Comments on: Rebuilding New Orleans?

By: Boondox

Boondox — Sun, 25 Sep 2005 11:37:25 +0000

i would like to take back my comment to gisman and readdress it to the real culpret: truth hurts. sorry for any confusion. i disagreed with the statements made about the blacks setting them selves up. that doesnt make any sense. did any body else notice that?

By: Boondox

Boondox — Sun, 25 Sep 2005 11:30:13 +0000

i agree with Gisman. i actually agree. People should be entiteled to their opinion and thats one of the great things that makes this great nation such a great place. i however do not agree that the poor black population of new orleans are to blame in any way for the disaster that has befallen them. if a government is not supposed to protect its poor then what purpose does the body serve. tell me this?

By: Tommy Boy

Tommy Boy — Thu, 22 Sep 2005 13:12:48 +0000

Tell you what hombres, The race is on by the powers that be to decide where the Moola is comin from to rebuild La,Ms,Al, or Texas! Who ya recon is gonna get tha most!

After seeing pics of the Galveston wall, It looks as if it has been purty neglected also! It shore was designed better than the NO wall as far as the cross section goes but, looks as if it could be undermined by the constant pounding of this booger headin for it now an the cross section will be useless then! We need ole Charlie to put his pencil to it and tell us what to do next!

By: Mutzel

Mutzel — Tue, 20 Sep 2005 15:50:18 +0000

Personally, I wish our Gov. would operate with common sense and not what is politically correct at the time. I have never hated a President, but I definately have disagreed with a few decissions some have made. And this is what makes us a great nation. The ability to disagree with our Gov. My grandpa always told me if you don’t vote, you can’t complain. I have never missed an election.

By: Tommy Boy

Tommy Boy — Tue, 20 Sep 2005 01:11:18 +0000

Mutzell says most uv it! How come so many guys, or gals, hate our President so much, I been carryin a Democrat card in my back pocket and used it since I was old enough to vote! Am now 87 years young but, I never hated our President, After all, More people voted for him than the other fellow, Did’n they!

By: Mutzel

Mutzel — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 19:37:25 +0000

I think if the Gov. helps re-build New Orleans, then the people with business there and living there are responsible for their own insurance. I am not without heart, but I feel strongly that we are responsible for themselves. The government is not here to bail everyone out when things go wrong. We need to start supporting and taking care ourselves. Gov. help is wonderful and much appreciated, however, when given to excess, it becomes not only a way of life for some, but also keeps people dependant. And this effects every working American because when it comes down to it, WE are the ones paying for it. FEMA (non existant at the time)did not step in when Chicago burned and it was built bigger and better.

By: Tommy Boy

Tommy Boy — Sun, 18 Sep 2005 03:44:03 +0000

A new voice heard! Old Ronnie is the only sensible voice I hear in all this Tumult! He was there on a rooftop with his son & a Cat! Didn’t hear him blame anybody in any Government nor did he bring up race either! What person thinks he is qualified to sit in an armchair and blame every one under the sun, or Cloud, for not doing anything right! Which one of you have been under the stress of the moment and have tried to get unlimbered only to fall on your face when a bunch see it different than you do?

By: TRUTH HURTS

TRUTH HURTS — Fri, 16 Sep 2005 23:36:52 +0000

GISman, the government did not set up the city so that all the black people would suffer, balck people made them selfs suffer. everyone had a chance to evacuate but alot of blacks could not. its not the governments fault that black people are poor and could not afford to find a way out. its not the governments fault that they did not get a good job to make the money to not live in poverty. blacks set them selfs up as victims but the truth is they make them selfs that way.

