California Dreamin’
Reading the T-P today, it’s clear that our beloved New Orleans may indeed be, at least in some ways, the next California. It’s the kinda thing that happens when there’s only so much available property in a highly desirable place.
Look at this — Burger King is now offering $6K signing bonuses to those promising to work full-time for a year. Their wages have been boosted to $8 an hour or more. Popeye’s has also boosted its wages correspondingly. Not that this is going to hurt their bottom line — since there are so many less workers to pay these days. And all those new arrivals with skanky refrigerators and cleanup work to do want someplace fast and familiar to eat.
Surviving houses have spiked in value and rents of the few available units have gone through the proverbial (tarp-covered) roof. Granted — all this is going to plateau for a while. But it’s not going to go back down. Homeowners who had been struggling to pay a mortgage now have instant equity — a lot of it. I wonder how many property appraisers are going to find instant work upvaluing houses they oriiginally appraised a scant 90 days ago.
How many hourly workers are going to return and become entrepreneurs? Conversely, how many small business owners are going to find themselves working at Popeye’s because the don’t have the resources to rebuild or because their entire customer base has left?
…and what crackhouse neighborhoods will be the latest planned community lilke Seaside? My business near Bayou St. John used to be in an anthill of a neighborhood with frequent gunfire — a place you didn’t go at night. But now, in the words of my landlord, “it’s no-man’s land. Every house will have to be bulldozed. There’s just no one here.”
That’s weird, man.
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Looks like there will be plenty of “laid-off” city of New Orleans employees to fill any job openings. Your mayor has once again demonstrated his total ineptness! Have you people ever heard of a “recall”? The Feds are giving New Orleans billions and he can’t meet a payroll? Get Real!!!
The billions that the city is receiving are earmarked for particular rebuilding projects. It can’t simply be used to cover payroll. The city went to various banks and financial institutions to try and get a loan to make payroll but they were unable to do so.
…and what do these laid-off employees go back to? Many have been getting a paycheck but have no homes — or at least not anywhere close to New Orleans. Not like most of them can simply return right now. It’s a complicated question. I am sure many will get hired back once there’s revenue being produced to pay them.
Wouldn’t paying people for NOT working, given the lack of infrastructure etc in the city at present, be tantamount to a subsidy, or dare I say it, welfare?! Surely you are not implying, Roland, that people should get something for nothing?
I think no matter what Nagin did, Roland, you would find fault with it. So whatever.
A.
p.s. Louisiana practically invented progressive politics - aka the recall, open primaries, referendums - so yeah, we’ve heard of them, but only them trot them out WHEN NECESSARY!
That’s really funny - “progressive” politics!
With all the devastation in NO, including City-owned property, streets, parks, etc., finding work for city-employees shouldn’t be too difficult! There was no implication to subsidize at all! Ann, perhaps your “inference” is based on “business as usual” politics in NO. You are right though, in my eyes your mayor is incompetent! Nagin has repeatedly demonstrated his ineptness; this, coupled with his arrogant attitude and expectations of a complete Federal bail-out for his and your governor’s failings in this situation raises too many questions about his ability to lead NO back to a “normal” state. Just do the rest of the country a favor and keep the mayor and governor there! They are both too dangerous to send to Washington!
“Progressive” is used in the historical sense - those grassroots responses to unstisfactory politics and politicians came out of the Progressive era/movemnet of the late 19th - early 20th century. But I digress - not all city employees are physcially capable nor necessarily qualified to aid in the clean up. Besides, the bulk of those jobs are already contracted through the oh-so progressive no-bid contracting structure of the federal bueracracy; read the T-P (nola.com) Companies like, oh I don’t know, Haliburton, are bringing in out-of-state workers.
Regardless - the city is in a financial bind. It could not carry 3000 workers indefinitely with no tax revenue coming in. That’s economics. I’d also venture to say that most affected were not surprised at the lay-offs. As for the federal “bailout” - it is similar to the “bailout” given to Florida, what, 6 times in the last 2 years? It covers the physical aspects, not government operating costs.
BTW - 40% of Louisiana’s already shaky economy was impacted by Katrina and Rita. Any locale would struggle if almost half their economy just disappeared. What if 100% disappeared overnight? Look to N.O.
Gessh - why am I even bothering? Don’t let facts and logic get in your way - think whatever you want.
Katrina and Rita Greatest Double Disaster of Decade — Line up everyone; Time to Cash in!
