New Orleans and Katrina

[picasso]

I'd like some input from you local inbred cajuns who post here.
my gf just recently returned from a mission trip to NO with a group from our church. they cleaned houses, slept on the floor of a local church, did a little sightseeing, etc.
she was surprised to find an overwhleming % of the houses there were rented, not owned. thus explaining quite a bit as far as the extent of aid to be given.

anybody?

[JohnnyMack]

I vote we go on a mission trip to Merritt's and make sure it's cleaned out.

[scaldeddawg]

I would say pre-Katrina that most New Orleans houses were rented and not owned. Maybe TUSooner can shed some light.

[picasso]

I vote we go on a mission trip to Merritt's and make sure it's cleaned out.
JM, I got one of those double decker chocolate cakes over the weekend for my b'day. man, there goes the trianing regiment.:D


so, if they were rented. would that not put a clamp on just how much the gubment could help?

[Mjcpr]

so, if they were rented. would that not put a clamp on just how much the gubment could help?

Would they still be owned by somebody?

[etouffee]

New Orleans was, and is, an extremely poor, low income city, where a wealthy minority owns most of the land and buildings. It only makes sense that the majority of residents are renters. It also explains why a things are happening so slowly down there. A lot of the people who owned those houses and apartments hadn't put any money into them for decades; they were still getting the rent checks (often straight from the govt via housing programs) no matter how dilapidated the dwellings things got. So, understandibly, they're not overly anxious to invest large amounts of cash into fixing or rebuilding them now, especially if ia) the population isnt back so the houses could sit vacant, and b) it could just get blown down again next year. They'd rather just get a fat check from the insurance company and invest the money elsewhere, and sell the property in New Orleans for whatever they can get for it.

[picasso]

New Orleans was, and is, an extremely poor, low income city, where a wealthy minority owns most of the land and buildings. It only makes sense that the majority of residents are renters. It also explains why a things are happening so slowly down there. A lot of the people who owned those houses and apartments hadn't put any money into them for decades; they were still getting the rent checks (often straight from the govt via housing programs) no matter how dilapidated the dwellings things got. So, understandibly, they're not overly anxious to invest large amounts of cash into fixing or rebuilding them now, especially if ia) the population isnt back so the houses could sit vacant, and b) it could just get blown down again next year. They'd rather just get a fat check from the insurance company and invest the money elsewhere, and sell the property in New Orleans for whatever they can get for it.
ok thanks. but we never really hear about that part on the news.
gf thinks when the city does come back it will be greatly changed, she thinks it will lean more towards the midddle class. you think so?

[etouffee]

still very much up in the air what the "new" new orelans will ultimately look like. but, since a lot of the ghetto dwellers are now getting their rent paid by the taxpayers in some other city, and there's not likely to be as much low income, govt subsidized housing in New Orleans for a while, then at least for the short term the city will be inhabited mostly by people who can afford to buy or build houses.

[picasso]

that's exactly what her line of thinking is.

you should have seen the pics she texted to me of the mold in some of those houses.:eek:

[scaldeddawg]

ok thanks. but we never really hear about that part on the news.
gf thinks when the city does come back it will be greatly changed, she thinks it will lean more towards the midddle class. you think so?

I personally think that the city won't be back anytime soon. At least 10-15 years. I drove through New Orleans East not long ago, and it is still a weird/eery ghost town. Driving down I-10 was very weird.

It will be a very different city. A LOT smaller in population. My guess is about 40% of the number of people there before.

It'll be under water by 2050 anyhow........ :eek:

[TheHumanAlphabet]

I'd like some input from you local inbred cajuns who post here.
my gf just recently returned from a mission trip to NO with a group from our church. they cleaned houses, slept on the floor of a local church, did a little sightseeing, etc.
she was surprised to find an overwhleming % of the houses there were rented, not owned. thus explaining quite a bit as far as the extent of aid to be given.

anybody?

Why would that surprise you. NOLAs mostly didn't have money and were welfare takers...Surprise they live in motels for 8 months and still want to stay there? Hello, NOLAs escape to Houston, Houston's crime goes up.

Many owners in NOLA were "slum lords" and were probably "dancing in the streets" as they will get a big check for the property and will not rebuild. Most people displaced will probably never go back...Biggest scatter of the welfare roles ever.