By: andre

andre — Fri, 16 Sep 2005 11:17:47 +0000

katrina was devistating there is no doubt about that. there is also no doubt that it WILL happen again. maybe not this decade or the next , but it will happen again. Keeping the natural water level at bay is a contant battle that has to be won at all times. why fight a battle when you dont have to. why not rebuild new orleans so the water level is at the normal stage that it wants to be at.
my proposal is to rebuild new orleans like a modern day venice. actually design it so it is to be flooded on purpose. the technology is here today right now. Venice Italy has been underwater for hundreds of years because it is sinking into the soft soil of the surrounding wetlands. just like New Orleans. they like new orleans did start above the flood stage but sank into it. we have the knowledge to rebuild the whole city upon a floating slab that is designed to be partially flooded. we have the singular opportunity to start from the ground up so that the problems of Venice arent the problems of New orleans.
if new orleans is to be rebuilt on the current site, 1 the sinking needs to be halted. which would be a big job but not an impossible one. 2 flooding danger would have to be minimized or removed. neither of which can be done if it rebuilt in the traditional mannor.

the first step is to relocate all the historic buildings that can be moved to temparary locations.
repair the levees to keep the water back while the work is being done
then to build big and i mean big foundation slabs on which the rest of the city will be built.
rebuild the buildings of new orleans with aquaducts and canals instead of streets.
final stage is to reflood the city…

The slabs will be deigned to float upon the soft soil of the delta and below the normal water line so the sinking will halt.. if the city is underwater to begin with then flooding danger is minimized or gone altogether. while storm surges will continue to be a threat , they will be easier to control than trying to hold the water back completly.
It would be a different new orleans than were used too thats for sure.
maybe a crazy idea , i dont know. i just think it would solve a fundamental problem that is bound to happen again.

By: tom ward

tom ward — Fri, 16 Sep 2005 03:18:28 +0000

fACE IT.There is no U.S. without New Orleans.It is our cultural heart and SOUL & people will be returning like it or not.The city can’t be raised like Galveston,it’s too big.Making the levees able to stop a category 5 hurricane’s storm surge at high tide will be more expensive than Americans will want to pay.SO WHY NOT MAKE A MORE FLOOD FRIENDLY NEW ORLEANS.As long as there are sattelites we will always have a couple of days warning to evacuate.Why not make all low lying homes& buildings able to withstand 20 feet of water.Every nieghborhood could have a large warehouse vault,imperviuos to water where citizens could stash valubles,even furniture before exiting.AFTER THE AREA HAS DRYED OUT CITIZENS COULD HOSE OUT THEIR HOMES AND MOVE THEIR BELONGINGS BACK! !Nature cannot be beaten so why not proceed knowing that this will happen again.THE KEY; building material could be limestone slabs& blocks.All the big river valleys that drain into the Mississippi.the Ohio,the Arkansas,the Missuori,the Illinois and all the others all share one feature.They have big limestone bluffs with active quarries lining the river valleys.Moving the stone by barge to New Orleans would be cheap because it’s down river..I know nothing about building or actual details about this proposal but if you think any of this nuttiness has merit please tell somebody ….

By: Jo C

Jo C — Tue, 13 Sep 2005 06:54:37 +0000

Surely we will not rebuild it as it was! If we cannot learn from our mistakes, we deserve what we get. There will not be enough money to keep rebuilding over and over the same places ravaged by hurricanes, etc. WE MUST BUILD SMART THIS TIME!
We must not waste our dwindling resources! I get a vote, because it is my tax money that will pay for this rebuilding, and my insurance rates that keep going up to pay for others who live on the coast. Many of us cannot afford that!
The low areas must be done differently, on pilings, as with beach houses in many places is one answer. The Dutch have some answers. And, it must be built to withstand much stronger winds. OK, make it the tourist trap it was again, but not in a way that we all pay again the next time they get hit. WE CANNOT AFORD TO KEEP REBUILDING over and over and over. The Big Easy is too easy when it comes to taking care of infrastructure and their poor. And too corrupt. I lived there; I know.

Did we not learn as little kids: “The foolish man builds his house upon the sands; the wise man builds his house upon the rock.” And, the 3 Little Pigs learned it has to be brick and strong. “It’s elementary, my dear Watson.”

This is not Rocket Science. Wake up, America. In an age of Terrorists, we cannot now afford to be the Big Spenders we are used to being. We can’t just keep rebuilding NYC, New Orleans, and whatever city goes down over and over. WE Gotta Start Playing It Smart. Or, it will be like “The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” for us, right here in the USA.

