Will New Orleans Still Exist in the Future? (Metairie, Kenner: city hall, high crime)

[topaz88]

Is New Orleans just a hopeless cause? It just seems like Southern Louisiana keeps getting hit with the WORST luck.... first with Katrina, then the BP Oil Spill, and now the potentially catastrophic flooding of the Mississippi River?!?! What's next? Is New Orleans still going to exist if it gets flooded with 20+ feet of water?

Plus on top of that there are the disappearing wetlands, which are supposed to help buffer the hurricanes and then of course the government doesn't seem to care at all about this region, because we all know that if the oil spill and these floods were happening in the Hamptons, there would be more sense of urgency.

I'm so frustrated and it's just breaking my heart.

......that's my vent.

[annie_himself]

There are many conservation programs for the coast. And yes New Orleans will still be there. In 250 years, maybe not. It's way too important to the country with the port, fishing industry, and oil for them to just let it go.

[Prytania]

Well the river is..the river. New Orleans has flooded before from a river levee collapse (altho it happened it what is now River Ridge and flooded much of what is now Uptown) in 1849.

Keep in mind also that in 1794, New Orleans burned...was hit my 3 hurricanes and 20% of the new population arrived in town died from disease. We will be here if we stand up for ourselves nationally...oil companies with the exception of Shell haven't moved to help New Orleans with wetland restoration (the oil companies largely caused it...pulling oil from the shores of Louisiana, then moving their white collar jobs to Houston).

Problem is there are far too many people in the New Orleans area who are far too laid back for their own good. People care but not enough to actually do something about it.

[Speleothem]

Originally Posted by topaz88

I'm so frustrated and it's just breaking my heart.

Calm down.
Can't tell ya not to worry 'bout hurricanes or the Gubmint,
but this high water ain't gonna flood New Orleans.

[dal2aus]

Originally Posted by Prytania

Problem is there are far too many people in the New Orleans area who are far too laid back for their own good. People care but not enough to actually do something about it.

What can we do about it? People aren't too laid back, we just don't know what we can do that's actually going to make a difference. New Orleans has tons of civic organizations and non-profits, but things still stay the same. The progress moves so slowly that the average time-starved person with a job, family, and bills, just doesn't have time to waste fighting City Hall or Big Business. Average Joes and Joannes want to make things better, but need to know how.

Any ideas?

[Prytania]

Yeah I've got an idea. Even the civic orgs here are too locally focused and the ones that aren't like Women of the Storm are restricted to a certain set of upper class people. This is also something that needs a groundswell of support outside of just New Orleans. Metairie, Laplace, Kenner, the Chalmation Nation...etc. If you value your way of life...we have to get our message to the nation in a this is our legacy to the country, this is what we contribute to our country, our economy...and oil companies have taken and taken..putting into motion the destruction of one of the most important and unique way of life in the nation. Lobbying, marketing, ads...I think it can be done (I worked with some people who tried to save a TV show years ago via buying the front page of Variety, billboards nationally, TV ads, etc). If that can be done for a tv show...we can do this. I just don't know how to get it started myself...

However, this will be won or lost like a political campaign. We need to stand together to win.

[Takezoe]

well originally new orleans was only the vieux carre...

I always thought in a hundred years from now, if all the lands around it flooded. new orleans would only be the old square and it's port...

the silver by the river will always be there...

[rcp11889]

Originally Posted by Takezoe

well originally new orleans was only the vieux carre...

I always thought in a hundred years from now, if all the lands around it flooded. new orleans would only be the old square and it's port...

the silver by the river will always be there...

the sliver by the river refers to all the land above sea level in new orleans on the natural levee, from carrollton to st bernard really

[Innotech]

This is a state of survivors. People who live here are proud of this place and its progress. They have endured hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, oil spills, poverty, high crime. It takes more than that to discourage the Louisiana people. They do not give up that easily. They are not quitters. They rebuild, learn the lessons, and continue living here. The same goes for other areas of the Gulf Coast region. No way in hell will they ever give up.
I would like to add, however, that Louisiana is doing a lot around New Orleans area to try to prevent another large scale disaster from occurring. there is a very expensive project done on Lake Borgne that will ensure that storm surge does not easily reach the city for example. I10 out of East NOLA has been widened and rebuilt. Lots of flood infrastructure improvements have been underway. Will it work? Who knows? But they are trying.

[annie_himself]

Are you talking about the Corps project? Its gonna take 10+ years to complete right? And I don't think the city will ever flood like that again, that was pure irresponsibility and made a mockery of our state.