Everyone except the dead, casualties and survivors it seems, loves a big disaster; it gives everyone something common to talk about and best of all it provides a focus for everyone’s favorite solution, crisis, bias, or wannabe behavior.
The people, talk show hosts, politicians, and journalists who don’t generally live in the devastated area think its the perfect time to have a discussion about what should or should not be done in the area devastated.
And there is a whole bevy of experts who want to be and sometimes actually are “go-to experts” seek out a way to sell/share their “insider knowledge” or are sought out by reporters and politicians.
Among the “experts” in an Oct. 4, 2005 NYT article by Cornelia Dean, one is quoted in a story titled “some experts say it’s time to evacuate the coast (for good)” as saying: “Even the fate of New Orleans should be open to discussion, Dr. Schrag said. “Spending hundreds of millions of dollars to rebuild a city that puts it in harm’s way once again and relying on technology such as higher dikes and levees seems to me a very dangerous strategy,” the more so in an era of global warming. ” The article was not just about New Orleans, they were talking about the Gulf Coast:
“As the Gulf Coast reels from two catastrophic storms in a month, and the Carolinas and Florida deal with damage and debris from hurricanes this year and last, even some supporters of coastal development are starting to ask a previously unthinkable question: is it time to consider retreat from the coast?”
I have this photo passed down to me from my mother of one of the main streets in Providence, RI from September, 1938 , the sign on the theater says, Boys Town with Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney! You can see a row boat in the middle of the street left by the 12-15 foot storm surge that came up Narragansett Bay when the “Long Island Express” Hurricane hit Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Massachusetts after ravaging Long Island.
The experts conveniently focus on the most recent storms that hit the Gulf and make little on no mention about all the coastal cities stretching from the Carolinas to Cape Cod that are subject to the same damage.
I don’t hear them suggesting that all American cities on a coast subject to devastating natural disasters be abandoned. The reason you don’t hear them saying that Miami, New York City, Boston or Long Island should be phased out? Too many people would say, “That’s nuts!” It’s also the reason they are not talking about all those cities on the West Coast which are not only all at risk from devastating earthquakes but from tsunami’s as well. Not everyone can click their heels and transport themselves to Kansas.
And the talk show hosts, politicians and others talking trash about whether to rebuild the Ninth Ward of New Orleans at the same time they “feel” for the victims of Katrina?
Well it’s a little bit the same as the “go-to expert wannabes” and more racism and elitism than can be swept aside under the guise of “thinking outside of the box,” being cutting edge, or “Gee, we’re just thinking about what we could do with a clean slate.”
Why don’t we try this: Let the good people of New Orleans, Biloxie, Bay St. Louis, Western Louisiana and Northeast Texas where Rita did her thing decide what they want to do with “their” cities that they and their families built over the past 150-300 years. Then let’s help them do just that. Why?
They deserve our support, not meddling. Look at the facts and figure out how much fuel comes from them to power the rest of us and how much moves through their ports to bring profits all the way back to Kansas City.
If I were down there with them, I think about now I’d start thinking about suing two thirds of the nation for polluting the Gulf (it drains 2/3s of the nation’s waterways) if they don’t want to treat us as family.
Get real folks or go back to numbing your mind watching fake reality shows and living their lives instead of those in New Orleans or Biloxi.
Ned Hamson - Cincinnati, Ohio
Ned: my parents are from Westerly, Rhode Island and were little kids when the hurricane hit in 1938 and wiped out 95% of the oceanfront homes along Misquamicut Beach. Huge mansions at Napatree Point in nearby Watch Hill (ritzy area)were destroyed, obliterated; as a matter of fact, at this point in time, that area is still deserted after 67 years-no rebuilding at all, and I believe the area is now a state conservation area.
The rest of the Misquamicut Beach area has been rebuilt, with oceanfront properties now worth a minimum of $2 million (largely due to out-of-staters from Connecticut and New York), even after Hurricane Bob in the 1990’s forced an evacuation of the beach area due to high water. However, the rebuilt homes are on piers, 15 feet up so that water can go beneath the house without too much damage.They learned alot about “messin’ with Mother Nature” in the Ocean State and I’m sure the Gulf coast will do the same!