By: Greenhouseray

Greenhouseray — Mon, 12 Sep 2005 22:45:06 +0000

New Orleans should be rebuilt for sure. How about disassembling all of the historic buildings and storing them. Relocate temporarily all of the cemetaries. Invite all the States that have no place to dispose of thier clean solid waste to fill up the bowl of New Orleans. Cover the mound thus formed with the Mississippi silt that is clogging its entry in to the gulf. Rebuild the stored buildings, bring back the cemetaries. Build new homes. Repopulate the city. Celebrate the largest ,best ,most magnificent Mardi Gra the world has ever experienced.
In the meantime pray that all swuffering will soon be ended.
Greenhouseray

By: Paul M. Weyrich

Paul M. Weyrich — Sun, 11 Sep 2005 22:16:29 +0000

The St. Charles Av. streetcar line is the oldest continuously operating rail line in the country. It began in the 1830’s with tiny steam locomotives. The line was converted to electricity as I recall in the late 1800’s. The cars which have been operating were built by the Obscure Perley Thomas company of Northy Carolina. Many of these cars have been operating from the mid 1920’s forward. Much of the line is in neutral ground except for the downtown area. I hope this has been saved.
I should imagine that the Riverside line probably has not been saved. The brand new restoration of the Canal St. line (began last year after an absence of 40 years) surely was underwater and the home built stareetcars were likely under water. I’m not sure what will be done with this line. There is money in the new transportation bill to build the Desire line. But it may never be built.
When we think of New Orleans we must think of its rich streetcar heritage.

By: GISman

GISman — Fri, 09 Sep 2005 15:21:13 +0000

asdfasd, everybody is entitled to their own opinion. I don’t see you writing anything that is worth reading. I have family down there that is affected by this disaster and, yes, they are African-American. So that’s where I’m coming from. Don’t be so quick to judge a book by its cover!

By: asdfasd

asdfasd — Thu, 08 Sep 2005 21:47:39 +0000

GISMAN, you are a moron!

By: Steve Rogers

Steve Rogers — Thu, 08 Sep 2005 17:04:42 +0000

Let’s rebuild New Orleans (ON HIGH GROUND). It is only a matter of time before another storm hits the area again…and then what?

By: Frank Rabalais

Frank Rabalais — Wed, 07 Sep 2005 05:08:52 +0000

As a refugee from New Orleans currently sheltering in Baton Rouge, Iâ€™ve got a few thoughts. Most importantly, New Orleans CAN be made safe IF Federal resources are applied. Levees can be raised to withstand Cat 5 storms (Nolaâ€™s levees were built to hold up against Cat 3â€™s - Katrina was a Cat 4). The city can be further partitioned into sections with internal levees, which would act like watertight compartments on ships, isolating flooded sectors but leaving remaining areas dry. The final key to safety involves investing in the eroding wetlands surrounding the city and buffering it from the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Remember that, for New Orleans, the danger is not so much wind as it is water. Much like the Thames River barrier in England, the seaward entrance to Lake Pontchartrain (the Rigolets & Chef Menteur passes) can be barricaded to stop a storm surge. Indeed, such a project was proposed in the aftermath of Hurricane Betsy (1965), but was quashed for some reason. Nixon budget cuts perhaps? The cost will be great, but, as Kat mentions above, it could well be peanuts compared with the cost of completely reprogramming our nationâ€™s infrastructure as a consequence of abandoning New Orleansâ€™ port, sited near the mouth of the river system which drains (and provides commercial access to) one-third of our nationâ€™s lower-48 land area. Remember, too that while New Orleans itself has (or had) just under 500,000 inhabitants, the metro area - no higher in elevation and no less vulnerable to levee collapses - comprises over 1.3 million residents. Thatâ€™s a lot of people to move wholesale. As others have noted, global warming, rising sea levels and the capricious course of the Mississippi River are other perils, but a careful combination of engineering and wetland regeneration can probably effectively combat this. Indeed, New Orleans could serve as a technological testing ground, as cities like New York, Singapore and London are not so far above sea level in many places that they wouldnâ€™t be affected in short order by the same sea level trends.

