Bryan, in all honesty, I used to be a SDMB member years ago when it was free and I posted a few times back then. However, I have been lurking ever since and finally decided to take the plunge and pay for a membership. I had seen threads on New Orleans and finally decided to give my input on the situation.
If anyone would like an idea of what the New Orleans’ area looked/looks like, I would recommend the photographer Robert Polidori’s book titled “After the Flood.” It’s $90 U.S. and I bought it as soon as I saw it. It’s a large photo book filled with hundreds of photos of the houses and the damage the flooding caused. There are photos from Chalmette as well. However, one picture in particular on page 185 shows the only aerial view and it’s of a couple of square blocks of the 9th ward.
I would like to describe a little more of a slice of life here in New Orleans now. We were living in Metairie until recently and on my way to work each day, I would pass by Lowe’s on Veterans near Causeway and there would always be a couple dozen day laborers waiting in the parking lot. They are apparently looking to be hired by people buying building supplies so they can go gut houses or help rebuild.
As far as the employment situation goes in the area, there seem to be many fast food places and eateries and shops that still need people. Just today, I saw a sign at the gas station on the corner of Transcontinental and Vets offering monthly bonuses to new employees in addition to $9 an hour wages. However, it seems to me that there is a Catch-22 in this situation. Many traditionally minimum-wage businesses need workers to meet the demand of residents moving back, however, people who might take these jobs need places to live and the few places that are available have skyrocketed in cost because of the loss of so much residential area.
There are a few places like Wal-Mart that used to be open 24 hours, however, since the storm, I don’t know of any stores that have returned to the 24-hour schedule. When we first moved back in early October of 2005, there were hardly any stores or fast food places open. We’d get excited when we’d see reopening activity at nearby store. This was on the relatively damage-free westbank of New Orleans. At first, fast food stores would be open for only a few hours a day. And this was months after Katrina hit. And there were limited menus. For example, Burger King on Gen DeGaulle in Algiers was only open for 3 hours at a time during the day and you could only get Whopper meals. Man, did we celebrate when a Popeyes near us finally opened! And then Target on Manhattan! We were living large then.
At this point, I would say that most of the businesses that were able to open have reopened, but are still not at pre-Katrina levels. Others were not able to reopen and are either still in the process of being rebuilt or have been torn down.
Traffic has been a problem for the area since before Katrina, with the area having one of the worst-rated traffic problems in the country. They have been widening I-10 on the way into and out of Metairie the last few years, but from what I read years ago, the project was going to be obsolete and not able to handle the traffic load by the time it was finished. One of the many reasons we wanted to move back into New Orleans proper was the Metairie traffic. I don’t know who designed the streets in Metairie or Kenner, but in New Orleans, if one street is blocked with traffic, you can go over one parallel street and still get to where you are going. In Metairie, if one street is blocked, chances are, the other main thoroughfares are blocked too and there are no side streets that go all the way through. There is either a canal or house or hospital or school blocking your way and you have to wind up going back to the blocked main thoroughfare (West Esplanade, I’m looking at YOU!).
So, traffic seems to be pretty bad in the suburbs. As people move back to the area, they seem to be settling in the suburbs and as people move out of the actual city of New Orleans, they seem to be settling in the suburbs. My cousins who were displaced have moved to the North Shore.
Also, in reference to the water/sewer lines, pre-Katrina the City was in the process of a long term re-build of the city’s water system. I think it was going to take 20 years or so. From what I understand, although the system is working today for the most part, I think that the storm damaged a lot of it and it’s in critical need of repair.
Also, for an idea of life in the city post-Katrina, I would recommend Chris Rose’s book “1 Dead in Attic” which is a compilation of essays/columns he wrote for the local newspaper The Times-Picayune.
Any questions? Comments? Observations?