A guy building houses in NOLA told me the inevitable plan for the 9th Ward

[henslee]

He heard it from HUD reps. It will become a park. They won't admit this is the plan right now. They will wait until emotions have somewhat subsided and the hoopla dies down. The reason being... it will take ten to twenty years and 30 billion dollars to truly secure the city against a Cat 5. Just working on the levies wont do it. Meanwhile the rest of NOLA will become a casino/Vegas playground for vacationers. One developer has bought up a billion dollars worth of properties.

[fooj]

1. Hasn't that been the plan all along?

:grr:

[villager]

2. I guess the GOP developers don't realize

...we'll have continual hurricane seasons in these globally-warmed times. May not make the "new Vegas" too appealing...

[rodeodance]

3. this is the America we have become.

[ananda]

5. So sad.

So so sad.

[Catherine Vincent]

4. If that's the case, they should pay every being that lived in that area

some type of reparations. I know some of them didn't own any of the land there, but it was where their home was and a hurricane uprooted their well being forever. The US can afford it.

[Angry Girl]

6. It's a not so subtle form of ethnic cleansing

They've been trying to get rid of the folks of New Orleans since over a century now.... Bstards.

[mermaid]

7. And Where Will These Casino Workers Live?

You know damn well the casinos won't pay their employees an adequate wage for them to afford any decent, nearby housing! So how are they gonna fill those jobs, when the workers who could fill them won't be able to afford housing in the area?
Or were the wrokers supposed to live in cardboard boxes in the park that was the ninth ward?

[alfredo]

8. Maybe a version of the company store. The casinos will

build housing and charge the workers rent. The casinos can get all kinds of tax breaks for building low cost housing, and then the rent paid by their "sharecroppers" will pay the mortgage. Because the workers are living in what could be called contract housing. If they get laid off or fired, they probably won't have more than a day or so to move out. It's all in how the employment contract is worded.

[MountainLaurel]

10. They'll be bused in

From "their" communities, just as many of the Caribbean resorts tranport workers to and from the island at each shift change. Can't have someone's vacation ruined by the sight of slums where the person who cleaned up after their sorry asses actually has to live, dontcha know?

[EC]

9. I for one will NEVER VACATION IN NEW ORLEANS

again, until it is restored with people from all classes...

[NashVegas]

11. The Park Part Doesn't Surprise Me

I got yelled at in this forum yesterday for saying as much, about the time and planning it would take to rebuild properly.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=5569330&mesg_id=5570113

As for the billion-dollar property speculation, I would so love to see that come back and bite his ass somehow. His and all the others' who are looking for an investment outside of stocks & bonds who will rush in.