Nerdgirl, as a graduate of LSUSD in 1976 I fully agree with you. Before moving to NOLA I grew up in Baton Rouge. When I retired from the USAF the last place I wanted to move was back to south LA. Interestingly enough I ended up just a few miles up the road from you in Wasilla, Alaska.
Over the years I have had the chance to go to NOLA for professional meetings and most of the time I passed. The last time I went was in 1998 for a meeting at the convention center. Though the food was incredible as always the city was even more filthy and dangerous than I remembered. THis article has finally spoken that which cannot be spoken and I for one think it ought to be shouted from the rooftops.
Nice to hear from a fellow Alaskan! I think living here makes you particularly incapable of relating to citizens who expect so much from the government - I guess there's a lot of that attitude among some native groups, who have unfortunately lost many of their traditions that helped them survive for so long in the arctic. But the average Alaskan mindset is one of self survival - just keep the government out of my business - as long as they aren't stranded on McKinley though - lol.
Going back over the years I've had a similar feeling - while I love the atmosphere, food, etc - in certain areas - just flying in and driving into the city you think "man was this place this bad when I lived here?"
And as for the 3rd world angle, I've lived in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and Argentina - and NOLA BEFORE Katrina was every bit as 3rd world as parts of any of those countries. The media likes to act horrified that we have 3rd world conditions here - that's just plain ignorance or selective reporting.