Will learn? No offense Rhodeislander, but you have no idea about how much the Gulf Coast knows about “messin with Mother Nature.” This was a disaster of epic proportions and it has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not the houses were built on piers - piers are useless against 150 MPH winds. The flooding of New Orlaans, as I’ve stated before, could have happened at any point - it just chanced to be during/after Katrina. Coincidnece, not ignorance of building techniques. (BTW - the vast majority of older homes weathered the storm relatively well - they are built from native materials such as cypress that handle exposure to water well and *gasp* were elevated to a certain extent. It’s not like Louisiana and Mississippi hadn’t gotten the memo about flooding in the last 300 years.)
Louisiana and south Mississippi live with conditions on a day-to-day basis that you can not even fathom. (and I’m talkin’ pre-Katrina here) It’s a constant battle not only against the river, but coastal erssion due to irresponsible oil and gas exploration, intense heat and humidity, mosquitos, mold. I guess my point is: We (I still consider myself a Louisianian) would never tell you how to deal with ice and snow, especially if you were hit with a parlyzing ice storm, followed with a blizzard. Please don’t patronize us and presume we can’t handle our own environment. Thanks.
A.
Ann, I don’t see RhodeIslander being patronizing AT ALL. She was simply stating what her parents and what her state did and how they have dealt with it since then.
You need to relax.
And I don’t think an appology would be out of order.
Geez, just trying to make some conversation… My comments were addressed to “Ned”, with the previous post, who’s mother evidently weathered the 1938 hurricane here in the Northeast, like my parents did. The one point you evidently missed in my comment was that some areas were NOT rebuilt after that disaster due to the futility of rebuilding in an area that would probably be hit again and again by natural forces! Like the hurricane of 1955, seventten years later, that wreaked havoc in the same exact area! Not “patronizing” anyone or assuming or presuming anything! Nice attitude!
Sounds like the one thing you need to learn is some manners!
RhodeIslander said:
“Sounds like the one thing you need to learn is some manners!”
I agree with you there. Seems like a lot…not all…but a lot of these NOLA people are biting the hand that is feeding them. ((ie: giving money to the hurricane fund))
Attitudes like this are going to make me NOT give money the next time one sideswipes New Orleans.
People are interested and care about what happens after the fact and even someone sharing a simple hurricane story themselves is apparently, in some way, telling the All Knowing people of New Orleans how it is.
Give me a break.
While there are a whole lot of people out there that are actually grateful, it’s people like Ann, among others, who will make me and many others turn our backs next time.
Keep cool Rhodeislander. You people from the Northeast just don’t understand southern people like Ann. She’s just another “brain-dead” southener who must enjoy (in her own words) the “constant battle not only against the river, but coastal erssion due to irresponsible oil and gas exploration, intense heat and humidity, mosquitos, mold.”
Sounds like something a rational human being would subject themselves to, doesn’t it? If you read some previous posts by her, you’ll see she’s just a bitch (being polite here, my actual word choice begins with a C**T!).
Whoa y’all….
For one thing, I don’t think anyone was trying to patronize anyone. I learned a long time ago that any regional differences we have are only the top layer of who we are. And, frankly, I protest anything that’s going to make a New Yorker less of a New Yorker, a New Orleaninan less a New Orleanian or whatever. I fear the McDonaldsization of our country, in which everyplace from Maine to San Diego is indistinguishable. These differences are what make our home our home and why someone else’s home is always worth visiting.
For now, at least, please forgive us New Orleanians for being a bit touchy. As I’ve posted here before, we know we need help and we sincerely appreciate it. From anyone. But pride can be a bitch sometimes and make us very self-protective — even to the point of sounding rude. It’s not meant that way. Even the most loving of animals, when wounded, might lash out at the most helpful of hands.
Thanks for sending help from your Narangasset to our Pontchartrain. When/if our positions are reversed, you’ll get the same kind of help from down here.
I am sorry I was snippy, Rhodeislander. I am very upset about the whole situation - and I took it out on you. Actually, after I posted I thought maybe I should rephrase what I wrote, but there is not an option to revise. I actually am a painfully well-mannered person - so I am very chagrinned that I went off on you. So again, my apologies. (One of my best friends is from Woonsocket, BTW. I’ve always wanted to see what it was like.)
I am just so frustrated with the negativity being heaped upon the area. Louisiana was once the richest state in the Union - but that was 150 years ago! We have so many problems and Katrina and Rita didn’t help matters any. I have read so much sanctimonious B.S. posted by people who have never even visited the place, much less lived there I just want to scream.
