Residents Of Nola Upset Over City's New Plans

[pineda]

story in today's Chronicle relates how NOLA officials want a more manageable footprint when they rebuild, but residents don't agree with the plan

related story about a bus trip to Washington to appeal to lawmakers for more rebuilding money for NOLA

I can understand the plan that the city's re-developers are trying to come up with; start over fresh, blank slate, new plan for the city. But, I can also understand the people's point of view; although their homes and businesses may all be gone, the people aren't. Their opinions and feelings need to be expressed and appreciated. A lot of them are probably still in different stages of grief like anger and denial. I think the city planners could have used a bit more tact and compassion in dealing with the residents and included their thoughts and opinions in the re-building plans for the NEW New Orleans.

[The Great Hizzy!]

Quietly, NOLA area politicians and businessmen are envisioning one of the largest gentrification projects in the history of the nation. The problem is that they still don't have the industry to attract the economic demographic that they'd prefer have there.

Meanwhile, dispersed residents have no clue what their futures will look like. My gut feeling all along has been that a very large percentage of these people will eventually not see any advantage to returning to New Orleans, as the recovery will take too long for them as they began to stabilize themselves (financially) in places like Houston, Atlanta, Dallas and Baton Rouge.

[pineda]

website called Bring New Orleans Back includes city planning report in pdf form, interesting read

Quietly, NOLA area politicians and businessmen are envisioning one of the largest gentrification projects in the history of the nation. The problem is that they still don't have the industry to attract the economic demographic that they'd prefer have there.

Meanwhile, dispersed residents have no clue what their futures will look like. My gut feeling all along has been that a very large percentage of these people will eventually not see any advantage to returning to New Orleans, as the recovery will take too long for them as they began to stabilize themselves (financially) in places like Houston, Atlanta, Dallas and Baton Rouge.

From what you've written here, maybe New Orleans should have been named Enemy #1 to the Nation's Homeless and Houston should have been named #1 Compassionate towards the Homeless.

[JWR]

Quietly, NOLA area politicians and businessmen are envisioning one of the largest gentrification projects in the history of the nation. The problem is that they still don't have the industry to attract the economic demographic that they'd prefer have there.

Meanwhile, dispersed residents have no clue what their futures will look like. My gut feeling all along has been that a very large percentage of these people will eventually not see any advantage to returning to New Orleans, as the recovery will take too long for them as they began to stabilize themselves (financially) in places like Houston, Atlanta, Dallas and Baton Rouge.

Yep, just like "THE MAN" blew up the levees to flush out the blacks. The commission is trying to do what is best for not only the entire city, but for the entire region. It will do no one any good if neighborhoods have a house here or there refurbished, while the majority just rots. The last thing we need are shanty towns littering the new landscape that we are forced to live with now. People just need to face the facts... after Katrina, everything changed. There is a choice to be made. Will things change for the better? Or will they change for the worse?