The Resilient City?

[saavedra77]

Yesterday, House Speaker Dennis Hastert commented that the idea of rebuilding New Orleans didn't "make sense" to him, and that (putting it about as crudely as he possibly could) "It looks to me like a lot of that place could be bulldozed."  Hastert isn't alone in the sentiment--I've heard similar remarks by an environmentally-minded co-worker, and from Los Angeles Times blogger Eric Zorn.  Of course, the editors' of the New Orleans Times-Picayune beg to differ.

But the Times-Picayne itself has asked whether New Orleans will ever be the same.  A very brave "Live Journalist" in New Orleans surveyed his city from a rooftop today and answered "This place will never be the same -- and I don't mean in that 'can't step into the same river twice' philosophical sense. I mean in the 'We won't even recognize the place' sense."

I love what New Orleans represents culturally, historically, but with 80% of the below-sea-level city flooded and devastated, most of its population scattered, and public utilities unlikely to return for a month or more, I have to wonder:

1. Once the authorities finish patching the levees and pumping the flood waters out of the New Orleans, once they restore the electricity and water services, will they also finally be willing to invest in improving the levee system, to make sure this doesn't happen again?

2. Where will New Orleans find the funds to rebuild its urban core?  Will private capital be willing to invest in the city, again, given the astronomical reconstruction costs and the continuing vulnerability of the city's location?

3. How many of those scattered New Orleansians will be willing to return home again, after not only the trauma of the past week, but after a month or two of living someplace else?  How many will put down new roots someplace else, instead of going back?

I think that the answers to these questions will largely determine New Orleans' future.  Still, as the authors of The Resilient City have written (I'm listening to them being interviewed on the radio, right now), people have repeatedly returned to and rebuilt devastated cities, during the past century--Warsaw, Berlin, Tokyo, Mexico City, Kobe, even Hiroshima.

Comments

[greyaenigma.livejournal.com]

I've heard people point out that it's far too important of a port to completely abandon, but I imagine that an awful lot of people have already moved out for good, even if they do rebuild it.

I'm really hoping any attempt to rebuild will be stronger, faster, stronger, smarter. I'm not sure about the historic district. (Is that a useful distinction? I'm sure most of it could be considered historic in one way or another.) Certainly this would be the biggest tourist draw if the city is rebuilt.

Hiroshima seems like one of the strongest arguments for the possibility of rebuilding. In fact, given mankind's stubbornness on this front, perhaps it's surprising we haven't tried to rebuild Mt. St. Helens.

[saavedra77.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure about the historic district.

From what I've read, flood waters never reached the French Quarter--one of the most historically significant part of the city, and a key tourist destination. (This neighborhood actually stands about 3 feet above sea level!)

Which is hopeful news to me, since I have a college friend and former housemate who, last I heard, was living in the French Quarter.

[verbicide.livejournal.com]

I heard that same interview. It was interesting, wasn't it? Made me want to buy the book. That and the report before it discussing how approximately 1.2 million people are going to be out of work, and how will the state be able to support that type of unemployment crisis.

That all said, detaching for a moment from the emotional horror, it will be interesting to see how it rebuilds itself. I imagine the levees will be reinforced at the very least, because that was something they already knew needed to happen. And I can't imagine that a significant enough number of people will permanently leave what may be generation-old roots.

[saavedra77.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the enormity of it all left me feeling really pessimistic about the city's prospects. But listening to that interview the other day has made me reconsider. New Orleans represents something so unique in the region, in the U.S., maybe in the world, and if people went back to Hiroshima, hopefully enough New Orleansians will be willing to go back and make it work. Like I said, I just hope that they rebuild in a way that makes the city much more secure.