Rebuilding New Orleans: An Exercise In PC Futility?

[FaninAma]

I think so. I see nothing that changes the fact that after the country pumps billions and billions into rebuilding New Orleans that it isn't still in the same siutation as before.....just waiting for another category 3 or stronger hurricane to put it under water.

And the political correctness doesn't stop with wasting billions of tax payer dollars, it extends into other areas like the NBA and NFL forcing the teams from New Orleans to remain in New Orleans despite the fact that these teams will need to be heavily subsidized by the rest of their respective leagues to survive financially.

Plus, from what I've read, NO after being rebuilt is far more likely to be a Hispanic community than it is the "Chocolate City" that the mayor proclaimed it was during his reelection campaign since thousands of hispanics are the ones moving to the city to do the actual work of rebuilding it.

It is a classic example of the emperor having no clothes.

[mrowl]

$186 Million dollars has gone to fix the superdome. What a f'ing waste.

[picasso]

I've heard it said the new NO will be more middle class.
not exactly how the media is spinning it.

[GDC]

[LSUMeathead]

How about the next time a tornado lays waste to your home, we decide not to rebuild it? Should we give up on the city you were born & raised in, or should we just figure out a better way to rebuild it so that the next catastrophe is not as destructive?

Because it appears that tall buildings are a nice target for terrorists, should we demolish everything higher than 10 stories? Should we go back to boat travel & ground all airplanes?

I agree that the political machine in Louisiana is broken. It has been broken for a long time and no one wants to see it fixed more than I do, but sometimes you have to play with the cards you are dealt. That means you work within the system while also trying to combat the system.

As for the Hornets & the Saints, you can take the NBA for all I care, but I will have to go down kicking & screaming before I let the Saints move to San Antonio.

[tbl]

That's where they need to be... OKC and SA have both showed that they can support these teams better than Slum City.

[LSUMeathead]

That's where they need to be... OKC and SA have both showed that they can support these teams better than Slum City.

Like I said, OKC can have the Whornets for all I care. They are not real New Orleans any more than Emeril is real New Orleans.

But the Saints are not sucking on your tax dollars & they are not sucking on the NFL for funds either. They are doing what 90% of all other NFL franchises do...extorting the state for funding. I am not exactly sure how that impacts you or anyone else outside of the state lines.

Also, the Superdome is not just a facility for the Saints. There are hundreds of events that take place in the dome every year that have absolutely nothing to do with the Saints. So to think that the money invested in fixing the dome up would have been spent elsewhere if the Saints were not in N.O. is a foolish assumption.

[RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!]

Until the levees can hold under a cat 5 hurricane, the city will struggle, BIG TIME!

[FaninAma]

How about the next time a tornado lays waste to your home, we decide not to rebuild it? Should we give up on the city you were born & raised in, or should we just figure out a better way to rebuild it so that the next catastrophe is not as destructive?

Because it appears that tall buildings are a nice target for terrorists, should we demolish everything higher than 10 stories? Should we go back to boat travel & ground all airplanes?

I agree that the political machine in Louisiana is broken. It has been broken for a long time and no one wants to see it fixed more than I do, but sometimes you have to play with the cards you are dealt. That means you work within the system while also trying to combat the system.

As for the Hornets & the Saints, you can take the NBA for all I care, but I will have to go down kicking & screaming before I let the Saints move to San Antonio.

Your missing the whole point of the thread. If NO were just like any other coastal city with the same inherrent risks from Hurricanes then I could see the sense of rebuilding it. But the location and design, as well as changing geographic and topographic factors, makes NO particulary at risk for having the same thing happen with the next hurricane.

Having a city built 20 feet below sea level surrounded by the Mississippi river, Lake Ponchatraine and the Gulf of Mexico is insane! The levy system is being rebuilt to withstand the same force as before because it would take a complete reconstruction of the system and probably many, many more billions to make NO less susceptible to flooding than it was or will be after the levy system is rebuilt.

It's stupidity and short sightedness on a massive scale but who gives a flip....it's just taxpayers' money.

[1stTimeCaller]

you're asking this group about what we should do if a tornado wipes out a huge swathe of homes?

that's rich.

[RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!]

Your missing the whole point of the thread. If NO were just like any other coastal city with the same inherrent risks from Hurricanes then I could see the sense of rebuilding it. But the location and design, as well as changing geographic and topographic factors, makes NO particulary at risk for having the same thing happen with the next hurricane.

Having a city built 20 feet below sea level surrounded by the Mississippi river, Lake Ponchatraine and the Gulf of Mexico is insane! The levy system is being rebuilt to withstand the same force as before because it would take a complete reconstruction of the system and probably many, many more billions to make NO less susceptible to flooding than it was or will be after the levy system is rebuilt.

It's stupidity and short sightedness on a massive scale but who gives a flip....it's just taxpayers' money.

BEAUTY. I was too lazy to write all that.

[Mjcpr]

It's stupidity and short sightedness on a massive scale but who gives a flip....it's just taxpayers' money.

Some people might think we've moved on to the war in Iraq with this statement.

And NO existed for as long as nearly any other city in the US while still being 20 feet below sea level, surrounded by the Mississipi River and in hurricane teritorry and this never happened before. It's easy to criticize after this disaster occurred but it managed to survive decently enough for a very long time up until a year ago. Who's to say it wouldn't be okay for another 200+ years?

