New Orleans Recovery

[Zenwinemaster]

From today's New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/10/us/10orleans.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

April 10, 2007
Steering New Orleans’s Recovery With a Clinical Eye
By ADAM NOSSITER

NEW ORLEANS, April 9 — In a city fond of its own self-portrait, Edward J. Blakely’s opinions are a shot of cold water.

Dr. Blakely, New Orleans’s belatedly appointed Hurricane Katrina recovery chief, refers to the city’s racial factions as “a bit like the Shiites and Sunnis,” calls the civic elite “insular,” and says the newcomers he wants to draw here will be impatient with local “buffoons.” But unlike other outsiders who come here dispersing critical thoughts, Dr. Blakely might see his bear fruit. For one thing, Dr. Blakely, a globe-trotting academic with a long résumé, has a mandate for renewal from Mayor C. Ray Nagin and a city desperate for leadership.

For another, a cool mix of realism and fatalism is, to all evidence, guiding him three months into his tenure as the executive director of this city’s Office of Recovery Management. In a city government where hot speechmaking, unfulfilled promises and finger-pointing have reigned, the combination stands out. It was evident in the latest recovery plan, hatched by Dr. Blakely and unveiled last month, and widely praised as the most practicable yet.

Dr. Blakely, the former dean of the school of management and urban policy at the New School in New York, may prove to be what has been damagingly lacking here: a firm voice making difficult choices between neighborhoods. He is the latest incarnation of what has become a stock character in the New Orleans saga, the rescuer from afar — but one with an unusually candid streak.

Those who demand a “right to return” for former residents are merely “using people” for political ends, Dr. Blakely said sharply in an interview. The “lower-income population” now “trapped outside the city” may not be coming back. New Orleans “won’t be the same” when the dust settles, he asserted calmly, suggesting that a new population with more “energy” may replace the old.

Out of these perceptions has come his plan, presented at City Hall late last month by Dr. Blakely, a soft-spoken but precise professor. It bows to political realities in New Orleans without indulging them, in contrast with its several forerunners. The plan focuses on rebuilding 17 compact areas a half-mile in diameter and proposes spending on a few symbolic areas of devastation, like the Lower Ninth Ward in the heavily damaged eastern section, pleasing activists who have strongly urged their redevelopment.

But 14 of the 17 areas Dr. Blakely singles out are in the more promising, less flooded western part of the city. A combination of incentives for developers and public infrastructure spending will be used to rebuild these spots, Dr. Blakely says, at a cost of $1.1 billion, money that is not yet in hand and that is dependent in part on an unusual plan to sell bonds based on the money the city might get from its acres of blighted properties.

“He has brought a level of realism to rebuilding New Orleans that hasn’t been there,” said Sean Reilly, a member of the Louisiana Recovery Authority. “He’s got a real, concrete plan. At the end of the day, that’s what’s been missing: that clear prioritization, ‘here’s where we’re going to invest.’ ”

The plan appears to have the support, provisionally at least, of the mutually suspicious political factions here. Above all, it is backed by Dr. Blakely’s own appraisal of the pathologies that have so far stymied recovery in this city’s wounded neighborhoods.

After he was appointed by the mayor, Dr. Blakely, 68, stepped into a planning vacuum in New Orleans. He quickly surprised state officials with a demand for control of recovery dollars, proclaimed his own indispensability and publicly chided New Orleans for what he termed its “mendicants” mentality.

Colleagues elsewhere say this egotism is at least partly justified: Dr. Blakely has held a series of prestigious university positions, has a track record of helping cities recover — notably Oakland, Calif., after the 1989 earthquake and fire — and has written well-received studies in urban planning, especially a critical look at gated communities in America. At the University of California, Berkeley, where he headed the urban planning department, he brought the university’s resources to bear on Oakland’s problems in an innovative way, colleagues say; he is chairman of urban and regional planning at the University of Sydney, Australia, and commutes between New Orleans and Sydney.

“Given a near-hopeless task, this is as good a choice as I could have come up with,” said Lawrence J. Vale, head of the department of urban studies and planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Heavyweight credentials notwithstanding, state officials balked at Dr. Blakely’s demand to control some of the recovery money, though they later came to an understanding with him. Dr. Blakely said he was undeterred by the obstacles.

“I’m like the doctor, going into surgery,” he said. “I’m putting my best thing there. The patient, I hope, lives. But post-surgery, the patient, if they start eating hog maws again and not exercising, what can I do? I approach all my urban planning projects that way.”

It is too early to say whether Dr. Blakely will succeed where others have failed, and he recently said he might leave his post in a year. But what is clear is that, perhaps for the first time, a ranking New Orleans official is looking out over the ruins and their complicated context with a clinical, outsider’s eye.

That awareness of entrenched realities here, racial and economic, is reflected in Dr. Blakely’s relatively modest plan: it is not an effort to make over the city all at once. Instead, it revolves around localized attention to promising zones that, if they take off, could have a transforming effect on the whole. “If I could pump life back in these places, you might pump life back into the entire city,” he said.

The picture in its entirety is too daunting to be tackled completely. Most acutely, Dr. Blakely has found a polarized racial environment in New Orleans, very different from Oakland, that he says he must work around rather than try to change. Here, race is “the first thing in people’s minds,” said Dr. Blakely, who is black. “It’s a culture of domination rather than participation. So whatever group gets something, they try to dominate the whole turf.”

A second entrenched hurdle is the paper-thin economy. If it is not built up — essentially created wholesale, most promisingly on hopes of redeveloping a downtown medical and bioscience complex here — all of Dr. Blakely’s exercises could be for naught.

“We have an economy entirely made up of T-shirts,” he said in a speech at the University of Sydney this week. “That is our major import and export.”

He sees the moribund economic infrastructure as the result, in part, of the city’s provincialism.

“It’s quite interesting how insular people are here,” Dr. Blakely said. “They don’t know people on Wall Street, they don’t know the big development firms, they’ve not been associated with the kind of urban planning expertise that I take for granted.”

The tone is clipped and California, different from the easygoing drawl of local officials. Dr. Blakely’s skepticism about New Orleans caused a stir last week when he suggested that the city’s prehurricane population levels might have been inflated. He later backed down and apologized after Mayor Nagin disagreed.

Still, the city has a few aces, and Dr. Blakely is banking on them, most notably a “very good” university network of five substantial institutions, and a way of life that cannot be replicated elsewhere.

