again and tourism comes

back!. It isn't now the place I remember and have fond memories of!.

Ron Hoover in Colorado

[TJones]

I disagree about the tourism not comin' back. You will have tons of looky-loos, who just have to see for themselves just how much devastation there was. They have 4.5 months until Mardi Gras. I will be anxious to see if they don't have some sort of parade next year. I betting they will.

[bachanon]

ahhh, back to the big easy.....i mean, big empty.

[Jeebus]

You will have tons of looky-loos, who just have to see for themselves just how much devastation there was.

I bet you watch King of the Hill.

[TJones]

I bet you watch King of the Hill.

actually, no. but I used to live in Sugarland. Maybe that's where I got that from. Mike Judge lived in Sugarland for awhile.

[Alfred Molison]

ahhh, back to the big easy.....i mean, big empty.

A Lady from New Orleans October 10, 2006

I talked with a lady on the phone who has five houses in New Orleans. She and six other family members had evacuated before Hurricane Katrina to Atlanta Georgia. One of the six family members is a high school age daughter. After Katrina they moved to Abbeville just a short drive from New Orleans. Abbeville Louisiana survived Hurricane Katrina just fine.

Then Hurricane Rita came along and destroyed about half of Abbeville. The area they were staying in was unscathed but the Abbeville schools have shut down.

About two weeks ago, her husband sneaked into New Orleans when it wasn