But Craig is right - I am defensive. Southerners for so long has been the butt of jokes and treated as second-class citizens. Sure, some of that is of our own making, but the bulk is stereotyping - ignorant, backwards, uneducated, racist, blah blah blah. Not only is that the furtherest thing from the truth, it’s a myth that will not die. Louisiana in particular seems especially put-upon - I think maybe only Arkansas and Mississippi get more unfair generalizations than Louisiana.
I also feel I need to make something else clear - I am not from NOLA. I don’t pretend to speak on behalf of NOLA - I speak only for myself, from my own expereinces and knowledge. I am from north Louisiana, the forgetten part of a forgotten state which no amount of federal money can save, I’m afraid. (If you thought the poverty in N.O. was shocking, try West Carroll Parish.) I do, however, have family in NOLA: some came out in great shape, others lost everything.
Please don’t misinterpert my frustration for ingratitude. The entire Gulf region, including my family, is incredibly grateful for the outpouring of support- emotional as well as material.
Whoodat ’bout ta start a cat fight?? Whoodat???
Just kidding, Ann. Look over you right shoulder down toward V’burg. That’s me waving a handfull of scalped tickets for ringside seats at the Ameristar for your next match! (Watch yo’self there, Rhodeislander! She’s a mean’un! )
All kidding aside, that was a very “gen-teel” like southern lady apology. We all (I do mean all) know where you’re coming from. Touchiness is one of the lovely recovery phases we get to experience with events such as this. I’m sure even Rhodeislander will agree if she just checks her own scrapbooks of memories. How was grandma back then, eh? The same as my mom when Camille blew away everything we had. I’ll bet the exact same way most of our kids will be remembering us.
We’ll be strong when we need to be. We’ll be angry and touchy as hell at times. And we’ll cry our G-damned eyes out when we least expect it. Fiercly independent yet eternally grateful. But at the end of our day, we’ll hold each others hands, north-south-east and (dammit)west and sing California Dreamin’ over a cold PBR or twelve.
Here’s winkin’ at you kid. You’ll do jus’ fine.
Jera
Whoodat ’bout ta start a cat fight?? Whoodat???
Just kidding, Ann. Look over you right shoulder down toward V’burg. That’s me waving a handfull of scalped tickets for ringside seats at the Ameristar for your next match! (Watch yo’self there, Rhodeislander! She’s a mean’un! )
All kidding aside, that was a very “gen-teel” like southern lady apology. We all (I do mean all) know where you’re coming from. Touchiness is one of the lovely recovery phases we get to experience with events such as this. I’m sure even Rhodeislander will agree if she just checks her own scrapbooks of memories. How was grandma back then, eh? The same as my mom when Camille blew away everything we had. I’ll bet the exact same way most of our kids will be remembering us.
We’ll be strong when we need to be. We’ll be angry and touchy as hell at times. And we’ll cry our G-damned eyes out when we least expect it. Fiercly independent yet eternally grateful.
But at the end of our day, we’ll hold each others hands, north-south-east and (dammit)west and sing California Dreamin’ over a cold PBR or twelve.
Here’s winkin’ at you kid. You’ll do jus’ fine.
Jera
Posted by Jera at October 7, 2005 03:58 PM
Oops! Double-post! Must have started sippin’ my PBRs a might early!
Sorry ’bout that..
Jera - I’ve cried a river, as the song goes. It really is like grieving - it’s so hard. I can’t imagine what I’ll feel when I actually see it in person. I’m not sure if can handle it. We plan on going to Mardi Gras, hell or high water, and stay on my families’ floor if we have to. Gotta’ support the home folks, ya’ know!
I can’t believe you’re from The Burg! My husband worked at Waterways for a few years in the early 90s! I remember haulin’ ass on I-20 making beer runs to Tallulah more Sundays than I care to admit to. I love V’burg - I hate to see it so down on its luck these days - but hey the entire region has been in a slump since, oh I’d say 1872! :-)
PBRs - wow. That reminds me of my uncles - they always drank PBR. Do you rememebr K&B drug store? They had they’re own brand of beer that made PBR taste like champagne! (they also had vodka, bourbon and wine. *shudder*)
A.
p.s. My grandmothers, and mother, made certain we knew how to embroider, crochet, cook, clean, write thank you notes, and know when to suck it up. :-) Such is Southern womanhood.
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