Newcomers, pioneers willing to put up with the city’s present difficulties, could be the salvation of New Orleans and its future, Dr. Blakely suggested. New Orleans now is “a third-world country,” he said.

“If we get some people here, those 100 million new Americans, they’re going to come here without the same attitudes of the locals,” he said. “I think, if we create the right signals, they’re going to come here, and they’re going to say, ‘Who are these buffoons?’ I’m meeting some who are moving here, and they don’t have time for this stuff.”

[jenni]

OMG

this literally made me feel sick .

OMG.

[ohio]

Tough talk at time when toughness is needed. Not the idylic solution we all hoped for, but at least he has a real plan. This is the point where a leader with a differing plan would speak up and compromise would be attempted, but is there such a person?

[bywterbro]

would only slow things down more, its almost 2 years since the levess broke...this plan is a long time in the making..
tons of meetings with the citizens of new orleans...i dont agree with all
of it.....but its alot better than waiting any longer.......and if your lving in
a trailer, or at your inlaws, its time to get going...
city council is behind it....which they were smart enuf to get that support
before they went public...

[jenni]

ya at least he has a plan

I suppose that should negate the horrible bullshit he is saying about the people of new orleans

i mean seriously he outright is calling us all buffoons ....

And it looks like his plan is to gentrify the city

NOLA has always been a haven for artists and it is art and music that give this town its flavor and make Nola unique

to gentrify Nola would mean making it impossible for artists to live here .

the rent is already skyrocketing after the friggin insurance rates for the landlords rose after K ......

Turing the BIG EASY into the BIG YUPPIE is not a solution to rebuilding a city that has always been about POOR PEOPLE ...

WE LIKE BEING POOR ARTISTS EATING BEANS AND RICE DAMMIT ....

This is NOLA NOT NEW YORK.

I am sorry but the crap he is saying about us is just awful .

We dont have connection to WALL STREET because they are not playing any good MUSIC on wall street so who gives a shit what goes on there ~!!!!!!

[NOLA]

There is no such person and no such plan. Nagin had his chance to be a leader and develop a plan, and he abdicated. This is all we've got, and it seems like a reasonable start to me. One point in the story is a bit misleading, however. While 14 of the 17 projects are in the central and western parts of the city, nearly 1/2 of the proposed dollars are for the Ninth Ward and New Orleans East. This is exactly the kind of balance that will be required for the plan to gain widespread acceptance.

This is not a cure-all. The dollars to be invested are targeted at areas where a little public investment is expected to spur a tremendous amount of private investment. Dr. Blakely has done this before, so I have some hope that he knows what he is doing.

[jenni]

well i hope so too

but his perspective as presented in this article does not settle well with me .

He talks of bringing in 100 thousand new people from all over while he outright says there is no room in this plan to provide any affordable accomadations for the people who are actually from New Orleans to return home . He straigh up says "" oh well "" those people cant ever return .

If this turns into a town where people have to work 70 hours a week just to afford to live here ~ the artists that make Nola Nola wont be able to do their thing here .

to me thats not a solution .

[Frosty]

We dont have connection to WALL STREET because they are not playing any good MUSIC on wall street so who gives a shit what goes on there ~!!!!!!


Amen to that!

[bywterbro]

ya at least he has a plan

I suppose that should negate the horrible bullshit he is saying about the people of new orleans

i mean seriously he outright is calling us all buffoons ....

And it looks like his plan is to gentrify the city

NOLA has always been a haven for artists and it is art and music that give this town its flavor and make Nola unique

to gentrify Nola would mean making it impossible for artists to live here .

the rent is already skyrocketing after the friggin insurance rates for the landlords rose after K ......

Turing the BIG EASY into the BIG YUPPIE is not a solution to rebuilding a city that has always been about POOR PEOPLE ...

WE LIKE BEING POOR ARTISTS EATING BEANS AND RICE DAMMIT ....

This is NOLA NOT NEW YORK.

I am sorry but the crap he is saying about us is just awful .

We dont have connection to WALL STREET because they are not playing any good MUSIC on wall street so who gives a shit what goes on there ~!!!!!!

I think, and hope hes talking about the political buffoons...
amazingly since the levees broke, and with supposedly so many musicians
not back yet.....the music scene is extremely vibrant and varied....
good free music everywhere...from drum circles at st. augustine chuch,
where percusionists around the city can jam with top name brass bands..
mirliton festival......good music at st. annas church....plenty of new bands
have formed, and plenty of new clubs.....st. claude ave. is becoming
a new place for good music....its amazing amidst all this...the music
scene is thriving....

[jenni]

I think, and hope hes talking about the political buffoons...
amazingly since the levees broke, and with supposedly so many musicians
not back yet.....the music scene is extremely vibrant and varied....
good free music everywhere...from drum circles at st. augustine chuch,
where percusionists around the city can jam with top name brass bands..
mirliton festival......good music at st. annas church....plenty of new bands
have formed, and plenty of new clubs.....st. claude ave. is becoming
a new place for good music....its amazing amidst all this...the music
scene is thriving....


It has always been that way .............. It;s actually not as thriving as it was but .............

a large percentage of the people who came right back were artists .

the musicians village project that branford sponsered has helped a lot .

and I dont know who he's talking about but he suggests that the attitude of the locals is askew

he clearly states """"""""""""""""""""If we get some people here, those 100 million new Americans, they’re going to come here without the same attitudes of the locals,” he said. “I think, if we create the right signals, they’re going to come here, and they’re going to say, ‘Who are these buffoons?’ I’m meeting some who are moving here, and they don’t have time for this stuff.”"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

It's all about perspective ..i want solutions just like anyone but I dont want a DIFFERENT NOLA ....i want the nola that has always been beautiful......

[marignygreg]

He kind of gets it. A quote from fridays paper, "There are three things people do in New Orleans, and the first is politics, the second is cook. And the third one is dance.

[Orleansnj]

While Dr. Blakely may have an ego the size of some people's backyard - this article from the NYTimes is not as balanced as one might hope. (gee - another shocking example of the NYtimes in action - ugh...they used to be my favorite resource !!)

