Numbers don’t lie
…but in this case, they also don’t tell the complete truth.
Basically, these Census Bureau figures aren’t telling us anything new. We know the city is whiter, older and more affluent than before the hurricane. This is largely because the parts of the city left with the least damage were Uptown and the French Quarter — where folks are, well, whiter, older and more affluent. More of them have their own transportation, in addition to being more able to put their kids back in private schools, weather the economic aftermath and afford alternative housing if need be. At least in general.
I know these numbers are only a snapshot, as the on-the-ground reality shifts a bit as the weeks go by. But I think the main truth the numbers don’t reveal is the number of returning residents who are in very, very tenuous financial circumstances. While they have returned to their homes (or at least to the city), they’ve done so without jobs or have found new employment that doesn’t pay as well. If they run their own businesses, they’ve often seen their client base decimated. If they’ve got their clients or customers back, those customers aren’t spending as much. Or (and this is highly important) they no longer have the backup resources they used to have. To get this far, they have spent all their personal and professional worth while waiting on insurance money or some kind of inspection. They have stretched their credit beyond its limits to make repairs or purchase inventory their cash flow used to cover. It’s like being pecked to death by ducks — except the ducks come in the form of higher fuel prices, increased costs of labor and other small costs that combine to have a larger effect.j
For many of these folks, time has nearly run out. The group Second Wind is working to help, but it will at least be the end of summer before help arrives. Many can no longer wait that long.
Please help these businesses along whenever possible. The alternative is seeing New Orleans become more and more a big-box store kinda place. I know the big boxes provide plenty of local jobs, and I’m not saying they shouldn’t exist. But, particularly in the short term, it’s the little guy who’s propping up the local economy. Please give him/her your maximum support.
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You are right about the numbers not being accurate. An accurate Population Estimate survey has been conducted most recently in January, and before that 3 times since the Hurricane (another one is scheduled to occur soon). They were working with the Dept. of Health, not sure who is funding them now. Have contacted them so that they can get to the Times-Pic to try to correct their figures. The PopEst survey shows different figures from that of the Census Bureau, and one of their goals was to determine the amount of people who left in addition to the amount of new people who have arrived since the storm.
I agree totally with everything you have said, but I just want to quibble a bit with the statement that people can’t find jobs. Everyone in the restaurant business is moaning about not having workers in the front or back of the house. The builders need workers. Every store I shop in is understaffed. One restaurant owner said he was going to start advertising on his menu for cooks. There are management jobs available in food service and hotels. There has never been a better time to break in to the high-faluting world of New Orleans bartending. I see “we are hiring” signs everywhere, and as I patiently wait for service I wonder where the people are to fill these jobs.
Thanks for the N.O. business listing. I will post that on my site.
Oh, I agree there are jobs everywhere. And they pay good too — I don’t know of anyplace that’s paying less than $9-$10 an hour at the very lowest entry level. Especially if someone wants a job in the trades or in hospitality, this is indeed The Place To Be.
Who I’m talking about are the folks who had the assistant manager and manager jobs at the retail stores that aren’t there or the shift managers at the fast-food places that haven’t opened. Their jobs simply don’t exist anymore. For example, the drive up Canal St. from the CBD to City Park goes by dozens of law and medical offices that no longer need support staff. A $10 an hour job someplace else ain’t enough to cover their bills and the places they could go are very, very limited. Some of them can shift gears and move into another line of work, and bravo for those who do. While the city is so much more wide-open now, it’s also a lot more limited for a lot of folks.