If you think I'm cynical, yes you're right. I live in Houston, my crime rate has gone up and my taxes will go up soon...

[etouffee]

I personally think that the city won't be back anytime soon. At least 10-15 years. I guess it depends what you mean by "back". Hopefully, it never goes back to what it was immediately before the storm. To me, the best outcome would be for New Orleans to be a small port/industrial down, with the French Quarter as a tourist attraction/revenue stream. There's just no reason for it to be a major population center, especially since no one is willing to make the investment needed to effectively protect it from future hurricanes and floods.

[OUinFLA]

I heard on the news that a vast majority of the land within the levees was still sinking at the rate of one foot per decade. However, it was a news program, and I have grown cynical of their sensationalized reports.

But, if true, it leads me to believe that the levees are simply a stop gap and eventually, the low lying houses even if rebuilt are still a poor investment of your money.

I dont believe I would rebuild in such an environment.

[etouffee]

another thing to consider is that there will be new building code requirements for rebuilding, to make structures more wind and flood resistant. this will cost even more money, thus making rebuilding even less attractive.

[scaldeddawg]

I guess it depends what you mean by "back". Hopefully, it never goes back to what it was immediately before the storm. To me, the best outcome would be for New Orleans to be a small port/industrial down, with the French Quarter as a tourist attraction/revenue stream. There's just no reason for it to be a major population center, especially since no one is willing to make the investment needed to effectively protect it from future hurricanes and floods.

Yeah, I am hoping for the same. When leaving the French Quarter, I hated getting caught by a red light anywhere. Scary. Especially there at the I-10/Esplanade. Squalled tires getting away from there.

[TUSooner]

New Orleans was, and is, an extremely poor, low income city, where a wealthy minority owns most of the land and buildings. It only makes sense that the majority of residents are renters. It also explains why a things are happening so slowly down there. A lot of the people who owned those houses and apartments hadn't put any money into them for decades; they were still getting the rent checks (often straight from the govt via housing programs) no matter how dilapidated the dwellings things got. So, understandibly, they're not overly anxious to invest large amounts of cash into fixing or rebuilding them now, especially if ia) the population isnt back so the houses could sit vacant, and b) it could just get blown down again next year. They'd rather just get a fat check from the insurance company and invest the money elsewhere, and sell the property in New Orleans for whatever they can get for it.
I'll take etouffee's word on that. I kept hearing that the 9th Ward consisted of lost of owner-occupied houses, and that can be true even though there are lots of rent houses thorughout the city, too.

As for NOLA being a stunning contrast of rich & poor - you bet it is. And some of the richest uptwoners and Old Metairieans might as well live on another f''ing planet for all they know and care about the rest of the city. And the fact that much of the noicest parts opf uptowm were spared flooding hasn't made them any more aware of how the outher 95% of us live.
To digress further, last week I could have strangled this Rich White Beyonce who was yakking away about her family's "annual" trip to Europe and all the Ivy League type schools they have the "dilemma" of choosing from for Biff and Muffy or whatever their damnfool spolied brats are called. I don't begrudge people their wealth, but I despise blind arrogance. End of rant.

[TUSooner]

I guess it depends what you mean by "back". Hopefully, it never goes back to what it was immediately before the storm. To me, the best outcome would be for New Orleans to be a small port/industrial down, with the French Quarter as a tourist attraction/revenue stream. There's just no reason for it to be a major population center, especially since no one is willing to make the investment needed to effectively protect it from future hurricanes and floods.
ONce again I agree with etouff.
Maybe I have a fever...
:D

[etouffee]

I'll take etouffee's word on that. I kept hearing that the 9th Ward consisted of lost of owner-occupied housessome of those houses existed, but "consisted of" is a bit of an overstatement. by and large the NOLA slums were dilapidated rental properties.

[VeeJay]

I walked the streets of Algiers one night around midnight and wondered if I would ever live to see daylight again.

[etouffee]

why would you do such a thing?

[VeeJay]

I was with two friends, one very adventurous. We took the bus over the bridge and went exploring. I was 19. I'd much had rather been in a honky tonk on Bourbon Street.

Note to my adventurous frined: Hey, man, we're no longer in the tourist trap.