Another series of information, some of it in Dr. Blakely's own words can be found on the Rockefeller Foundation website. It is always good to read multiple sources and then draw conclusions. I am withholding my opinion until I am able to read more - but I will share all of my information.....this is only the beginning.

http://www.rockfound.org/about_us/news/2007/0306_blakely_no.shtml

On this page there are a series of links on the right hand side, in addition to the March 6, 2007 press release by Dr. Blakely at the center of the page. I cannot urge you enough to follow those links and read the information contained therein. The best thing a public can do is arm itself with information from a variety of resources !!

[bywterbro]

he can kiss my ass then....i didnt read it all..

[jenni]

LOL

you know ~~ some days i feel like telling the whole world to kiss my ass .

thats why i cant watch the news anymore ...

But seriously i am all about getting the damn thing done ..

But i dont appreciate the idea that accomadations are not being considered for those who want to come home and cant due to high rents ....

they vouchers they gave out for section 8 were all lumped into these certain places that are somewhat ghetto ....

and they are not giving those out anymore .

Families should not have to move into the ghetto to move home .

NOONE seems to be considering the idea that lowering the insurance rates for landlord would allow for RENT TO GO BACK DOWN to pre k standards ...

This would allow LOCAL PEOPLE TO RETURN TO AFFORDABLE housing ...

I myself am blessed to be able to afford to come back

I know a lot of people who just cant pay the rent .

[Azeater]

Gentrification - The restoration and upgrading of deteriorated urban property by middle-class or affluent people, often resulting in displacement of lower-income people.

I expect that it is going to be impossible to rebuild New Orleans in any substantial way without this happening. How is it possible to restore an area such as the lower ninth ward without this happening? Developers are not able to come in and build a new area of impoverished homes. They will build new homes. Will the residents who lived there be able to afford them. No, they mostly will not. Most, I expect, had little or no insurance. Most, I expect had rather low paying jobs and very little savings. Most, I expect, will have found better places to live and most likely as good or better jobs where they have relocated to. It seems most would love to see New Orleans comeback to the same way it was but that is never going to happen. How can it? Why would anyone want it to? Crime and poverty were and continue to be a huge problem. Should not the opportunity be used to make something better than what was there before? Will it be a different city than it was? I hope so and hope it is a better city with more opportunities for its citizens to make good lives for themselves.

I think the city is lucky to have had the good fortune of having Nagin make one, and possibly only one, good choice since the storm. That choice was hiring Blakely. He seems to be a very bright person with the experience and foresight so lacking in the political process in Louisiana. A search of the internet will find you untold numbers of reviews of a book he coauthored a few years ago called Fortress America. Reading these reviews, or better yet, reading the book will tell you a lot about him as a person. He seems to be very pro-community, pro-racial balance and anti-exclusionary in his thinking. How can this be bad for a city that had so many problems prior to Katrina and which is now groping for a way to pull itself back together?

I would love to live in San Francisco. I was born there and have visited at least 50 times over the years. That would make me the happiest person on earth. I can't afford to live there. That is America.

[mluke66]

Dr. Blakely, New Orleans’s belatedly appointed Hurricane Katrina recovery chief, refers to the city’s racial factions as “a bit like the Shiites and Sunnis,” calls the civic elite “insular,” and says the newcomers he wants to draw here will be impatient with local “buffoons.”


Those who demand a “right to return” for former residents are merely “using people” for political ends, Dr. Blakely said sharply in an interview.

While I didn't care for a lot his tone, Blakely nails the politicos with these two. The city is divided into factions, and these factions are trying to gain or hold on to power. Nothing more, nothing less. They don't care about rebuilding the city. They care about power. Use Cynthia Hedge-Morrell and her brood as an example.

[jenni]

Gentrification - The restoration and upgrading of deteriorated urban property by middle-class or affluent people, often resulting in displacement of lower-income people.

I expect that it is going to be impossible to rebuild New Orleans in any substantial way without this happening. How is it possible to restore an area such as the lower ninth ward without this happening? Developers are not able to come in and build a new area of impoverished homes. They will build new homes. Will the residents who lived there be able to afford them. No, they mostly will not. Most, I expect, had little or no insurance. Most, I expect had rather low paying jobs and very little savings. Most, I expect, will have found better places to live and most likely as good or better jobs where they have relocated to. It seems most would love to see New Orleans comeback to the same way it was but that is never going to happen. How can it? Why would anyone want it to? Crime and poverty were and continue to be a huge problem. Should not the opportunity be used to make something better than what was there before? Will it be a different city than it was? I hope so and hope it is a better city with more opportunities for its citizens to make good lives for themselves.

I think the city is lucky to have had the good fortune of having Nagin make one, and possibly only one, good choice since the storm. That choice was hiring Blakely. He seems to be a very bright person with the experience and foresight so lacking in the political process in Louisiana. A search of the internet will find you untold numbers of reviews of a book he coauthored a few years ago called Fortress America. Reading these reviews, or better yet, reading the book will tell you a lot about him as a person. He seems to be very pro-community, pro-racial balance and anti-exclusionary in his thinking. How can this be bad for a city that had so many problems prior to Katrina and which is now groping for a way to pull itself back together?

I would love to live in San Francisco. I was born there and have visited at least 50 times over the years. That would make me the happiest person on earth. I can't afford to live there. That is America.


Wow .

i cant even comment .

[bywterbro]

lets see what happens......i put very little stock in talk...
lets see how well he performs..
one thing i will give him credit for is he rode thru the neighborhoods
on a bike to get a feel for the city...

[Belle]

I think, and hope hes talking about the political buffoons...
amazingly since the levees broke, and with supposedly so many musicians
not back yet.....the music scene is extremely vibrant and varied....
good free music everywhere...from drum circles at st. augustine chuch,
where percusionists around the city can jam with top name brass bands..
mirliton festival......good music at st. annas church....plenty of new bands
have formed, and plenty of new clubs.....st. claude ave. is becoming
a new place for good music....its amazing amidst all this...the music
scene is thriving....

That is how I read it. The lack of leadership (fed to local and the Gov in between)is just criminal and Nagin was re elected?? I was very sad that day.

[mluke66]

Jenni,

As a landlord, I can tell you insurance rates are only part of the equation. There is less out there, therefore we can charge more. I don't gouge my renter--in fact she gets a discount as a friend--I'm only charging what the market bares. But I bet i get $200 a month more in rent, though it is only guess since I didn't own pre-K. However, if didn't charge that in rent, the whole thing wouldn't work out. I'm just not going to rent a place out as a loss.

