Hope for my still-recovering home city

[thatcrazycajun]

As the fourth anniversary of the devastation that New Orleans, LA suffered during and after Hurricane Katrina (and the equally devastating federal and state lack-of-response thereto) draws ever closer, National Public Radio's weekday-afternoon news show All Things Considered airs what I consider a hopeful report on the progress of recovery in what used to be known as "The City That Care Forgot." The actual audio for today's show won't be up on the website until after 7 PM EDT, but meanwhile you can read a couple of the most recent pages from their ongoing coverage of Honeysuckle Lane, a street in the area known as New Orleans East, encompassing such neighborhoods as Gentilly and Lake Forest and a rather large swath of the now-notorious Ninth Ward.
Mayor Ray Nagin (D) on the prospect of coming investment in still-unrestored flood zones
Honeysuckle Lane finds life standing still nearly four years after Katrina's floods
New Orleans East now has one solitary supermarket serving over 60,000 people after the local Wal-Mart closed due to flood damage, and no hospitals where before Katrina two stood. Mayor Nagin reports that Winn-Dixie, the southern supermarket chain, has committed to opening a new location there, and that hundreds of millions in federal aid money promised years ago has finally started to come in. But residents still want to know what the holy hell is taking so long for a master plan to be firmed up, for basic services to be restored, for dispersed residents to repatriate, and for life to return to something vaguely approaching what was once considered normal.

Have you been to New Orleans, either before or since Katrina? Tell me about your visit. If you happen to live there (yes, mshollie and ici1011, I'm looking at you two), what's been your experience of the recovery efforts? For those who don't know, I spent much of my teen years hanging out there at conventions and club meetings, and lived there for 3.5 years after graduating college up the road in Baton Rouge. And I have been back since...seeing both progress that makes me hope and lack of it that makes me furious.

Comments

[mshollie.livejournal.com]

I haven't experienced any recovery efforts directly, but whenever I've gone down I-10 East, I can still see that New Orleans East looks like a wasteland.

Haven't seen the Lower 9th since the storm, but infrogmation went down to take pictures not-too-recently.

[trektone.livejournal.com]

My one visit was for Nolacon II, the WorldCon in 1988. What a great place to have a con that was, at best, barely average! The music blaring from the bars on Bourbon St. was loud and real. I took pleasure in being able to walk around sipping on large receptacles of icy alcoholic beverages.

The food was mostly wonderful! I dined at several different ones, including what the original Popeye's had become. Ate at K-Paul's twice. Spoke with Chef Prudhomme, too. Tried the muffuletta (from Central Grocery, of course) and sampled many places' versions of praline.

For more on the recovery or lack thereof from someone there, you might want to read docbrite. I know Poppy Z. Brite isn't for everyone.

[ericavdg.livejournal.com]

I was also in New Orleans for Worldcon and had a terrific time. I was having too much fun bidding for DC in 92 and starring in one of Joe Mayhew's radio plays to notice that the con was in a state of chaos. However, I was unemployed at the time (con membership and plane tickets had been purchased before I was fired) so I didn't get to spend much time in the city or experience much cuisine.

That deficit will be remedied in just a couple of weeks, as Karl, Lydia, and I are going to New Orleans for part of spring break. Tell me, Matt, what off-the-beaten-path things that might not be in the guidebooks should we not miss? And of course I will drink a toast to you there and probably blog a bit about the trip.

P.S. Can I snag your N.O. ribbon icon for use while we're there?

[thatcrazycajun.livejournal.com]

Please feel free to use the ribbon userpic at any time you wish; I cadged it out of someone else who is from NOLA. I was one of the local fans called in at the last minute to work on the Worldcon after half the committee walked out weeks before the event, and was Quartermaster of the Con Suite.

I don't know what all is or is not in all the guidebooks, but I do know things you should never miss when visiting N'Awlins: Having beignets at Café du Monde in the French Quarter. Having a po-boy from Central Grocery (see Joey's post above) or breakfast at the Clover Grill, also in the Quarter. Lee's Hamburgers in Metairie also has great food.

If you happen to be there during JazzFest, you definitely have to check that out. Blaine Kern's Mardi Gras World (newly relocated to the East Bank) is a great place to pass an afternoon seeing where many of the parade floats get designed and built. And a streetcar ride down St. Charles Ave. through the Garden District on a sunny day is a delightful sightseeing trip...especially if you finish up with a visit to the Audubon Zoo, which has been fully restocked with animals. Tipitina's on Tchopitoulas is the best place in town for live music if JazzFest isn't on, and the museums at the Presbytere and the Cabildo (on either side of St. Louis Cathedral on Jackson Square) usually have interesting exhibits. Then there's the Aquarium and IMAX theater, the art galleries on Royal Street, the Riverwalk...but I could go on and on and on.

[ericavdg.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the use of the icon and the advice. Unfortunately, I received 7 years of aversion therapy to jazz at the hands of my ex-husband, so I won't be taking that pat of the advice! But we will certainly benefit from your words of wisdom in other areas. Thanks!

[thatcrazycajun.livejournal.com]

Don't be put off by the name; The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival hosts almost every kind of music you can imagine, not only jazz. And this year's the 40th anniversary edition, with Neil Young, Dave Matthews Band, James Taylor and many more appearing. Give it a chance; there's more info at the official website (http://www.nojazzfest.com).