Don't Rebuild New Orleans

[NATO AIR]

I agree with him, let these folks get a new, better life somewhere else, in Texas and other places.

http://www.slate.com/?id=2125810&nav=tap1/

Don't Refloat
The case against rebuilding the sunken city of New Orleans.
By Jack Shafer
Posted Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2005, at 12:19 PM PT

What's to rebuild?

Nobody can deny New Orleans' cultural primacy or its historical importance. But before we refloat the sunken city, before we think of spending billions of dollars rebuilding levees that may not hold back the next storm, before we contemplate reconstructing the thousands of homes now disintegrating in the toxic tang of the flood, let's investigate what sort of place Katrina destroyed.

The city's romance is not the reality for most who live there. It's a poor place, with about 27 percent of the population of 484,000 living under the poverty line, and it's a black place, where 67 percent are African-American. In 65 percent of families living in poverty, no husband is present. When you overlap this New York Times map, which illustrates how the hurricane's floodwaters inundated 80 percent of the city, with this demographic map from the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center, which shows where the black population lives, and this one that shows where the poverty cases live, it's transparent whom Katrina hit the hardest.

New Orleans' public schools, which are 93 percent black, have failed their citizens. The state of Louisiana rates 47 percent of New Orleans schools as "Academically Unacceptable" and another 26 percent are under "Academic Warning." About 25 percent of adults have no high-school diploma.

The police inspire so little trust that witnesses often refuse to testify in court. University researchers enlisted the police in an experiment last year, having them fire 700 blank gun rounds in a New Orleans neighborhood one afternoon. Nobody picked up the phone to report the shootings. Little wonder the city's homicide rate stands at 10 times the national average.

This city counts 188,000 occupied dwellings, with about half occupied by renters and half by owners. The housing stock is much older than the national average, with 43 percent built in 1949 or earlier (compared with 22 percent for the United States) and only 11 percent of them built since 1980 (compared with 35 for the United States). As we've observed, many of the flooded homes are modest to Spartan to ramshackle and will have to be demolished if toxic mold or fire don't take them first.

New Orleans puts the "D" into dysfunctional. Only a sadist would insist on resurrecting this concentration of poverty, crime, and deplorable schools. Yet that's what New Orleans' cheerleaders—both natives and beignet-eating tourists—are advocating. They predict that once they drain the water and scrub the city clean, they'll restore New Orleans to its former "glory."

Only one politician, Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, dared question the wisdom of rebuilding New Orleans as it was, where it was. On Wednesday, Aug. 31, while meeting with the editorial board of the Daily Herald of Arlington Heights, Ill., he cited the geographical insanity of rebuilding New Orleans. "That doesn't make sense to me. … And it's a question that certainly we should ask."

 

[rcajun90]

Don't rebuild New Orleans? When the big earthquake hits San Fransico, Los Angles etc. I guess we won't rebuild there. When a cat. 5 hits Houston, Tampa or Miami I guess we won't rebuild there. A large part of the domestic oil that you enjoy is produced and refined here. You want to see eight dollar gas? The entire country of Holland is below sea level yet it has been around for something like 1,000 years. The local, state and federal government created this disaster.
You can't imagine what a slap in the face it is when you go through something like this and you see Americans saying don't rebuild a major American city. The fact is life is dangerous. There is no safe place.

 

[JOKER96BRAVO]

I have family in the area so it it also hard for me to see one say "don't rebuild"

 

[Nuc]

The entire country of Holland is below sea level yet it has been around for something like 1,000 years. The local, state and federal government created this disaster.

Nature (and global warming)
caused this disaster. Then the govs you refer to screwed up the aftermath with plenty of help from idiotic citizens. Holland is not a fair example because they people there are sophisticated and intelligent. I don't think they'd be raping each other in the soccer stadium.

 

[Nuc]

The fact is life is dangerous. There is no safe place.

Tell that to Homeland Security. They want us to believe that if we take off our shoes and don't carry matches and swiss army knives in our briefcases we'll be fine. Now fools are talking about not rebuilding New Orleans for the same peculiarly American sense of entitlement-"Nothing bad should ever happen". Only Americans think this way and it cuts across right/left political lines.

 

[Mr. P]

Nature (and global warming)
caused this disaster. ...

Of course you have a valid link for the global warming claim.

 

[Nuc]

Of course you have a valid link for the global warming claim.

I don't need a link. Our president said global warming is a fact.
:spank3:

 

[NATO AIR]

1- not worth our tax dollars to completely rebuild a major american city that is BELOW sea level and was never supposed to be built in that area anyway

2- i have no faith the government (local, state or federal) could pull this off in a satisfactory way... unless somehow private enterprise were running this show (and they certainly are, leaving NO for good and going to other places like houston and phoenix).

3- a good amount of the population will choose to migrate elsewhere... especially when reconstruction is slowed continually by health hazards and all kinds of other contaminations.

4- there are just some areas that aren't supposed to be cities, towns, etc etc.... most of them are in the third world, new orleans is just the exception to the rule. let's be honest with ourselves and build a new city somewhere that is viable long-term...

 

[no1tovote4]

Could you imagine being the Mayor of a major city that was simply abandoned while on your watch?

 

[GotZoom]

If they rebuild New Orleans, I have one word of advice.

Venice.

 

[CSM]

If they rebuild New Orleans, I have one word of advice.

Venice.