[ohio]

Gentrification - The restoration and upgrading of deteriorated urban property by middle-class or affluent people, often resulting in displacement of lower-income people.

I expect that it is going to be impossible to rebuild New Orleans in any substantial way without this happening. How is it possible to restore an area such as the lower ninth ward without this happening? Developers are not able to come in and build a new area of impoverished homes. They will build new homes. Will the residents who lived there be able to afford them. No, they mostly will not. Most, I expect, had little or no insurance. Most, I expect had rather low paying jobs and very little savings. Most, I expect, will have found better places to live and most likely as good or better jobs where they have relocated to. It seems most would love to see New Orleans comeback to the same way it was but that is never going to happen. How can it? Why would anyone want it to? Crime and poverty were and continue to be a huge problem. Should not the opportunity be used to make something better than what was there before? Will it be a different city than it was? I hope so and hope it is a better city with more opportunities for its citizens to make good lives for themselves.

I think the city is lucky to have had the good fortune of having Nagin make one, and possibly only one, good choice since the storm. That choice was hiring Blakely. He seems to be a very bright person with the experience and foresight so lacking in the political process in Louisiana. A search of the internet will find you untold numbers of reviews of a book he coauthored a few years ago called Fortress America. Reading these reviews, or better yet, reading the book will tell you a lot about him as a person. He seems to be very pro-community, pro-racial balance and anti-exclusionary in his thinking. How can this be bad for a city that had so many problems prior to Katrina and which is now groping for a way to pull itself back together?

I would love to live in San Francisco. I was born there and have visited at least 50 times over the years. That would make me the happiest person on earth. I can't afford to live there. That is America.Well said, Bob.

[ohio]

Jenni,

As a landlord, I can tell you insurance rates are only part of the equation. There is less out there, therefore we can charge more. I don't gouge my renter--in fact she gets a discount as a friend--I'm only charging what the market bares. But I bet i get $200 a month more in rent, though it is only guess since I didn't own pre-K. However, if didn't charge that in rent, the whole thing wouldn't work out. I'm just not going to rent a place out as a loss.And the same applies to large corporations and businesses (and even government in this day & age). No one will invest without the reasonable expectation of making at least some profit. This is such an emotionally charged issue, but sometimes you have to look at the dollars and cents. This may seem harsh to the locals here on the board. No one wishes Nola to return to the way it was more than I. After pouring emotion, labor, and money into the cause for the last couple of years, I realize it is time to face the realities of the situation.

[jenni]

ok

I struggle for a way to say this elegantly ...

But ... screw gentrification .

It did nothing for the CULTURE of san francisco and it is not going to do much for NOLA other than turn it into another SF or New york .

A huge part of the charm pre and post K of new orleans is THE POOR PEOPLE ....

contrary to popular belief a lot of people in lower and middle class communities enjoy their lives perfectly well and dont need to be rich to be happy .

How will it be when a visit to the french quarter no longer includes the sweet sounds of random souls playing jazz on the streets ???

for a lot of people being an artist is a JOB ...

and just like choosing school teaching as a profession ~ you know in advance that your not going to be "" well off "" but you choose the path that most inspiries you and reflects who you are .

NOLA has always been a place for the artist soul to shine freely because you could afford to live here and be an artist .

If the aftermath of katrina includes gentification of the city the way that chicago and S.f and new york have taken ..Then 5 or ten years down the line all we will have is the memory of the soul that makes this city the best place ever ~!!

Yes we have problems and we have crime and all the other issues that paluge modern day society .

But the process of growing through those issues is what makes for GOOD ART ....

Suffering and the bonding together of community , red beans and friggin rice every night and a good song on the front porch ...

that what makes for soulful SOUND .

I am hoping to not sound pretentious when i say that

POOR PEOPLE ROCK and are some of the most inspiried artists we have ever known .

Beware of losing the soul of the city to those dollars and cents .

[marignygreg]

Jenni,

As a landlord, I can tell you insurance rates are only part of the equation. There is less out there, therefore we can charge more. I don't gouge my renter--in fact she gets a discount as a friend--I'm only charging what the market bares. But I bet i get $200 a month more in rent, though it is only guess since I didn't own pre-K. However, if didn't charge that in rent, the whole thing wouldn't work out. I'm just not going to rent a place out as a loss.

I'm a pre-K owner still charging pre-K rent, but I can't hold out much longer with my impending insurance increase with 'Citizen's' ( State run insurance Co. of last resort ) and the rising Entergy/Water bills. Not to mention money you have to pay for a good contractor these days.

[Zydekitten]

Well . . . I grew up in the S.F. Bay Area (since 1974) and lived for five years in S.F. (1990-1995) and I can tell you that so-called gentrification hasn't changed/ruined/eliminated the arts and culture of San Francisco one bit.

Yes, the Dot-Com boom/bust raised rents and house prices through the roof (and the atmosphere, stratosphere and solar system) . . . but that is endemic all over the state of California, which with all of our problems and outrageous gas prices - is STILL the most populous state in the U.S. and growing - incredibly. Does that mean that some folks can't afford to live there - sadly, yes. Does that mean they all just leave - luckily, no - they have found other solutions. And it is a problem that S.F. is trying to deal with.

However, there are still musicians, artists, chefs, comedians, actors and non-rich citizens helping make S.F. one of the greatest, funkiest, most beautiful cities on earth and I truly feel that there always will be - just as there always will be those folks in NOLA. However, no matter what Blakley is or isn't able to improve - life in NOLA will be forever different . . . that's just the nature of change, which is often hard and doesn't feel good.

But, I can say that I knew Oakland before the '89 quake - it's been a city very similar to NOLA in that there are long-standing race, poverty and violence issues - and it's MUCH, MUCH improved now!!! Some of that was a new mayor who was effective and some of that was a good plan from Dr. Blakely and some of that was new people moving into old neighborhoods and helping breath new life into old problems to make them better.

[jenni]

much respect zydekitten but i disagree that gentification has not deterred the arts in S.F.

I also lived there on and off over the past 20 years .

I have either lived here ~ or there .

And though there are indeed people who have sustained throughout the changes ..I personally know a ton of artists who simply dont live there anymore . As a matter of fact ~~ Lots of them moved here ~!!

Also ~~ the free music scene as well as fests such as north Beach Jazz have stuggled and still continue to fight the new city government for the right to do their thing .