I too am alternately saddened and enraged by the behavior of what is, TO BE SURE, a small minority of the cityâ€™s poor. And I do think that a careful distinction needs to be made between those taking necessities and those stealing plasma-screen TVs or carjacking their neighbors. Nonetheless, these scenes will surely pose an enormous stumbling block to attracting new investment. However, maybe New Orleans will emerge from Katrinaâ€™s trials with far less poverty, the breeding ground for the depravity that the nation witnessed. One effect of this storm could be a demographic reshaping of the city. Tens of thousands of poor New Orleanians have been evacuated to the more vigorous economic climate of Houston, Dallas, etc. Let them better themselves; their chances will certainly be better there. For arguably more than 100 years, New Orleans has been caught in a vicious bind, the chicken-and-egg paradox at its most vivid: the city fails to attract sufficient investment because of its crushing poverty and consequent social ills, but poverty cannot be ameliorated without sufficient investment. Perhaps that cycle will now be broken. On a more micro level, the city itself has been recently mired in a cycle of vigilante killings and retribution killings; that cycle has obviously been disrupted, and the opportunity exists to quash it for good.

Visionary urban design could induce, if not private insurers, than perhaps federal and state agencies to write flood insurance for a rebuilt New Orleans. The cityâ€™s geography is simple, but musnâ€™t be over-simplified. Areas along the river, and extending back from its banks for 1/2-1 mile are ABOVE sea level. Also above sea level are the parks and neighborhoods reclaimed in the 1920s from Lake Pontchartrain at the northernmost boundary of the city. BECAUSE of this geography, unsurprisingly, practically all of the cityâ€™s historic built environment lies within the former zone (i.e., near the river). Look at the maps of the areas flooded for confirmation. Not only the French Quarter was spared. This historic swath of the city contains perhaps 100,000 residents and possesses mile after mile of stunning architecture and beautiful boulevards, still there - and dry - according to the satellite photos Iâ€™ve examined. Much of the rest of the city could be rebuilt as a marvel of sensitive eco-design: houses on tall piers/neighborhoods of marshy preserves teeming with life and interlaced with canals, internal levees (mentioned earlier) topped with bike paths, etc.

Iâ€™ll leave the cultural rhapsodizing to others; many can do it beautifully, and I agree with their sentiments wholeheartedly. Remember, though, that in a nation where everywhere seems to be looking increasingly like everywhere else, there is one soulful, special place. It is not destroyed, only parts of it are. And the best bits remain. And I am determined to return.

By: jjay801

jjay801 — Wed, 07 Sep 2005 01:17:17 +0000

I’m sitting in Lafayette, Louisiana, a city about 120 miles northwest of New Orleans. As I read the arguments against spending ‘my tax money’ to rebuild the Crescent City I am reminded of the innumerable ways in which my own tax money has been spent over the years. We have rebuilt thousands of homes throughout the midwest when tornados sweep through, Homestead, Florida was rebuilt after Andrew, we’re spending billions in New York City to rebuild after the 9/11 attacks, Dennis Hastert’s Congressional website brags about the Federal disaster relief going to all but one county in Illinois due to a drought (should we force the farmers of Illinois to relocate to an area less prone to dry weather?), the nuclear power industry is exempted by Congress from having to cover themselves adequately by privately obtained insurance, and the list goes on and on. Every place in this nation has its own problems with natural disasters. It seems that the only ones some folks wish to subsidize are their own. I have to say that it is impossible to know how severe future storms will be. Will we see catagory six or seven added to the Saffir-Simpson scale? Who can tell? But I do know that we could have done much better by New Orleans as we could have done for many problems this country has faced over the years. However it is in the nature of politics in this country that the squeeky wheel gets the grease and the wheel about to fall off gets ignored until it does. I hate to sound pessimistic but this will probably be another situation in which we blame each other, politicians congratulate themselves for investigating and finding fault everywhere but with them and we continue our penny wise and pound foolish ways.

By: Paul Lucero

Paul Lucero — Tue, 06 Sep 2005 23:14:56 +0000

The reality of this great loss is that most of the population does not have the economic ability to wait 9 months to move back home. Any rebuilding will take 12 to 18 months to complete at best. The majority of the pre-disaster population is not going home.

Businesses are not going to wait 12 to 14 months to go home either. I believe that the city will be rebuilt but it will be 30% of its original size.