[LSUMeathead]

you're asking this group about what we should do if a tornado wipes out a huge swathe of homes?

that's rich.

No, that's exactly why I used the analogy. I figured I would use a disaster you could relate to.

[1stTimeCaller]

No, that's exactly why I used the analogy. I figured I would use a disaster you could relate to.

Why haven't you people in the NO area done what we did?

I do understand that there is a much larger mess to be cleaned up down there but you gotta start somewhere and the fine people of New Orleans don't seem to grasp that idea other than the handouts must start soon and end no time soon.

[mrowl]

No, that's exactly why I used the analogy. I figured I would use a disaster you could relate to.

except that the feds didn't give billions of dollars to any tornado disaster.

[FaninAma]

Some people might think we've moved on to the war in Iraq with this statement.

And NO existed for as long as nearly any other city in the US while still being 20 feet below sea level, surrounded by the Mississipi River and in hurricane teritorry and this never happened before. It's easy to criticize after this disaster occurred but it managed to survive decently enough for a very long time up until a year ago. Who's to say it wouldn't be okay for another 200+ years?

Yes, but once the disaster occured the destruction, because of the city's design, was much more massive than with other coastal cities. And one needs to consider that Katrina, when it hit NO, was only a category 3. Look at te state of Missisissipi for a comparison. I think they have recovered much more easily from Katrina than NO has because the flooding was less.

Just because the city was lucky before and escaped a direct hit for such a long preiod doesn't mean we should rebuild it and hope for the same stretch of good luck.

Plus, because of the design of the city and the fact that nature has been altered with the altering of the route and flow of the Missisissippi by the Army Corps of Engineers with the resuting damage to the delta at the mouth of the Missisissppi which served as the main source of protection for NO to high seas, the risk of flooding grows with each passing year.

AND if you believe that the Gulf is in an "up" cycle in regards to number and strength of hurricanes I don't think we can afford to bury our heads in the sand and count on blind luck to save the city.

[LSUMeathead]

Your missing the whole point of the thread. If NO were just like any other coastal city with the same inherrent risks from Hurricanes then I could see the sense of rebuilding it. But the location and design, as well as changing geographic and topographic factors, makes NO particulary at risk for having the same thing happen with the next hurricane.

Having a city built 20 feet below sea level surrounded by the Mississippi river, Lake Ponchatraine and the Gulf of Mexico is insane! The levy system is being rebuilt to withstand the same force as before because it would take a complete reconstruction of the system and probably many, many more billions to make NO less susceptible to flooding than it was or will be after the levy system is rebuilt.

It's stupidity and short sightedness on a massive scale but who gives a flip....it's just taxpayers' money.

New Orleans, as we know it today, has been around since before the United Sates were even the United States. Those levees were not always there. Hurricanes are not some brand new phenomenon. Yet somehow, the city has seemed to survive this long.

Also, you may want to get your facts straight. More than half of the city is ABOVE sea level. And the majority of the city that is below sea level is between 1 foot and 10 feet below sea level. There are very few areas that are more than 10 feet below sea level (unlike your assertion that the whole city is 20 feet below). In fact, New Orleans is not as unique as you would believe. There are numerous cities around the world, and in the United States, that lie below sea level. Should we let them be washed away too?

I agree with you that the levee protection is sub par & it needs to be improved beyond its current capabilities, but to suggest that one of the largest and most important port cities in the nation be wiped from the map is pretty arrogant.

[C&CDean]

Does anybody really even care about New Orleans anymore? Well other than all the $$ they're sucking? Hell, most of the population of pre-Katrina NO are still thieving from all the kind folks who took them in.

Sorry, but I say "**** NO." Let the looters/druggies/slumsters/hookers and all the other assorted riff-raff have it. I just don't get what's worth rebuilding. It was a filthy pit before Katrina, and it's a filthy pit now, and it'll be a filthy pit after it's rebuilt. Meh.

[tbl]

Why haven't you people in the NO area done what we did?

Exactly. The analogy meathead makes doesn't make sense b/c it HAS happened in Oklahoma, a number of times. Do the Okies ever wait on handouts and bring in foreigners to build our homes for us? No. They get out there and bust their butts.

[LSUMeathead]

Why haven't you people in the NO area done what we did?

I do understand that there is a much larger mess to be cleaned up down there but you gotta start somewhere and the fine people of New Orleans don't seem to grasp that idea other than the handouts must start soon and end no time soon.

I no longer live in New Orleans, but my entire family does. Since Katrina hit, my sister & brother in law have completely rebuilt their house. My parents have replaced their roof, all their siding, and carpet. My grandmother has rebuilt the front of her house where an oak tree fell through it. My Aunt has rebuilt her entire house. My best friend has purchased a new house in a different part of the city.

What is so unique about these people? They did not take a SINGLE DOLLAR directly from the government. All of the reconstruction came from their insurance and their own savings. My parents were $20,000 short on what the reconstruction cost them and what the insurance paid. They could have gotten that from FEMA or some other government handout agency, but instead, they went into their own savings.

Your anger seems to be rooted in those who were too stupid to realize that they needed insurance and now they want Uncle Sam to bail them out. Personally, I say let them rot. They made their beds, now let them lay in the mold they created for themselves. But to punish the entire city for the hundreds of voices you have heard looking for a handout, when there are tens of thousands of voices you have never heard who never asked for a dollar...that, my friend, is textbook shortsightedness.