AND ~~ there used to be TONS on artists in the streets and now theres a few here and there where they can get away with it without getting hussled on by the cops . you actaully have to get a STREET ARTIST PERMIT and theres a waiting list and very few available spots .

Most of the people I know in S.F. have to work a 60 to 70 hour work week just to make ends meet .

there is always the positive side ......... But unlike cali ~~ the ROOTs of NOLA are in the poor communities .

THE FOOD ~ THE HISTORY ~ THE MUSIC ~ THE CULTURE are all fashioned by the poor people .

[mluke66]

I think the music that is indigenous to New Orleans has dimmed some, but it has not died at all post-K.

Mardi Gras Indians are still in the city.
Super Sunday was as big as it has ever been.
French Quarter Fest is still going on.
Most clubs reopened post-K.
A musicians village is being built in the 9th Ward.

I don't think the music scene is dying at all. People complain about gentrification, yet it still costs, what, $10 to see a show at Tips. They're still free at Le Bon Temps. What a bargain.

Come visit me in Harlem and I'll show how much it costs to see music.

[Zydekitten]

Most of the people I know in S.F. have to work a 60 to 70 hour work week just to make ends meet .

Jenni - well maybe things are just much better in NOLA, which is one of the many reasons I am strongly drawn to move there . . . but most people in the entire state here have to work 60-70 hours a week to make ends meet - not just in the City.

I've lived in Cali (except for college in Boston in the 80s) for 33 years and all over the state (S.F., Bay Area, L.A., Orange County, Sacramento, Sierra Foothills) . . . and it is that way everywhere here - unless you're lucky enough to be wealthy or you're on government assistance.

I was lucky enough to live in S.F. before the Dot-com boom sent rents skyrocketing - it forced a lot of people out, but that's not from gentrification - it's from money and greed.

Most of the Mission, which was under threat from gentrification in the late 90's, hasn't been gentrified and yet, still a lot of the previous residents couldn't afford to live there any more as they had been - it's because the rents went up so much in the old, still unimproved buildings.

However, I have many good friends in the City and I go back there quite a bit - there are still many artists on the streets; yes you do have to have a permit, but don't also the artists in Jackson Square have to have a permit? That's just city government crap - not gentrification.

I'm not defending the practice of big money moving into a great neighborhood and via dough and avarice removing what gave that neighborhood it's life and character - but the issue is more complex than just new people coming into an area and improving the structures there to sustain that area, which I think is what Dr. Blakely is aiming for.

[Frosty]

I think the music that is indigenous to New Orleans has dimmed some, but it has not died at all post-K.

Mardi Gras Indians are still in the city.
Super Sunday was as big as it has ever been.
French Quarter Fest is still going on.
Most clubs reopened post-K.
A musicians village is being built in the 9th Ward.

I don't think the music scene is dying at all. People complain about gentrification, yet it still costs, what, $10 to see a show at Tips. They're still free at Le Bon Temps. What a bargain.

Come visit me in Harlem and I'll show how much it costs to see music.

The thing is, the current musicians are the product of pre K New Orleans. As long as these folks are around, they will play New Orleans music just as Honeyboy Edwards still plays Delta Blues. But, will there be a next generation or will the sons and daughters of today's New Orleans musicians fade into contemporary American culture. It is the lack of the parades, and BBQ's and funerals, and masking, and schoolkids practicing trumpet while waiting for the school bus that will make New Orleans into a part of our faded history, like the Mississippi Delta. How will the tradition be passed on in Houston?

[mluke66]

Did you go to Super Sunday this year? There were tons of young kinds masking. And I could name twenty great young musicians in the city.

Go to one T.I.P gathering and watch there are dozens of youngsters playing. The city may have lost some children, but I think that will be replaced over time.

[NOLA]

That's what TIP's Intern Program and the Instruments A Comin' benefit are all about - helping encourage and educate that next generation of musicians in New Orleans. Having been to those functions, and knowing the generosity of the Threadheads (among others) who support these endeavours, gives me a great deal of hope that the music and culture of New Orleans will survive and even thrive.

[Frosty]

Did you go to Super Sunday this year? There were tons of young kinds masking. And I could name twenty great young musicians in the city.

Go to one T.I.P gathering and watch there are dozens of youngsters playing. The city may have lost some children, but I think that will be replaced over time.

And, with the exposure, perhaps those who do come back will appreciate their history and culture more and start a renaissaince. It's good to hear the things you describe. I hope you are right.

[PaulC]

[QUOTE=bywterbro;52846][B]I think, and hope hes talking about the political buffoons...QUOTE]

i'm thinkin' and hopin' the same as you..... i hope we're right....

[PaulC]

That's what TIP's Intern Program and the Instruments A Comin' benefit are all about - helping encourage and educate that next generation of musicians in New Orleans. Having been to those functions, and knowing the generosity of the Threadheads (among others) who support these endeavours, gives me a great deal of hope that the music and culture of New Orleans will survive and even thrive.


it sure would be nice to see more money come from the "non-profit" jazz fest pockets that should be deeper and deeper with the big price increases of the past few years.... way too much money comin' in not to go back (in bigger sums) into the neighborhoods and the music programs....

[Azeater]

I was wrong to lead off my post with the definition of gentrification. It is really not appropriate to use that term here given that this is not a problem caused by entrepreneurial greed as is often the case when such actions are spoken of. I think one needs to look beyond ones fondness for what was and realize what must happen for the city to resurrect itself and become a magnet for good paying jobs, good schools and a sustainable tax base upon which it can survive into the future.

Were poor people the soul of the city pre-K? Yes, no one would argue that point. But one can see soul in any number of people both well to do and not so well to do. Change is an obvious necessity but the soul of the city does not have to suffer irreparable harm in order to undergo this change. No matter what income level good people have they want a safe and nurturing environment in which to raise their children. They want good schools and want to see that they and their families have a future. All of this will necessitate big changes. It is not as if change was not needed before the storm but the storm has made the change a pressing concern when it never seemed to be before.

Adaptation to new realities is very difficult and everyone here wants to see New Orleans retain its charm and vivaciousness. Those who are in a position to spearhead the change need to be tempered in their actions by residents who want the soul of the place to survive as opposed to those who simply see the change as an opportunity to further their own personal, financial and political ambitions. Hopefully the proper people will step up and take on this challenge.