By: GISman

GISman — Tue, 06 Sep 2005 18:52:22 +0000

New Orleans is one of the most important black cities in the South and should be restored to its former self. Its 70% black population should not be all living within feet of the levees. It seems that the city was deliberately setup that way, so whenever the levees did fail, the black population would suffer heavy losses and their property could be taken by the government and used for other purposes. Nobody cared about getting relief down there sooner because who cares about poor black people, right? We are only 14% of the population of the U.S., with most of it living down South. New Orleans will not be the same without its huge black population; African-Americans give the region diversity and a culture like no other in the World. Every black person all over the world should feel some sorrow for what happened down there. Last but not least, DO NOT CONFUSE LOOTERS WITH PEOPLE THAT ARE TRYING TO SURVIVE BECAUSE OF LACK OF BASIC NECESSITIES THAT WE TAKE FOR GRANTED. I WOULD BE TAKING FROM THESE STORES TOO, IF IT MEANT MY SURVIVAL. DON’T BE SO QUICK TO MAKE JUDGEMENTS ON PEOPLE IF YOU DON’T KNOW THE SEVERITY OF THEIR SITUATION. DON’T ASSUME THAT BLACK PEOPLE WERE THE ONLY ONES DOING IT TOO; REMEMBER NEW ORLEANS IS 70% BLACK, BUT ALSO 30% NON-BLACK!!!

By: Another Andrew

Another Andrew — Tue, 06 Sep 2005 18:50:03 +0000

SOLUTIONS
A wise person once said “For every problem there is a solution.”

Since we are heading in this direction, with the deterioration of fossil fuel. We need to insert ideas of energy saving solutions, for the entire area of destruction, which we need to rebuild.
When the rest of the country begins to enter the crisis mode, and there will be, we will have the perfect model of existence to build our own commuities on.
Now with that said, let all wise persons proceed.

By: vr

vr — Tue, 06 Sep 2005 17:30:16 +0000

Oh yeah, a park, I love sitting around a stagnant pond getting mosquito bites. I say we salvage anything of value from the swamp that now is New Orleans, and move on. If we are going to use tax money to build these people a new town, I suggest doing it somewhere else. An Olympic City?.. get serious, move the damn city somewhere else so it wont get hit again. Jesus people, this is common sense. If a baby gets burned from a candle it remembers not to touch candles again. How hard it is to understand. Lets (tax payers) cut out losses and move on.

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 06 Sep 2005 14:06:50 +0000

I agree that we do need to know the final objective to begin the enormous project of rebuilding, but let’s not get crazy. The French Quarter and the CBD had minimal damage, leave it alone. Higher elevation neighborhoods should be left as legacy neighborhoods, permitted to remain with levees placed to give them moderate protection. The lower sections of the city should be purchased and created into a huge park, zoo, and other recreation facilities over which the new transit system would run bringing people into the old city from new planned communities on higher ground outside the old boundries. Top it off by building to host the olympics in 2012. Why not start exploring the ideas of a low fuel, mass transport. green city here, make the developments dense, mixed income, with all the neccessary neighborhood amenities within walking distance, centered around transit hubs. We have an opportunity to build the model sustainable city, let’s do it.

By: agree

agree — Tue, 06 Sep 2005 06:10:18 +0000

i agree with scherbel if it can be done…it should.

By: mikey

mikey — Mon, 05 Sep 2005 18:18:48 +0000

take the politics out of it. is it the time to inquire as to rebuilding ? it MUST be addressed asap. this is one of the most important ports in the world. the question should not be where or when to rebuild but how to rebuild and how do we make it safe. since the dawn of man we have placed ourselves in harms way and we will continue to do so due to commerce and trade. we know that in reality there is NO safe place on the mississippi.we saw this years ago in the massive floods. new orleans will not be moved in any direction but up. i’ve read opinion after opinion concerning flood remedies such as floating houses or filling in the bowl of this city with dirt. but we are not looking at just houses. we are looking at huge buildings that house some of the largest corporations in the world. the way i see it, the city must be pumped dry, bulldozed and burned. then you can start the task of errecting the pylons that will be needed to carry the weight of a honeycomb foundation that you can build your city upon at a height of 25 - 30 feet above sea level. expensive ? Yes ! but either way it will cost hundreds of billions of dollars to relocate the city or fill in the bowl which will still feel the errosion of the river and lake. the city must be elevated to a safe height. do it right…do it once…no more worries.