A Photo Thread of New Orleans; 11/25/2006 (Many, Ama: rental, crime rate, houses)

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by Osuzzanna

I've always wanted to visit NO...
How is the airport? Someone said the vendors were still closed and the place looked isolated. Has the the lower 9th ward recovered yet?
Thanks again for the lovely photo's.

The airport is "isolated"???? Ha! That's OLD news for sure Last week several days in a row there was not a single parking place to be had in any of the parking lots (reported on the news). A few vendors have not come back, but there are vendors there.

IMO, the lower 9th ward will never recover. There isn't even any work going on down there to even try to rebuild. There is still too much debris to remove. Although, I did see a news story about one old guy who is back and living amongst the ruins to try to salvage his house. He is the only one around his whole neighborhood. Do visit NO, they need the tourists and the tourist dollars. The French Quarter has actually never looked better - even cleaner than I've seen in years.

[alon504]

Originally Posted by lovesMountains

I too enjoyed your photos, thanks for taking the time to post. I know the city is bouncing back as everytime I visit it looks a little bit better, BUT, what about that murder rate????? Six people killed over the past weekend alone. I think ya'll are up to like 176 murders for the year - which is unbelievable considering that that population is half of what it used to be.

Unfortunately, New Orleans has an inner city urban issue with poverty, that several large cities in the United States have to deal with daily. It's a social issue that does need to be handled. With that said, I can assure anyone and everyone that the average person, in New Orleans, is not exposed to these murders. They are almost all involving situations with the very poor over illegal drugs. Unless you have business going deep into public housing developments or very poor neighborhoods, you'd never know that their is a crime issue, unless you watched the news or read the newspaper. I hate that many of our very poor resolve their disputes this way, but, I'm not a sociologist, so I have little to offer these people. I only share the same city as them. It's about the only thing most of us have in common with them.

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by alon504

Unfortunately, New Orleans has an inner city urban issue with poverty, that several large cities in the United States have to deal with daily. It's a social issue that does need to be handled. With that said, I can assure anyone and everyone that the average person, in New Orleans, is not exposed to these murders. They are almost all involving situations with the very poor over illegal drugs. Unless you have business going deep into public housing developments or very poor neighborhoods, you'd never know that their is a crime issue, unless you watched the news or read the newspaper. I hate that many of our very poor resolve their disputes this way, but, I'm not a sociologist, so I have little to offer these people. I only share the same city as them. It's about the only thing most of us have in common with them.

I am very aware that the crimes and murders are mostly drug related and/or gang related. What worries me is that these murders have happened all over the metro area, not just in the projects (especially seeing as how there aren't many projects opened back up so far). I don't want someone I care about to be caught in the crossfire when they are out and about just living their lives. What is the current population there now, 200,000-300,000? 176 murders is way too high for that size population.

Here in Charlotte the population is approximately 680,000. We have had about 70 murders this year, and that is very alarming to people here - it's way too many. How many more murders have to happen before the people being most affected rise up and demand changes? And now I hear the west bank of Jefferson parish is having its own crimewave, thanks to those troublemakers who moved there when the projects didn't open back up. All I can say is, good luck Harry Lee Hopefully the NAACP and other groups will get the hell out of his way to turn the problem around before no one feels safe living on the west bank at all.

[alon504]

Originally Posted by lovesMountains

I am very aware that the crimes and murders are mostly drug related and/or gang related. What worries me is that these murders have happened all over the metro area, not just in the projects (especially seeing as how there aren't many projects opened back up so far). I don't want someone I care about to be caught in the crossfire when they are out and about just living their lives. What is the current population there now, 200,000-300,000? 176 murders is way too high for that size population.

Here in Charlotte the population is approximately 680,000. We have had about 70 murders this year, and that is very alarming to people here - it's way too many. How many more murders have to happen before the people being most affected rise up and demand changes? And now I hear the west bank of Jefferson parish is having its own crimewave, thanks to those troublemakers who moved there when the projects didn't open back up. All I can say is, good luck Harry Lee Hopefully the NAACP and other groups will get the hell out of his way to turn the problem around before no one feels safe living on the west bank at all.

As said there are issues...Charlotte has a different situation. In terms of being a large city, it is an adolescent. These deep urban issues develop over many, many years. As far as crime in New Orleans, there are surveillance cameras that are being put up and in Jefferson Parish, in a bad section of Marrero, where there has been a killing spree this year (again, drugs and poor), officers are tracking license plate numbers and stopping individuals on the streets and sidewalks and asking for ID's. No ID...come to jail and be booked and then released. It's controversial, but, it is how they cut crime in half in NYC and they are utilyzing that model. Sheriff Harry Lee just got back from NYC about a month ago and is implementing these drastic measures. In the end, I can guarantee...everything will be fine in New Orleans. I'm not particularly concerned or scared of the crime. I'm disappointed in the misconceptions presented by the media in other areas, but, the media tends to like to blast these types of things all over. The one good thing about New Orleans is most people ignore it all and simply come and have a good time. As far as your concerns with friends and family coming here...I can state that I have over 60 relatives living in all areas of New Orleans and the metro area. Not a single one has ever been a victim of crime...nothing. I believe I'm the only victim that I'm aware of and that occurred about 10 years ago when I was pick-pocketed on Bourbon Street during Mardi Gras.

[DeLaSalle]

Beautiful!!

Thank you so much...
Have you been in the US Ct of Appeal Law Library--Marble floors,etc. Gorgeous!

I know the EXACT location of every Pic you took, What memories!

Latter Memorial Library, St Charles & St Andrew-Wow! Orlean'...



DLS

[DeLaSalle]

Ok, All from memory--No cheating.

Napoleonic Battles:

Of course beginning with Napoleon Ave:
Jena
Cadiz
Valence
Upperline
Robert
Leontine
Duffossat
Forgot the others lol then Jefferson, etc.

DLS

[dorada19]

Thank you for the pics. I got an honest look into the city.

[Xcaped NOLA]

That was a terrific slide show of New Orleans. You were able to capture many sights that New Orleans is famous for. But it seems you've overlooked or neglected other parts of the city,therefore this is not a complete scrapbook and may give those not familiar with the city a wrong impression. The Garden District/parts of the Uptown area, City Park, Downtown and French Quarter sustained little or moderate damage. The sights shown would be those that tourists would frequent. What about the 9th ward, Bywater, N.O. East, and Gentilly as well as other areas. Maybe you wanted to show that N.O. was rebounding, but it really doesn't illustrate the devestation in other areas of the city. To an out of towner looking at the photos, you would think that N.O. didn't really get it that bad. I have a relative living in the Bywater area and that area is still DOA. I loved the pics-great job, but it is only a small percentage of N.O. that has made progress thus far.

[Kraw]

wow, seeing those pics bring back bad memories. I hope I never have to go there again

[Elmira]

Thanks for the photos, I am from NY and visited once, before the flood. I enjoyed my stay there hope i can visit again sometime.