[mluke66]

The thing that bothers me is that suddenly I'm a gentrifier. What because I love New Orleans and want to stay there long term? I used to live Uptown for the longest time, but it was out of my price range, so I moved to Mid-City. I bought a house on the border of a nice/semi-shakey area. I fixed it up and rented it out for what the market pays. I'm not making a bundle, just paying the note. This is how things get better. Before I lived there it was crack house.

Living in NYC part-time is a great eye opener for me. If you don't want to see your neighborhood gentrified, buy into it. Invest in it if you love it so strongly. Now is the time to buy into New Orleans. It won't get any cheaper. If you are counting on your area to stay the same for the next 50 years while you rent, you're nuts. Just ask the folks in the Village, or Harlem, or Brooklyn.

[Zydekitten]

I was wrong to lead off my post with the definition of gentrification. It is really not appropriate to use that term here given that this is not a problem caused by entrepreneurial greed as is often the case when such actions are spoken of. I think one needs to look beyond ones fondness for what was and realize what must happen for the city to resurrect itself and become a magnet for good paying jobs, good schools and a sustainable tax base upon which it can survive into the future.

Were poor people the soul of the city pre-K? Yes, no one would argue that point. But one can see soul in any number of people both well to do and not so well to do. Change is an obvious necessity but the soul of the city does not have to suffer irreparable harm in order to undergo this change. No matter what income level good people have they want a safe and nurturing environment in which to raise their children. They want good schools and want to see that they and their families have a future. All of this will necessitate big changes. It is not as if change was not needed before the storm but the storm has made the change a pressing concern when it never seemed to be before.

Adaptation to new realities is very difficult and everyone here wants to see New Orleans retain its charm and vivaciousness. Those who are in a position to spearhead the change need to be tempered in their actions by residents who want the soul of the place to survive as opposed to those who simply see the change as an opportunity to further their own personal, financial and political ambitions. Hopefully the proper people will step up and take on this challenge.
Excellently said, Az . . . that's what I in my rambling way was trying to express . . . :o

[Frosty]

The thing that bothers me is that suddenly I'm a gentrifier. What because I love New Orleans and want to stay there long term? I used to live Uptown for the longest time, but it was out of my price range, so I moved to Mid-City. I bought a house on the border of a nice/semi-shakey area. I fixed it up and rented it out for what the market pays. I'm not making a bundle, just paying the note. This is how things get better. Before I lived there it was crack house.

Living in NYC part-time is a great eye opener for me. If you don't want to see your neighborhood gentrified, buy into it. Invest in it if you love it so strongly. Now is the time to buy into New Orleans. It won't get any cheaper. If you are counting on your area to stay the same for the next 50 years while you rent, you're nuts. Just ask the folks in the Village, or Harlem, or Brooklyn.

Nobody says boo when a neighborhood goes to pieces but when it returns to what it once was, people jump on it. Crack houses weren't built as such. Hence, you just returned it to its original purpose. Some call that gentrification. My only concern is the people who sells for little of what their house was worth because FEMA and the insurance companies have screwed them over and they cash out to opportunists who don't want to restore a neighborhood but change it to something it never was.

[NOLA]

Adaptation to new realities is very difficult and everyone here wants to see New Orleans retain its charm and vivaciousness. Those who are in a position to spearhead the change need to be tempered in their actions by residents who want the soul of the place to survive as opposed to those who simply see the change as an opportunity to further their own personal, financial and political ambitions. Hopefully the proper people will step up and take on this challenge.

A couple of weeks ago there was a story in the Times Pic about a developer who is negotiating to buy up a huge tract in Mid City between Jeff Davis and Carrollton and turn it into a "retail" area, including possibly one or more "big box" outlets. The outcry from the Mid City Civic Association was loud and clear. While more retail opportunities in Orleans Parish might be welcomed by some, it would clearly change the character of Mid City, and due to the public outcry will probably be downsized considerably or re-thought altogether. On the other hand, it is hard to take a blighted, depressed piece of property and turn it into something that looks like it "belongs" in New Orleans. You can't just create a Magazine St. or Royal St. from scratch!

Issues everywhere we turn....

[jenni]

Nobody says boo when a neighborhood goes to pieces but when it returns to what it once was, people jump on it. Crack houses weren't built as such. Hence, you just returned it to its original purpose. Some call that gentrification. My only concern is the people who sells for little of what their house was worth because FEMA and the insurance companies have screwed them over and they cash out to opportunists who don't want to restore a neighborhood but change it to something it never was.


I agree ..I feel that this bullshit insurance crap is causing major problems across the board .

no doubt our music scene is still far beyond what most cities have ..and there are a lot of positive things happening there . There are a lot of postitive things happening everywhere here and it inspiries me everyday . We are rebuilding this city with the same soul that was here before K .... And no doubt you dont have to be poor to have that soul .

But the poor people should not be left behind in the process of creatnig something new .

The rising costs of insurance as well as they CRAZY rise in cost of ENTERGY is creating a city where it is impossible for the landlords to sustain affordable housing .

I get the entergy bills every month that are almost 2 times the amount I was paying pre K ..

I know a number of home owners who have either lost their ability to own , or who have to charge the HUGE rent in order to maintain paying the insurance which as someone already stated is really hard to come by with few or no options ...It's citizens or nothing .

I can relate to what everyone is saying about embracing change ...BUT there is a limit to how many people need to get screwed in the process .

I am looking 5 or 10 years down the line and wondering what will be left of all the positive things about nola if laws are not put in place to govern this mess that allow for affordable housing to exist .

WE DONT HAVE RENTERS RIGHTS LIKE CALI OR MOST PLACES ....WE DONT HAVE RENT CONTROL.

And maybe some of the poor people found better life somewhere else after K ~~ BUt I ASSURE YOU THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE STILL WANT TO COME HOME AND THEY CANT.


that bugs me .

[jenni]

That's what TIP's Intern Program and the Instruments A Comin' benefit are all about - helping encourage and educate that next generation of musicians in New Orleans. Having been to those functions, and knowing the generosity of the Threadheads (among others) who support these endeavours, gives me a great deal of hope that the music and culture of New Orleans will survive and even thrive.


yes i have hope as well .. And yes there are a lot of young musicians and artists here as well .

Also ~ zydekitty ~~ yes they have to have a permit for the square to SELL ART as a BUSINESS to the public ..And they make a really good living doing that .

