The "New South" (New Orleans, Jackson: schools, college, camping)

[CrossCountryUrbanite]

been hearing this a lot lately. thoughts? How will N.O. figure into "The New South"?

[mhounit]

Never heard of " The new South " . And I live here .

[MetroBTR]

The official water park of the New South

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

That term dates back into the 1970s when it was applied to Atlanta. Nothing new about it.

[Moonlover]

I don't think there will ever be a "New South". Too much non favorable history toward black people. Too conservative and still a little bit scary if you are on a road trip and take the wrong turn.
My sister drove across country to take my niece to college .. they got lost in some rural area in Mississippi. My nephew went into the gas station to pay for the gas and was told ' we ain't got no gas available for y'all right now'. The guy ( a hillbilly ) came out and watched until they left. This was 8 years ago but it still sticks in their minds.

[Azalea City Man]

Originally Posted by Moonlover

My sister drove across country to take my niece to college .. they got lost in some rural area in Mississippi. My nephew went into the gas station to pay for the gas and was told ' we ain't got no gas available for y'all right now'. The guy ( a hillbilly ) came out and watched until they left. This was 8 years ago but it still sticks in their minds.

Well, I can say that rural northern Mississippi is a whole 'nother planet ... much less a unique area of the country. Beautiful countryside, but yeah. I don't see anything like that happening in many other areas of the south though - or at least not in Alabama, Louisiana, Florida, southern/central Mississippi, or Georgia (I'm not familiar enough with Tennessee or South Carolina to make any statements about them).

[CrossCountryUrbanite]

seems some liberalization going on- Houston's elected gay mayor- who would've guessed?

[barefootbyron]

since this is my first post in this forum, let me describe myself. i am a 48 y/o black, gay, barefooter, atheist, very liberal, feminist & hippy male. i am a native of mississippi, who has resided in the french quarter for 25 years. the new south does exists but, only in urban areas. if you are in some areas mississippi, louisiana, arkansas or alabama the old south exists. i have been camping, hiking, tubeing & unfortunately encountered bad experiences.

[WestbankNOLA]

The only places I've heard the phrase "New South" is Jackson, MS and Atlanta. I don't get it, honestly. Also, how can you compare South Louisiana to Alabama, Mississippi, and even Georgia?

[Prytania]

Well in comparison to the old South that was characterized by rural small towns, racism and social conservatism.

I think New Orleans has a place at the table...the wildcards being who the next Mayor is and levees.

But you have several venture capital funded technology startups downtown (who in part got the VC funding because they are in New Orleans...that made them stand out), the schools are dramatically improved from what they once were...and people are interested in doing business here.

But the Mayor is going to have a big impact on that (we can't afford another Nagin or Morial), economic development has to be at the forefront of the Mayor's office. And as terrible as it sounds, we either need to survive a long time without a direct hit from a storm or we need a storm to come through and the levees need to hold to demonstrate to corporate America that they can safely do business here.