Is New Orleans worth saving?

[bronx bomber]

I remember when I was in college almost twenty years ago a professor talking about how if a Cat 4 hurricane ever hit the city was done. The Army Corps of Engineers has been working on these levees for over 40 years and the first storm hits destroys the city. The city of New Oreans has thwarted the ACOR recommendations repeatedly because they didnt want to relocate people. Now the talk is that the Corps wont be able to rebuild the levees for 10+ years and even if they do there are no guarantees. Understand that parts of the city are already over 20feet below sea level and with global warming some scientists predict sea levels could rise between 3-20 feet over the next 50 years.

[katyseagull]

Do you know if there are other cities throughout the world that sit below sea level like New Orleans? If so, I'd be interested to know how they have managed over the years.

Also, of course there are no guarantees. Still, I'd like to see them try to rebuild New Orleans. If only they had taken a portion of the billions of dollars that went to Iraq and directed it towards the rebuilding of this cool city.

[TiK]

Just read this article in the Economist about the recovery process in New Orleans. Doesn't answer your question, but an interesting read nonetheless.

[bronx bomber]

Excellent article TiK, ty. You can debate about the cause of global warming, but it is a fact. Some hard choices are going to have to be made around the country and New Orleans just seems like the logical place to start. Scientists have proposed that as the earths temp gets warmer the amount and intensity of tropical storms is going to increase. Katy, I went to Mardi Gras in the 80's and loved the city too, but when is enough enough? Some say that the Army Corp of Engineers plans will actually make the situation worse if another storm hits- you cant fight Mother Nature.

[tarheeljks]

imo there are people who live there, so it is worth rebuilding the infrastructure

[youtalkfunny]

I'm an ignoramus at things like this, but it seems to me that you can't get by without a port city at the mouth of one of the largest rivers in the world.

[daveT]

I used to live in New Orleans. I don't know what it is right now, but I can assure you that if all that's left is the ghetto, I wouldn't bother.

The entirety of Florida is only a few feet above sea level. Key West's highest point is 14 feet above sea level. When a major title surge hits, the city still stands, although half of it is under water for a few days.

Historically, New Orleans has been destroyed several times over, due to it's corruption and ignorance. About 100 years ago, the Great Fire would have been prevented if it happened before midnight. It started only a half-hour past. The only alarm in the area was the church bell, but the it was against tradition for the bell to toll after midnight. So thousands of people died.

The city was never really that great in the first place. It is very hot, muggy, and the murder capitol for several years. When I was there it was extremely violent. Even in the Bourbon Street Area, I saw several fights, two police beatings, a suicide, got robbed, and saw the endless bickering between the Tarot readers and the Christians.

If they are going to rebuild, they need to figure out how to grow the things that are good about the city. For example, it has a very diverse music scene. With history, and the fact that, historically, few cities ever change, I wouldn't count on rebuilding it. It really has been a disaster center ever since it was born.

For the ports: It doesn't really need to exist. Ships have to go through the Gulf of Mexico. There are plenty of ports along the Eastern Seaboard.

The entire Gulf Coast is vulnerable to Tidal Surges. According to the people I talked to, their houses are Federally mandated to be on stilts.

[tuq]

daveT, interesting.

Never been, but I've always heard it's a pit, albeit one that some of my friends are fine negotiating come Mardi Gras.

I wonder if let's say you just raze the place and force people to move elsewhere, won't they just take the ghetto with them? Won't the crime, drug abuse, poverty etc. just end up somewhere else?

Maybe a change can do some people good, but I wouldn't be surprised if Houston is a more crime-ridden place since many of Katrina's victims were bussed to the Astrodome.

With the Phoenix metro area sprawling, some of the crappy parts of the center of town are gaining value because of their location. Entire neighborhoods in South Phoenix, the worst part of the city, are being gobbled up and rebuilt by developers. It makes me wonder where the poor people go.

Also, why are the bad parts of town in so many cities south? Is it that people subconsciously strive to "move on up" as if they're looking at a map? There are exceptions but areas just south of downtown in Phoenix, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and other cities are the most dangerous areas. Maybe I'm imagining this but it seems pretty common.

[daveT]

Yes, the people from New Orleans are called the "Katrinites," (edit) and crime has sky-rocketed in Houston.

One of my friends had a strange theory: "Power moves West and North." I have also noticed this trend. That Seattle has little crime. In almost every major city, you most certainly don't want to live on the East Side.

In his theory, you see that America is Extreme West, where all the Power is. That if you look at the North and Western Part of the World, that England holds these extremes (the empire where the sun never sets). That Europe is more powerful than Africa or Asia, etc.

Obviously there are exceptions to the rule.

I never understood gentrification either. I remember when I was leaving Cleveland, that in bad areas, developers would buy the house for 40k, paint it and re-sell it for 200k. The new people would complain that their houses where getting broken into, their kids were being jumped, and their cars were stolen, hammed, or keyed.

The reality is that the poor are, by definition, too poor to fix their own neighborhood. If I was going to rebuild a neighborhood, I expect to make money, and that won't happen if I have to only allow poor people in the area.

Tuq, you ask a difficult question, one that may never have an answer.

Is it better to have it all contained so that the police have easy access? I think of downtown LA, with it's new gentrification procedures, and wonder why it took so long for them to clean the area up, although everything happened within walking distance of Central PD.

[Quicksilvre]

[ QUOTE ]
Do you know if there are other cities throughout the world that sit below sea level like New Orleans? If so, I'd be interested to know how they have managed over the years.


[/ QUOTE ]

Amsterdam is under sea level, as is most of the Netherlands. About 50 years ago a major storm (non-tropical, obv) broke through the levees there and killed 2,000 people. I would say they've dealt pretty well, but I know few specifics. In fact, there are people that argue that the Netherlands' position vis-a-vis the sea has affected everything up to the political scene. You can look up the "Polder Model" if you're interested.

Incidentally, a sea level rise of 3-20 feet in 50 years sounds way high. I think the most mainstream models are more like 2-3 feet in 100 years.