But you can still play music in the streets and take tips ...IN S.F. the Street musicians have to have the permit as well .

You cant just go out and play music in the streets anymore . Unless you find a lil spot where the cops dont find you .

Just like facing the reality of the changes that will occur in the opposite direction I think we need to be realistic about this issue of affordable housing and how the lack thereof will change the face of our city .

[mightyradgumbo]

LOL

you know ~~ some days i feel like telling the whole world to kiss my ass .

thats why i cant watch the news anymore ...

But seriously i am all about getting the damn thing done ..

But i dont appreciate the idea that accomadations are not being considered for those who want to come home and cant due to high rents ....

they vouchers they gave out for section 8 were all lumped into these certain places that are somewhat ghetto ....

and they are not giving those out anymore .

Families should not have to move into the ghetto to move home .

NOONE seems to be considering the idea that lowering the insurance rates for landlord would allow for RENT TO GO BACK DOWN to pre k standards ...

This would allow LOCAL PEOPLE TO RETURN TO AFFORDABLE housing ...

I myself am blessed to be able to afford to come back

I know a lot of people who just cant pay the rent .
I don't quite understand your posts. In one post you hail the backbone of NOLA as the poor, yet you feel that people should not have to move into "the ghetto". I think that if you bring people into neighborhoods that were ghettos and they have a sense of community spirit, you no longer have a ghetto.

Take for instance Boston, where I live. The South End was run down, economically challenged and very vacant. (BTW, we had rent control and the landlords got it removed off the books by fooling a whole lot of suburban folks.) The area is now vibrant and full of the Arts. How did this happen you ask? The city started a program that allowed people, through grants, to move in and inprove the area. While there was certainly a level of gentrification, the vibe of the community is still present. There is a mix of Spanish, African-American, Haitian, Caucasian, Gay and Lesbian and Straight, Rich and Middle Class. Wallys and Bob's Southern Bistro are havens for the city's Jazz scene. So, gentrification. IMO, is not a totally bad thing, in small amounts. As long as it is not at the expense of the flavor of the neighborhood, building a more solid tax base will lead to further improvement.


I think we all want to see the rebirth of NOLA. I am sure the residents of NOLA (which I soon hope to be counted among) want it more than us non-residents can even imagine. It is such a national treasure that, I feel, the government should dump as much cash as is needed for restoration so that the original residents have every opportunity to return, if they desire to. That is part of the issue, some do not want to. I also feel that we can only wait so long for people to decide. New Orleans is music food and most of all people. Not even in the south end (which I frequently traverse) do I get a friendly greeting walking down the street as I do in NOLA.

Viva New Orleans!

[pgh_girl]

Very eloquent mightyrad - when I was in NOLA in December my friend and I looked at a 625 sq ft condo with parking on the outskirts of the FQ toward Rampart. It was so tiny there were no clothes closets. They were asking $425,000 for this little closet - we talked with several locals when we were at various establishments and many of them said that they had to move to be able to afford to continue to live there and a couple said that if things (the economy, the rents) didn't improve after the festival season they were moving from NOLA. Very discouraging.

[rosetree]

Very eloquent mightyrad - when I was in NOLA in December my friend and I looked at a 625 sq ft condo with parking on the outskirts of the FQ toward Rampart. It was so tiny there were no clothes closets. They were asking $425,000 for this little closet - we talked with several locals when we were at various establishments and many of them said that they had to move to be able to afford to continue to live there and a couple said that if things (the economy, the rents) didn't improve after the festival season they were moving from NOLA. Very discouraging.

There are LOTS of places for much less if you exclude the Quarter. I don't think that there is worry about gentrification there, it's the areas that need the rebuilding...damn $425Gs will buy a nice 3,000 sq. ft. house in da Point!

[ibjamn]

Very eloquent mightyrad - when I was in NOLA in December my friend and I looked at a 625 sq ft condo with parking on the outskirts of the FQ toward Rampart. It was so tiny there were no clothes closets. They were asking $425,000 for this little closet - we talked with several locals when we were at various establishments and many of them said that they had to move to be able to afford to continue to live there and a couple said that if things (the economy, the rents) didn't improve after the festival season they were moving from NOLA. Very discouraging.

ahhhh....come to Gentilly, my neighborhood, 1.5mi from the fairgrounds, 2mi from the Marigny & you can gett 3000sq ft. for 1/2 that. (The house across the street from us is for sale...) :)

[pgh_girl]

I wasn't looking to move there (although it is tempting) - just to get an idea of what the folks we were talking to were talking about - its good to hear that things are much more reasonable elsewhere around the city.

[sophisticated sissy]

There are all sorts of ghettos. Anytime you have a group of peole who are defined by certain cultural, racial, ethnic, or economic demographics, that is a ghetto.
The part of the world where I live is experiencing rapid growth and development. It's all upscale, McMansion type housing that is being built, but it's a ghetto because there is no diversity.

Any plan for New Orleans rebirth should include floor plans that are afforable to all income levels. It should be a mix of different types of houses.

[Orleansnj]

ahhhh....come to Gentilly, my neighborhood, 1.5mi from the fairgrounds, 2mi from the Marigny & you can gett 3000sq ft. for 1/2 that. (The house across the street from us is for sale...) :)

Jenn.....shhh.......don't be telllin' everyone about Gentilly. LOL. Mr. Onj and I will be lookin.....

[rosetree]

Jenn.....shhh.......don't be telllin' everyone about Gentilly. LOL. Mr. Onj and I will be lookin.....

Whatcha got against da Point????;) :D

[Orleansnj]

Whatcha got against da Point????;) :D

hee hee hee....our car ended up outside of the fisher once- stripped bare - ever since that day it's been thumbs down. BTW - I realize that you didn't choose the fisher either........ ha ha ha......

I do like da point - but there is jes something about Gentilly that I love....

[mdfest]

/politics
I find it amazing people think their elected "leaders" can somehow overcome laws of economics. The more they meddle, the more expensive everything becomes.
politics/

[rosetree]

hee hee hee....our car ended up outside of the fisher once- stripped bare - ever since that day it's been thumbs down. BTW - I realize that you didn't choose the fisher either........ ha ha ha......

I do like da point - but there is jes something about Gentilly that I love....

The Fisher ain't da Point!!!!:p Besides, they tore most of that down!

