"New Orleans Images and Inter ..." a New Orleans Travel Page by atufft

Despite frequent reports that New Orleans isn't "ready" for visitors, my wife and decided to visit during the x-mas after Katrina hit. The French Quarter and much of what most tourist come to see was spared largely due to the fact that the oldest parts of the city also happen to be on the highest ground. However, many neighbors that contribute labor and talent for the restaurant, music, and artistic industries of the city were hit very hard. The Lower Ninth Ward, for example, was almost completely destroyed. The levee break that contributed to the flood of the Lower Ninth Ward was largely from failure along the industrial canal. Neglect of basic services in New Orleans is something of a tradition, it seems, and so the damage wasn't so much one of a huge storm but one of huge incompetency by the US Corps of Army Engineers and whoever supervises the navigation by barges along this narrow waterway. The main part of the canal is as straight as an arrow, but a couple of sections in the middle collapsed. Through the hole drained not only lots of water but a barge that really had no business being in the canal during the storm. Rather than being tied elsewhere, perhaps further upriver, the barge became grounded on top of homes in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans. This part of town had been poor, but many homes were owned and improved by their owners. We saw in the rubble the remains of what were new roofs and siding, the materials for which probably came from the local Home Depot. This was a shocking and sad scene.

While the damage to the Lower Ninth created piles of debris from the houses of New Orlean's families, in Gentilly and the Lakeview district, homes were flooded and others collapsed irrepairably. A few homes washed off their foundations entirely and floated down the street, and cars rose with the tide and floated over fences into homes. Virtually all of these neighborhoods were empty at the time we visited, and there was very little evidence that repairs could ever be made. Occasionally, a house would appear to be saveable and the owner was working to make it liveable. A few folks had parked a trailer in the driveway for a makeshift home. But, even these homeowners face long odds of recovery due to the isolation they face in terms of city services. Sewer, police, school, and other basics are a long way away for these homeowners. Due to the widespread loss of residential housing, the city will certainly downsize considerably, and perhaps go through a period of soul searching. Prior to Katrina, New Orleans and even the French Quarter had a reputation for high crime and danger for tourists. Much of the gangster element of the city has been washed away by Katrina, at least temporarily. Unfortunately, so have many artists and workers in the restaurant hospitality industry.

Despite the horror of Katrina, the core of New Orleans--French Quarter and Garden District-- remains one of the most unique in North America in terms of food, music, and culture, so New Orleans easily ranks near the top of my list of the world's great urban centers. But, New Orleans needs visitors now more than ever to remake itself for the future. The boutique shops, restaurants, and street artists need cash to revive the Big Easy lifestyle. Hopefully, Harrahs and other familiar corporate logo interests won't level out the diversity found in the city as it rebuilds. Check out my other websites for more images on this city. If you are interested in why New Orleans is the unique city, check out my general tips page on French Colonial History of New Orleans. I have provide additional reading references for this fascinating background, which does in fact explain many of the wonderful as well as problematic aspects existant in this city today. I also have pages of Natichoches and Morgan City, two interesting smaller towns in Louisiana