The New New Orleans.....

[MsTryska]

being that i work for an urban planning organization, I've been wondering the last few days about how best to re-build new orleans…..I started googling, and I found this article - I find it to be a pretty hopeful vision, and one I definitely agree with.

Here's some interesting food for thought:

http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/003425.html

Principles for Rebuilding a Bright, Green, Safe New Orleans

What follows is a first draft, tentative at best, of some ideas for what New Orleans might become, now that the choice of what to become is forced upon it.

1. Work with nature, and technology, to protect the city from future worst-case scenarios

2. Use rebuilding to lift the poor to safer economic and social ground

3. Create an economy of creativity

4. Become a clean, green showcase

5. Dare to dream….

[T Wolf]

1. More likely...

Principles for Rebuilding New Orleans

1. Work against nature, abusing technology, to protect the city from future worst-case scenarios because there will only be wealthy repukes allowed back in.

2. Move the poor that are allowed in (they will need maids, etc.) to ground far enough out of town so that they do not contaminate the beautiful mindset of the wealthy.

3. Create an economy of exploitation and decadence to appeal to the GOPers.

4. Become a showcase for the concept of a gated city.

5. Dare to dream of an Amerika with no poor, no minorities, and certainly no libruls.


And if you think this is simply paranoia, look at the statements made by many repuke pols (sorry, but I do not have the references readily at hand).

[MsTryska]

2. oh believe me.....

i think that is definitely closer to the truth, but they must be foiled.


if enough people are thinking about it, and making their voices heard, and getting loud, perhaps it won't.



it also takes a sympathetic planning board ear, of course.

[ret5hd]

3. The Future of New Orleans...

The flooded houses of the poor will be bulldozed. a 2 foot layer of clay will be layed on top, sealing the worst of the poisons in, then a few feet of soil. New housing will be built, but NOT for the poor.

NO will be turned into a mixture of a whitebread playground and "disneyland". The poor service workers will be bussed 50-70 miles daily like in Vail, CO.

A few black trumpet, sax, trombone players will be hired to amuse the tourists as they walk through "A Taste of Old Orleans (tm)" in the French Quarter.

Once a year in Feb or March a staged parade will be held, complete with floats (sponsored by nike and coke), paid revelers dressed extravagantly, a few paid cross-dressers (just raunchy enough to tittilate the crowd, but polite enough to make everything "family friendly") and a few beads thrown from the floats to the polite orderly crowds lined on the sidewalks.

God, i hope i'm wrong...but that's the way i see it.

[kwassa]

5. I think you are right on target ..... this is what will happen

I also think this will become a wealthy conclave mixed with a Disney-like theme park, cleaned up and sanitized to be family-friendly.

[ultraist]

6. I agree. "Gentrification" will push out any lower income residents

The city of NOLA does have a lot of power to insist on economically diverse housing. City codes/regs/urban renewal programs, etc are what dicatate what areas get what type of housing.

The problem is, the more expensive the housing, the bigger the property tax base is, so there is an inherent conflict of interest that sways the city to lean towards, more tax money. This has happened, time and time again in desireable areas. Lower income residents get pushed out to the fringes while developers profit.

[phusion]

4. Thanks for posting this!

I have been pondering this since they started evacuating so many people. We have an opportunity here to turn NOLA into a creative, progressive, and unique community.

That city belongs to the collective. They should not be allowed to co-opt it and turn it into some fake disneyland-like nightmare.

[MsTryska]

7. Exactly - I will do what i can

to try to influence those that make the decisions....if that means screaming as loudly as i can, i'll do it.