We don’t really have polls here, but…
Completely unscientific and hastily constructed, here’s a couple of questions based on things that tend to come up in nearly every conversation I have with people from New Orleans. Feel free to answer in comments. I’ll tally the answers as best I can on Tuesday. And please, no comments about Israel or race or who’s fault anything was. Those issues have nothing to do with these questions.
1. West Bank real estate will command a premium over pre-Katrina baselines of ______ .
a. 0
Related posts:
dearest joe b.,
I just saw close ups of the standing water in my mid-city neighborhood. The despair and reality hit me in waves over the last eight days just came three million fold. I don’t know if I am going back. I don’t know if I can handle seeing my house and my bar and my grocery and wondering where Keith from the circle k is at. I don’t f***ing know…
brandi
1: b
2: a
3: a
4: c
5: b
To elaborate:
1,2, and 3 are just guesses.
4 depends on how long people are given to re-establish other places. It’s goig to be hard to give up what they’ve managed to accumulate in the intervening time to return to nothing. The longer people have to stay away, I believe, the less likely they are to retuurn.
5 I think many of thebusinesses in New Orleans don’t have the spirit to survive anywhere else; these will return, while others will find prosperity elsewhere.
Points two and three are interesting ones. Here in the UK teams (with the glaring exception of Wimbledon FC) are not franchises that can move at the whim of the owners for greener pastures. Teams here are community based even if most the big football teams are now commercial enterprises. As for the venue? it should be rebuilt in honour of those that lost their lives seekig shelter there and not forgetting those brutalised by the days they were left there, in some case quite literally, to rot.
Don’t you all get tired of that word “refugee”? This is a natural disaster in our own country. People are not fleeing from persecution of the government. In the 70’s when the West Bank inherited thousands of Vietmanese and put them up in housing…those were “refugees”. We provided food, shelter, clothing, schools, and JOBS for these families who are now (some that is) citizens of this country.
As far as what percentage of the people will return to NOLA, well, the “powers-that-be” is sure making it difficult as these individuals are becoming Orphans in their own country. It is clear to me (sitting here in Virginia) that no one had a CLUE on how to take care of the people that were left behind. Whole families have been displaced and there is no plan on how to connect them. Additionally, who is going to bring them back to NOLA from Arizona, Minnesota, Washington State once all of this is done? Who is footing the “bill” for that transition? FEMA??? US GOV’T???? They barely sustained their life in the filth they waddled in for 5 DAYS! So as far as the percentage that will return it will be low UNLESS there is some hidden plan to return them that has not been divulged to the naked eye or ears.
I guess I really didn’t participate in the survey you orchestrated. But I guess if you have nothing to do or if you need to refocus for a moment on something other than the udder disgust of the situation we are faced with as a nation not to mention a WHOLE CITY, then this survey is appropriate.
1a
2b
3a
4c
5a
By the way theres is a huge difference between refugees and evacuees. People being evacuated from New Orleans are exactly that … evacuees. It’s Fox News that thinks otherwise.
1. a
2. b
3. a
4. c
5. c
I think that New Orleans has lost it’s “service class” and that the city will struggle to come back.
I think that the universities will be huge losers. Students from afar will have a tough time picking New Orleans as a place to come to for school.
The sooner they let us go back the better. I want to help clean-up and rebuild New Orleans. Hey, with all the lost jobs…how do we apply for jobs to rebuild the city. Make everyone work together. It worked before remember WPA. As for the poor people without cars. My daughter worked just outside the French Quarter and rode the bus to work because the Public Transportation System in New Orleans was so great.
I don’t know about the NO Saints and the Superdome–which can be cleaned up with enough money–but this will definitely rock real estate prices. Whatever effect on prices elevation once had will probably triple at least.
And I think most people will eventually move back. Give NOLA’s role and location on the Miss. R., the powers that be will ensure that the feds dump huge amounts of cash into rebuilding (especially since next year is an election year). There will be jobs for all, and it’ll be a pretty good time for all.
One idea that I’ve not seen any expression of is the feelings of place that many people have felt watching this disaster unfold. You don’t really miss something until its withheld or gone, and I’ll bet there’s a lot of folks who are really missing N’awlins right now. Home IS home…
Sri Lanka has donated
I prefer gypsy to refugee, but it doesn’t quite fit. Try saying refugee with a wry smile, and it might seem more appropriate then. Here’s my guesses (I forgot them earlier):
1.b
1.a
1.b
1.b
1.c
The native sons and daughters may not come back, but you may get a whole new class of immigrants, starting with me: folks whose hearts were always there but whose bodies never got the damn chance to follow. I won’t cotton to the obliteration of a state of mind and culture. If y’all can use a Buddhist priest clerical worker and an unemployed chef/computer guy/engineer, tell us where to go.