[Orleansnj]

See - I didn't even know that - I banned the West Bank years ago..... ha ha....and hell, I do know that the Fisher isn't the point - but it was just over 'there' ....LOL !!!

Hey - you and Mrs. RT can convince me two weeks from now.

Hey - as a matter of fact, when I come to the studio that will be my first trip over there in years !!!! holy cow - that's so funny !!!

[jenni]

I don't quite understand your posts. In one post you hail the backbone of NOLA as the poor, yet you feel that people should not have to move into "the ghetto". I think that if you bring people into neighborhoods that were ghettos and they have a sense of community spirit, you no longer have a ghetto.

Take for instance Boston, where I live. The South End was run down, economically challenged and very vacant. (BTW, we had rent control and the landlords got it removed off the books by fooling a whole lot of suburban folks.) The area is now vibrant and full of the Arts. How did this happen you ask? The city started a program that allowed people, through grants, to move in and inprove the area. While there was certainly a level of gentrification, the vibe of the community is still present. There is a mix of Spanish, African-American, Haitian, Caucasian, Gay and Lesbian and Straight, Rich and Middle Class. Wallys and Bob's Southern Bistro are havens for the city's Jazz scene. So, gentrification. IMO, is not a totally bad thing, in small amounts. As long as it is not at the expense of the flavor of the neighborhood, building a more solid tax base will lead to further improvement.


I think we all want to see the rebirth of NOLA. I am sure the residents of NOLA (which I soon hope to be counted among) want it more than us non-residents can even imagine. It is such a national treasure that, I feel, the government should dump as much cash as is needed for restoration so that the original residents have every opportunity to return, if they desire to. That is part of the issue, some do not want to. I also feel that we can only wait so long for people to decide. New Orleans is music food and most of all people. Not even in the south end (which I frequently traverse) do I get a friendly greeting walking down the street as I do in NOLA.

Viva New Orleans!

what I am saying is that ~~~~ Families with small children who would be using the section 8 housing grants should have more options other than neighbordhoods where people are blowing each others heads off .

Would you move your family into a section of town where 5 people got shot last week ????

when I say ghetto I dont mean poor ~~~ my neighboorhood is mostly poor people but its not Ghetto .

When I say Ghetto I mean Nola guns blazing ghetto . Like people getting gunned down every other day ghetto .

and it's mute now anyway because they are not even giving those vouchers anymore to anyone .


I totally feel what your saying .........But ....... at this point in NOLA we have this HUGE housing CRISIS because the insurance rates have skyrocketed and there is less housing .

People are moving here from all over the place to take up all the new jobs via construction and a hell of a lot of people are bankrolling new business off the "" thing "" and I dont discourage new comers and dont discourage free enterprise but .............. All these pople are moving here who can afford the new housing prices so they keep rising and thats grand ...........

But what about the people who already lived here who cant come back ???

The people who are from here should be able to come home if they want to .

There are very limited options for low income families .

[jenni]

Any plan for New Orleans rebirth should include floor plans that are afforable to all income levels. It should be a mix of different types of houses.

i agree

thats my point really .

And that article reflects an attitude i cant resonate with .

It's like "" o well , to hell with those poor local people who cant afford to return ...No accomodations need to be made for them ...""

I dont buy it .

[rosetree]

See - I didn't even know that - I banned the West Bank years ago..... ha ha....and hell, I do know that the Fisher isn't the point - but it was just over 'there' ....LOL !!!

Hey - you and Mrs. RT can convince me two weeks from now.

Hey - as a matter of fact, when I come to the studio that will be my first trip over there in years !!!! holy cow - that's so funny !!!

Come over on the ferry...it's the best value in the whole city!!
Mrs. RT & I are looking forward to your visit! :D

[Orleansnj]

I'm staying uptown for the first part of my visit - so I may drive - but the ferry is cool.

[rosetree]

I'm staying uptown for the first part of my visit - so I may drive - but the ferry is cool.

....um, you can take a car on the ferry!!!!:D

[Blitzzzzz]

....um, you can take a car on the ferry!!!!:D

Or a bike!

I'd love to join you in da Point, Rosetree, and I've seen some nice joints for way less than 425Gs. Other neighborhoods, too.

The real question is whether this plan is going to help lower income folks who got creamed by the thing through no fault of their own and are now going to be pushed out by "market forces." A large number of the folks devastated in the Lower 9th, and elsewhere, owned their own homes but couldn't afford to be "fully insured." Should we now say, "gee, that's too bad?" A fair and just society would make these folks whole again and allow them to decide if they want to stay in their neighborhoods.

And the low income folks who lived in the Public Housing communities should not be denied the opportunity to return to their home, New Orleans, because they are poor and some people want to get rich off of exploiting government programs designed to enrich developers while paying lipservice to "mixed income developments."

If these communities are given a fair shake this plan could rebuild New Orleans, stronger, but still the community that we love and the world needs. If not, it will be a sad day for all of us!:cool:

[jenni]

Or a bike!

I'd love to join you in da Point, Rosetree, and I've seen some nice joints for way less than 425Gs. Other neighborhoods, too.

The real question is whether this plan is going to help lower income folks who got creamed by the thing through no fault of their own and are now going to be pushed out by "market forces." A large number of the folks devastated in the Lower 9th, and elsewhere, owned their own homes but couldn't afford to be "fully insured." Should we now say, "gee, that's too bad?" A fair and just society would make these folks whole again and allow them to decide if they want to stay in their neighborhoods.

And the low income folks who lived in the Public Housing communities should not be denied the opportunity to return to their home, New Orleans, because they are poor and some people want to get rich off of exploiting government programs designed to enrich developers while paying lipservice to "mixed income developments."

If these communities are given a fair shake this plan could rebuild New Orleans, stronger, but still the community that we love and the world needs. If not, it will be a sad day for all of us!:cool:

now that makes sense to me ~!!

[jenni]

ok .........so i just caught this jack a** on the local news ..

Making a public apology for calling the people of new orleans buffons ...

He clearly states he is speaking of people in the private sectors and not the politicans etc etc .

He may make it sound good and at this point when we are desperate for anything that means moving forward his candy coated resume may it look good .

But this guy is CLUELESS and from what i just saw of him on the news ~~~ An ego maniac with not a sense of respect for the culture here or for the people who are FROM NEW ORLEANS ...

yikes ~!!! I hope he gets canned .