I am not certain how I feel about this, but I will say that comparisons to European cities is a bit off. Most European seaside cities are not subject to annual hurricanes of any category, never mind a category 4 or 5.

I certainly think that if NO is rebuilt, someone better fix the corruption before they start.

 

[no1tovote4]

If they rebuild New Orleans, I have one word of advice.

Venice.

How about this one? The Netherlands...

 

[NATO AIR]

I am not certain how I feel about this, but I will say that comparisons to European cities is a bit off. Most European seaside cities are not subject to annual hurricanes of any category, never mind a category 4 or 5.

I certainly think that if NO is rebuilt, someone better fix the corruption before they start.

The place is a freaking cesspool, and I do not want to watch tens of billions of dollars wash down the drain because of it.

Give some of that money to the survivors and let them rebuild somewhere else, a lot of the poor folks (the majority of the city I might add) seem to be interested in doing just that. Give them a hand up, not a hand out. We could singlehandedly change the calculus of how we deal with poor people by what we do now.

If we get the poor survivors extensive job training, a generous home loan, counseling and a second chance, let's see how they can go. Let's make an ownership society out of the 200,000 or so poor people who don't really want to return to NO, but would rather have a new home somewhere far away from ghettos and gunfights.

 

[Mr. P]

I don't need a link. Our president said global warming is a fact.
:spank3:

No, I don't believe he ever said, Global warming caused this Hurricane..But you did..

nucular
Quote:
Nature (and global warming)
caused this disaster....

Prove it.:blah2:

 

[CSM]

The place is a freaking cesspool, and I do not want to watch tens of billions of dollars wash down the drain because of it.

Give some of that money to the survivors and let them rebuild somewhere else, a lot of the poor folks (the majority of the city I might add) seem to be interested in doing just that. Give them a hand up, not a hand out. We could singlehandedly change the calculus of how we deal with poor people by what we do now.

If we get the poor survivors extensive job training, a generous home loan, counseling and a second chance, let's see how they can go. Let's make an ownership society out of the 200,000 or so poor people who don't really want to return to NO, but would rather have a new home somewhere far away from ghettos and gunfights.

Not disagreeing with you, but you do realize that what you are proposing is based on the premise that 1) people will take responsibility for themselves, 2) the survivors will want to participate in all the above, and 3) the libs wont interfere in a process/program that is diametrically opposed to everything the libs stand for.

 

[Hobbit]

1) NO is a bad place for a city. The elevation is slowly sinking, and if the Mississippi River ever changes course like it's been trying to do for about two decades now, it'll sink even faster.

2) The Netherlands and Venice are not good models for a new New Orleans. They border the Bering and the Mediterranean Seas, respectively. Neither one has a tropical climate, a prerequisite for hurricanes. That's the reason the Netherlands hasn't been hit with a hurricane. They're not smarter than everyone else, they just think they are because they're liberal elitists. Even the French think they're arrogant, and that's saying A LOT.

3) If private contractors want to risk their own cash to rebuild NO (not a bad idea, seeing as how the land will be cheap), then so be it, but building in NO is a big gamble, and I don't want MY money spent on it.

4) Of the survivors I've heard so far, the ones who are hard-working and actually trying to get money and their kids into school under their own power are not looking to move back. Many of them are moving where I live, in the Atlanta area. Every survivor I've seen who wants it rebuilt is a welfare parasite who only wants it rebuilt because they expect the government to wave a wand and everything magically being back the way it was before the hurricane.

 

[rcajun90]

1- not worth our tax dollars to completely rebuild a major american city that is BELOW sea level and was never supposed to be built in that area anyway

2- i have no faith the government (local, state or federal) could pull this off in a satisfactory way... unless somehow private enterprise were running this show (and they certainly are, leaving NO for good and going to other places like houston and phoenix).

3- a good amount of the population will choose to migrate elsewhere... especially when reconstruction is slowed continually by health hazards and all kinds of other contaminations.

4- there are just some areas that aren't supposed to be cities, towns, etc etc.... most of them are in the third world, new orleans is just the exception to the rule. let's be honest with ourselves and build a new city somewhere that is viable long-term...

You know what SCREW YOU!

 

[NATO AIR]

You know what SCREW YOU!

and I say all of it as a person who was born in New Iberia, LO.

Louisiana deserves a fresh start, w/o New Orleans.

 

[NATO AIR]

Not disagreeing with you, but you do realize that what you are proposing is based on the premise that 1) people will take responsibility for themselves, 2) the survivors will want to participate in all the above, and 3) the libs wont interfere in a process/program that is diametrically opposed to everything the libs stand for.

I understand your concern and share it. I think a lot of people will take responsibiilty for themselves and view this as a second chance ticket out of the ghetto, and make the most of it. The stories I have heard this far are all, admittedly, "talk", but from prior experience with poor single black women in particular who got a second chance, they make the most of it and then some. These folks do not waste opportunity when it comes a knocking.

the liberals, will of course, ruin this if given the chance. let's pray not.

 

[rcajun90]

and I say all of it as a person who was born in New Iberia, LO.

Louisiana deserves a fresh start, w/o New Orleans.

So you were born in Acadiana? So was I. The fact is that America needs New Orleans. Unless you want to pay 8.00 a gallon for gas and let's not talk about you electric and grocery bills. New Orleans will be rebuilt. It was here before America. When the English were establishing a colonies along the east coast, New Orleans was already a big city.

http://www.portno.com/