Question for NOLA/Gulf Coast DU'ers

[XemaSab]

Six months ago the controversial question was "Should New Orleans be rebuilt?"

Now the question seems to be "CAN New Orleans be rebuilt?"

The people who fled after Katrina have new homes. The people whose houses were destroyed who stayed are still living in trailors, no?

So if the parts of the city that were destroyed were suddenly miraculously rebuilt, would people who had left come back? Or is the "rebuilding" only for the people who remained?

[OwnedByFerrets]

1. I believe it will be completely

rebuilt someday, but it will be constructed for a different populace than it had before Katrina.

[BayouBengal07]

2. I don't know.

Nobody knows. There are still plenty of trailers parked in front of houses being renovated by their stubborn former residents. Most parts of the uninhabitable areas (the 9th ward and so on) are still empty, and the $64K question is whether to rebuild residential, let nature reclaim it as swampland, or rebuild it as a giant park or something.

Many people are resettled and don't want to come back. The hypothetical miraculous recovery is unanswerable because it will never happen.

[pitohui]

3. many people have already found better lives elsewhere

almost everyone i knew before the storm -- and i have lived here for over three decades -- has left or is leaving

this week i helped another friend pack -- this friend has never had one opportunity in 30 years of living in new orleans, finally, she is getting a "real" job w. a chance for advancement on the west coast

it sucks here, if we could afford it, we'd be gone too

we do the hard dirty work of the world, the oil refineries, the sugar refinery, the transport of goods through the port, and no one cares or appreciates

large areas are not being rebuilt because people are not coming back or they have come back and realized this is bullshit, in other places public schools are BETTER than expensive private schools so middle class and poor kids get educated (you know, the kids who will actually have to WORK unlike the richies?), in other places there are actually jobs, you can walk down a street at night w.out somebody shooting at you

MOST of the city was destroyed as far as residential areas but it won't be completely rebuilt because many residents have some ability that is of value elsewhere -- it's a bit shocking to learn that a nurse in alabama makes more than in new orleans for just one example -- katrina is opening the eyes of those who have transportable skills

we should all get out and see how well this nation does w.out our oil and gas, our sugar, our port

i'm sorry if i sound angry but it's because i am angry, not at you but at the way we've been crapped on

nobody should come back if they have a better deal elsewhere

[OwnedByFerrets]

4. You have every right to be angry. Your government

abandoned you.

[pitohui]

5. i think i'm really starting to get depressed

i do anger better tho :-(

[Behind the Aegis]

9. for you...

:hug:

[RB TexLa]

6. New Orleans is going to be rebuilt to the population it has and sustains

Judging from the last time I was there and from people I know that are still there and the ones who have left it's looks like it will be around 150,000 to 170,000 person city.

[pitohui]

7. that is a huge drop in population

no population has been added since june, or so says the local newspaper, the times-picayune

people are just finding out that there is opportunity elsewhere, that they were never aware of, because louisiana natives were pre-katrina the least mobile of any american state


we've been losing the professional class since the early 80s and now there truly is no reason to stay if you can go elsewhere

also no reason to stay if you were poor, our greatest jewel for poor people -- our ONLY jewel -- was our public health care system which was second to none -- and which has now been completely destroyed

i think i'm going to cry now :-(

[Behind the Aegis]

8. As a recent addition to NOLA...

I think NOLA can be rebuilt. It will be a matter of time. The biggest economic hit has been to tourism. I just read that hundreds of hotels, restaurants, tour companies, and various small-owner shops have gone out of business. Even some of the larger companies are pulling up stakes because there is no money here. In the course of a few days, NOLA went from being the second largest city in LA to the third.

Of course, some residential areas are being rebuilt. However, for some this is not a good thing because they will be "priced out" (i.e. can't afford rent or to buy) of the market. So, why would those people return...no job, no home, no family. The city is trying to attract business owners here, as well as new professionals. The professional health care industry has been decimated! I saw on the local news, something like only 23% of dentists have returned, the same for doctors and only 13% of mental health care providers have returned. Several universities have lost personnel and can't replace them. Currently, one university is being run out of a hotel!

My area is OK. There is still some visible damage, but go a mile or so to the east and it still looks like the hurricane happened last week! Of course there are still signs of Katrina all over the place...even the French Quarter, but you'd have to look hard.

Personally, I am glad we moved to NOLA. Some look at us like we are nuts, but this place is still a wonderful place to live, work, and play! There is much work to do, but NOLA will rise once again!

[XemaSab]

10. Why did you move there?

I'm curious. :shrug:

[Behind the Aegis]

11. We have been trying to move here for 4 years.

This past January, my partner got transfered...and here we are! :)