...it's not dark yet, but it's gettin' there...
Deroy Murdock's NRO piece on New Orleans today reminds me of the Ride Through Chernobyl site i posted about last year. Just the other day i was wondering if anybody was going to update us about New Orleans, or if it was just another important story about which the media had lost interest.
The column is worth a read, and there are some eerie pictures. Here's the key quote for me:
'I see a lot of media coverage, especially on television,' [local radio GM, David] Freedman says. 'It seems that there's always so much focus on the music, and the spirit, and the life of that music...But don't be fooled. This city is deeply wounded. I'd say it's like an amputee with phantom memory.'Update: i got my first New Orleans beggar this morning. A guy came up to me on the sidewalk and introduced himself as a "New Orleans hurricane victim," then asked me for a dollar. Of course i didn't believe him, but i gave him a dollar anyway only because i always give money to beggars when asked.
I lived in New Oleans for a while, I honeymooned there. I know some of people who still live there.(homes damaged but not destroyed).
There is a whole lot more work to be done, but the city will recover and be a nicer place to visit. That is because all of the old parts of town were not badly damaged.
The unemployed, and underemployed people who moved out will most likely not move back. they lived in poverty anyway, and there is not much to go back to.
We have about 80,000 of them here in Houston. But Houston is big and we are absorbing them.
New Olreans will be a cleaner, better, less crowded, and safer place. But there is at least a years worth of clean up yet to do.
thanks kyle. i'm glad to hear some optimism.
Posted by: annika on Dec. 1, 2005I'm pretty sick of hearing about NOLA. Lots more destruction elsewhere. I guess it's not as news worthy if the state and local government isn't as much responsible for the death and destruction as the actual storm.
Posted by: ccs178 (Chris) on Dec. 1, 2005Heh, I'm short about ten mil, can you help me out? I can shit my pants and follow you around if that'll help you make a decision.
Posted by: Casca on Dec. 1, 2005Tulane Law alum that I am, I admit to having thought to tell Chris to go fuck himself, but sadly, he's pretty much right. Doesn't make my heart break any less for the city, though. It's just strange to miss somewhere that'll never again be the place you remember. But Kyle's probably right as well: New Orleans could well come back a smaller town, but a better one.
Of course, Huey Long did say that one day the people of Louisiana would get honest government...and they'd hate it. ;-)
Posted by: Dave J on Dec. 1, 2005ok, if this panhandler were truly from New Orleans, the question would not have been one of some dude asking for a dollar. He would've said, "Five dollars and I'll tell you where you got dem shoes!"
Posted by: another chris on Dec. 4, 2005Annie, you're a sweetie; don't ever change.
Posted by: Mark W on Dec. 9, 2005