We’re donating computer time and money indefinitely. The husband is volunteering at the Austin shelter starting tomorrow and I’ll be going there on my few days off. Anything we can do let us know. And I will be contributing to the blog fund with the next paycheck.
As for question 2, I believe that the Superdome should be destroyed, as well as the Convention Center. What occurred at those two places was traumatic for the victims, and should be replaced with new landmarks out of respect. The Superdome has always seemed to be cursed anyway, no loss there.
Lessons from Hurricane Katrina
What have we learned from the disaster of Hurricane Katrina? We have learned that if you are poor in America, the federal government does not care if you live or die. We have learned that despite protestations to the contrary, the federal government cannot respond quickly in a time of crisis and duress. We have learned that there is no true leadership in the federal government - it is as much a morass of functionaries as post-Katrina New Orleans is of filth and muck. We have learned that our domestic tranquility and general welfare is entrusted to these clueless functionaries.
We have learned that we are on our own. We have learned that the federal government cannot protect us and may very well not care about us. We have learned that the federal government is very good at spin. We have learned that the true heroes are we the people. We have learned that Sheppard Smith, Geraldo Rivera and Anderson Cooper are perhaps the only television reporters that have told viewers the truth in the past twenty years. We have learned that Louisiana
What is with the “if you are poor in America the government doesn’t care if you live or die nonsense”? I am tired of people looking to the government for everything.
Do a little traveling and then tell me about how bad we have it here and how poor we are. Why don’t you visit the Phillipines, Africa, or any other place where people are truly desperate. Then tell me about governments.
The fact of the matter is as messed up as some parts of our system are you can and will succeed if you work hard, plan, and educate yourself. None of those actions are the responsibility of the government in any country. The responsibility rests with the INDIVIDUAL.
As for if we suffer another terrorist attack we are screwed….I think everyone realizes that after watching the response to this tragedy.
I agree wih you Charles. H. Vanoy is an idiot who has no sense of personal responsibility and every sense of entitlement. If you do not take responsibility for yourself you must settle for the decisions that others make for you.
If Vanoy isn’t happy with what the government is doing for people he can step up to the plate and organize a group himself.
I don’t know the answers to most of the questions above. If I had lived in New Orleans and had gone thru the terror that the people seeking shelter at the Superdome and the Convention Center had gone thru i’m sure I would never want to see that place again, much less go back to rebuild my life. As for the Dome and the Convention Center they should be torn down out of respect for those that were murdered, rapped and terrorized there. I am poor and white and I stop to think would the Feds have responded quicker to poor whites, if you look at the whole picture there are rich white and black people in the surrounding Parrishs that are missing and presumed dead, they (rescue teams) couldn’t get in to them either. As I watch the television broadcasts and read the reports this is like nothing that I would ever imagined could happen to our people in the United States, black or white! The if’s and could’ves and what if we hads are worthless now, all there is left to do is help the people of the once fine city up on their feet and go from there. I hold all of the disaster victims in my heart and prayers and I wish there was more that I could do. I’m going for 2 weeks to aid in disaster relief and I hope while i’m there I can put a smile on someones face and give them a little hope. God Bless all of you. Be strong!!!
It looks like the balance between the state and the individual needs another look. I guess its a cultural thing, but I’ll never understand this reduce the state to the barest it can be and yet still expect it to operate when individuals are left to act as just that, individuals. The Iraqi people must really be looking forward to US endorsed and outsourced care of ahlliburton democracy now.
Reading through various comments on various blogs, I’m impressed at the artful way people can spew vile racist rhetoric without once using a directly objectional epithet.
Oh yeah, and they love the word “entitlement” - as if surviving a natural disaster is some kind of luxury. “Everybody would’ve gotten out if they all owned cars!” Yeah, as if more cars is what this nation needs.
To those who deal with the aftermath by adding insult to injury and blaming the victims, may your withered, black (hahaha, irony) hearts hemmorage.
Don’t want to take the poll but N.O. will be back. It will take awhile but they will be back.
A lot of businesses have had to move to Baton Rouge. In fact if you are in commercial real estate you’re doing great.
1) nc - I’m not familiar enough with NO markets. :-)
2)b - a visible reminder of the travesty prepetuated on the hcitizens of NO is needed
3)b - they will come back - who else wants them? ;-) Seriously - they can only be the Saints in NO and so many have ties to the area. If Benson exploited this opportunity, I can guarantee you he would not only lose the existing fan base, but would have trouble building a new one whereever he ran to.
4)b - but others will replace them. I will, if I can! :-)
5)a - the major ones will be back, certainly and the hotels and such will rebuild - the Quarter beckons even now. The port will reopen, the oil and gas will flow, the cruise ships will dock - it will just take a little time.
