http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/3723835.html March 15, 2006, 7:20AM New Orleans study cites obstacles to repopulation By MICHAEL HEDGES Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau WASHINGTON - The population of New Orleans in 2008 will be close to half its count before Hurricane Katrina, with hundreds of thousands of former residents continuing to live in Houston and other new locations, according to a detailed study released Wednesday. In neighborhoods hit hardest by the flooding — most were home to poor and African-American residents — less than a third of the Crescent City's housing will be habitable in three years, according to the RAND Corp.'s Gulf States Policy Institute. "What we looked at were the things that will shape people's ability to return to the city," said Narayan Sastry, co-author of the report. Factors like the slow rate of recovery by schools and other service institutions will keep people out of areas that were devastated, the report said. The study projects a population of 272,000 in September 2008, three years after Katrina hit. That would be 56 percent of the 485,000 people who lived in New Orleans the day before the storm. The present population is about 190,000. The report was requested by a commission established by New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin to examine the city's recovery plans. The authors have yet to reach conclusions about the racial and economic makeup of the city. Shortly after the hurricane, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson told the Houston Chronicle that the city might never return to its predominantly African-American composition. The report said the poor and minorities would face special challenges in trying to return. "Many poor residents were tenants who, on average, paid extremely low rents. These people may no longer be able to afford the higher rents that are likely to be demanded for reconstructed dwellings in New Orleans," the study said.
I saw that. Pretty depressing, isn't it? It's a shame more wasn't done to protect NOLA over the years. Plenty of blame to go around, as has been hashed out here. This didn't have to happen. A huge chunk of American history and culture destroyed. Damn! Keep D&D Civil.
This is not the kind of thing I want to ever say, "told you so" about. I just remember thinking this very thing over and over again in the days following Katrina. In my lifetime NOLA won't be the same. 3 years after the storm, it will have a population close to what Birmingham, AL has today. Today's population is very close to Little Rock's.
No, New Orleans will never be the same, and we are all the worse off for it. You expected this, Max, and you're right, so far. It looks very grim. Keep D&D Civil.
Add New Orleans to the list of cities that were never the same after hurricanes. What is shocking though is that this disaster happened in our "supposed" modern times. Indianola, TX Galveston, TX New Orleans, LA
new orleans is gonna be a significant city again. the port is just too important. I was listening to a talk show and they were talking about how it is the main avenue export from the entire midwest are shipped. that's manufactured goods, and all the food that is grown in the midwest. new orleans wasn't that big to begin with, its not like building a houston
not sure how shocking it is, frankly. i had been reading how this was going to happen eventually for years. other cities around the world have experienced the same with storms, earthquakes and other natural disasters.
Hey! Look on the bright side... At least you could probably buy a house or a piece of land cheap! I know, I know....shut up mc mark...
i agree that it's location is way too strategic to be entirely abandoned. i just don't think it will have the same feel ever again. and i think it will be a long time before its population is built up again.
I bet the outcome would be different if we were talking a couple of hundred thousand displaced conservatives who could tip a state in a liberal direction. I know Max, will accuse me of being political and that this could not possibly be a motivation of the Republicans running all branches in Washington.
as far as this article is concerned, tell me a 10 year projection, of course the city won't be rebuilt in three years. we're talking about a whole city.
i'd be interested in seeing a 10 year projection, too. it's just hard to fathom that three years after a storm, only roughly 50% of the population would return. odd to live through that experience.
I'd be willing to be that in 10 years there will be a large hispanic population in New Orleans. The makeup of New Orleans will never again resemble its pre-Katrina state.
you know what, rethinkng it it would seem like half the population would be a very likely long-term scenario. their port was already losing a bunch of business to houston. other than the port, what is there in new orleans?
Kind of hard to rebound when the government is denying loans for people to rebuild their lives and houses. Bush Rejects Needed Storm Loans By FRANK BASS, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - The White House has rejected hurricane disaster-recovery loans at a higher rate than any other administration in the last 15 years, according to a congressional study by Democrats. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060315...sOyFz4D;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA--
Part of the problem is that the people who won't be returning didn't own their houses to begin with. They won't be getting insurance to rebuild -- they have to find some place else cheap to live and a rebuilt New Orleans won't be as cheap. If New Orleans is going to get back to near it's previous size it's going to have to redefine itself
Lots of things were done to protect NO (redirecting, levee-ing and channelizing the Mississippi mainly) over the years, they just ended up as the main cause of most of the destruction. In the man vs. nature battle, man will always lose eventually. It'll take time, but NO will bounce back. It's probably a very good thing that they're taking their time reconstructing; there's a lot of tough choices to be made as to how much, if any, rebuilding should be done in many areas.
i know where we could have spent part of the two trillion we're spending on iraq. and think about it. instead of using it for bombs to destroy a country and spark a civil war...it could have been used to help our fellow americans. but sorry. thats too idealistic of me.
Trust and beleive those in power know this too The New city There will be FAR MORE Affluent than the previous Remember that they said. . . .Katrina did what they couldn't do Get all those poor . . uhm .. . folx out of New Orleans and not that they are out Do you really think they gonna let them back in? Rocket River
