Posted on 10/02/2005 11:36:41 PM PDT by drt1
Race, class frame debate on rebuilding low-lying New Orleans district. NEW ORLEANS, Oct. 2 - No one here wants to say it aloud, but one day soon the bulldozers will come, shoving away big hunks of a neighborhood known for its poverty and its artists, its bad luck and its bounce-back resilience.
It is likely to be the largest demolition of a community in modern U.S. history -- destruction begun by hurricanes Katrina and Rita and finished by heavy machinery. On Saturday, firefighters put red tags on hundreds of homes deemed "unsafe," the first step in a wrenching debate over whether the Lower Ninth Ward should be rebuilt or whether, as some suggest, it should revert to its natural state: swamp....
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
9th ward should be filled in for safety, nothing to do with race or class.
I take Ceci Connolly to be a bleeding heart lib of the usual Washington Post stripe, but this seems to be a fair analysis. So even the libs may see the folly of rebuilding in swampland prone to flooding and mold. Sadly, we all find out sometime in life that "you can't go home again," and for all the fond memories it may have for many, that applies to the Lower Ninth.
Filled in? I don't think so, the 9th Ward is pretty big, that would take a lot of fill.
Personally, Id rather see a Memorial Marsh in it's place. It would be much simpler to just buy out the home owners at before-hurricane market prices.
Wrong---they'll be building new structures, probably bigger and better than the originals. The idea the New Orleans won't rebuild is simply wishful thinking.
There is a big difference between New Orleans and the lower Ninth Ward. "New Orleans" does not need rebuilding. Much of it is fine. Much of the rest will be rebuilt by its owners privately. There are, however, many buildings in dangerous, impoverished areas that are slated for destruction where the owners of the property might not rebuild. There is a simple question to ask about these: If one tears down the condemned house and then builds a simple house on that same lot, is there anyone who will rent that house at a rate that will pay for its reconstruction? My expectation is that there are thousands of structures for which this answer is no. There is simply no one willing to live in these areas if they have to pay rent sufficient to fund the construction of a new house. So either those lots will stand empty, or else the housing will be subsidised, which will inevitably lead to total dysfunction. I say let those marginal lots stand empty for a time. No subsidised housing, and no new wetlands. In five or ten years, if those areas have become something better than what they were before, then perhaps someone will buy those lots and then build there. If not, then what's the big deal? There are plenty of cities with empty lots in undesirable areas. Why not New Oleans too?
The powers that be are already meeting in Baton Rouge, planning how they will avoid sharing any of the Federal money with the people who need it most, the poor in the 9th ward and in St. Bernard's Parish.
They don't want these people back.
They just want the money.
Bush needs to get on top of these scammers because if he allows them to rape America financially, it WILL be his fault.
Because the "poverty pimps" will scream "racism".
But the simple fact is that the 9th ward will be rebuilt because there just isn't that much land area available in New Orleans.
In most flood prone areas the feds refuse to permit rebuilding by refusing to issue flood policies. Whole towns have been forced to move to high ground in other states.
They propose to make a homeowner whole in the Ninth Ward even if they had no flood insurance. What about those who thought ahead and purchased this insurance on their own - Do they get paid twice?
BTW I think the same intrusion into individual choice and individual consequences for these choices was also present in the 9/11 compensation.
The lower ninth ward is a cesspool. It should be leveled and turned into an "urban wildlife refuge." The city also needs to break up the housing projects. They are magnets for drugs and crime.
Yes
Scores of Billions in taxpayer dollars for "infrastructure" followed by a state-of-the-art hurricane proof casino / entertainment district.
Mayor C. Ray Nagin, an African American who worked in the private sector before entering politics, has spelled out plans to reopen every section of the city -- except the Lower Ninth.
Not enough money in it for you, Ray?
Once these laws are enacted I say let the rebuilding begin.
"The lower ninth ward is a cesspool. It should be leveled and turned into an "urban wildlife refuge." The city also needs to break up the housing projects. They are magnets for drugs and crime."
But where will all the gangstas and homosexuals go?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/02/AR2005100201320_2.html
And the partial article, within the 300-word limit, is shown below:
No one here wants to say it aloud, but one day soon the bulldozers will come, shoving away big hunks of a neighborhood known for its poverty and its artists, its bad luck and its bounce-back resilience.
It is likely to be the largest demolition of a community in modern U.S. history -- destruction begun by hurricanes Katrina and Rita and finished by heavy machinery. On Saturday, firefighters put red tags on hundreds of homes deemed "unsafe," the first step in a wrenching debate over whether the Lower Ninth Ward should be rebuilt or whether, as some suggest, it should revert to its natural state: swamp.
A neighborhood tucked into a deep depression between two canals, railroad tracks and the Mississippi River, New Orleans's Lower Ninth has spent more of the past five weeks underwater than dry. Entire houses knocked off foundations. Barbershops and corner groceries flattened. What remains is coated in muck -- a crusty layer of canal water, sewage and dirt. Mold is rapidly devouring interiors.
The question now is whether the Lower Ninth Ward, which was devastated 40 years ago by Hurricane Betsy, should be resuscitated again. The debate, as fervent as any facing post-hurricane New Orleans, will test this city's mettle and is sure to expose tensions over race, poverty and political power. The people willing to let the Lower Ninth fade away hew to a pragmatist's bottom line; the ones who want it to stay talk of culture and tradition.
The flooded sections "should not be put back in the real estate market," said Craig E. Colten, a geography professor at Louisiana State University. "I realize it will be an insult [to former residents], but it would be a far bigger insult to put them back in harm's way."
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.