I definitley agree that the cleanup and re-establishment of utitlties must proceed as quickly as possible to prevent the establishment of new trade patterns and the growing of new roots - although tropical plants tend to have shallow roots when out of their element! :-)
1. a - I think there will be a boom in property prices in any area with higher ground (including parts of uptown as well) but consider that there will also be a lot of new houses built as well so there will quite possibly be a good buyers market in many parts of the city.
2. b - It should be razed, but there are too many people in the state wedded to the idea that it is one of the best facilities in the country (it isn’t, by any stretch of the imagination.) The state has too much of an economic interest in maintaining a stadium in that spot not to keep something there and refurbishing it is cheaper than rebuilding.
3. c - The Saints were likely to be moved anyway, so this probably just gives Benson the opportunity he wanted. (Check the story here for more on this: http://www.profootballtalk.com/rumormill.htm)
4. b - This will be the biggest loss to the city after the loss of life. I just can’t see all of the people who lost everything coming back. If it takes 6 months or so to get the city back to a state where people can start coming back (and then they need to rebuild houses after that) too many people will have jobs, homes, kids in school, etc in other places. There are also a lot of others who won’t be emotionally able to return to the city. Sadly, I think this will change the city irrevocably - it is the people who live there who make it what it is and as mayor Nagin said “it will never be the same again.”
5. b - Some businesses will obviously come back because it just makes sense for them to be here (eg: the oil industry and many of the businesses around the port.) But, for many others the key problem will be insurance. Rates are going to sky-rocket and many smaller businesses will no longer be able to pay them.
On a broader scale:
Best case scenario: Most people return and the city remains a unique cultural center (for music, arts, etc); the old neighborhoods are able to return to something like before.
Worst case: Baton Rouge becomes the economic center of the state (it takes over as the key port in the state.) This would provide the excuse those who don’t want to rebuild the city would need to say that we should move New Orleans somewhere else (though, I note that most people who say this have never been to the city.)
1 - a — unless the infrastructure is TRULY rebuilt N. O. real estate will not increase in value.
2, b - based on my experience with New Orleanians — but should be C. It is a monument, not to “the city that care forgot” but “the city that forgot to care” — as is the convention center. Before we take aim at the feds , what the hell was the mayor thinking when he decided to use the SD for an evacuation center and DID NOT EQUIP it? He and city leaders had several days of warning about the severity of the hurricane and knowledge that the city levee system would not survive more than a Cat 3 — so it is incomprehensible that he did not order 100s of port-o-lets (god knows the city can find them for Mardi Gras) and tanker trucks of fresh water. The SuperDome was never built to accommodate thousands of people on a 24-hour basis.
Well I digressed, didn’t I? Rest of survey:
3 — doesn’t really matter to me
4. b
5. c
THE REAL LOOTERS ARE THOSE WHO JACK UP THE PRICES KATRINA
Hi everyone, I’m Kanye West. I’m a popular rap star. Also, George Bush doesn’t care about CHICKEN FRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIESSS!!!
1. c
2. b
3. b
4. c
5. b. I see an analogy with Jerusalem, which I visited in 2003 in the most recent rounds of violence. Compared with 1997, on my last visit, the city is smaller and the people there are extra fanatical/committed (depending on your point of view). I envision a smaller city of natives, and some new transplants, who are madly in love with the city and want to help it rebuild. It is bittersweet but I believe that the spirit of new orleans will not fade.
all of us in Vermont extend our heartfelt
sympathies to all in Mississippi and Louisiana
who have been devastated by the unimaginable
hurricane. we have sent food, clothing, medical
supplies, doctors, nurses, technical people etc. we welcome you to our Vermont—BUT 20/20
hindsight-i think the “BIG EASY” got “too easy”
and comfortable-many experts knew the problems
beforehand and politicians did NOTHING- just like 9/11: we KNEW and what did we do?-TOO LITTLE TOO LATE!! will we as a nation ever learn? we can send troops anywhere to defend everybody, but charity begins at home. WAKE UP AMERICA; PLEASE WAKE UP BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE!!!!
donald rudolph (senior citizen)
burlington,vermont
Let us not forget Governor Blanco who fought with the Mayor of New Orleans AND the President of the United States…and decided to take @$ hours to think about whether she would order mandatory evacuation or not. She also waited until WEDNESDAY to allow federal troops into the city. (And they cannot come without her consent!)
Shame on her. She justifies the “stupid ass southerner” stereotype that we have been fighting for years! Just wait! You will see what the investigation will find…an uneducated, panicked woman who could not handle the situation. Watch her on television. Listen to what she is saying. She is clearly an idiot.!