New Orleans' phone books get thinner

[Roon]

NEW ORLEANS - On a recent hot day, the new phonebook landed with a thud on the stoop of a house that one year ago lay under water, a notable sign of normalcy.

The phonebook’s arrival is a mark of progress here, but it’s also a window into how much has changed. With nearly half the city’s population gone, two swollen books have shrunk to one, following a decision by the phonebook’s editors to fold the white pages into the rest of the book. Meanwhile, the yellow pages now include far larger ads for contractors, electricians, roofers and others crucial to the city’s rebuilding.

Lay the old and new editions side by side and the resulting contrast is a microcosm of a transformed metropolis.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14495302/

[RB TexLa]

1. And Nagin and the council are trying to say there are 250,000 people in

the city so they can rebuild as much as possible. I think it's going to be quite a while before the 200,000 person mark is passed again.

[Kajsa]

2. Former NO residents need jobs to come home to.

Here's a wild and crazy idea:

How about employing them to help rebuild their city
instead of giving the work to outside sources?

:shrug:

[Solo_in_MD]

3. To they have the skills to do that?

Unskilled contstruction work is arduous. Could the displaced do that? How many people could the area support that is doing it? Its not nearly that simple

[pitohui]

4. well elderly and most females can't do that

nola.com/times-picayune had an article the other day telling how there are no job opportunities for single moms that pay enough to cover the rent, with most houses and apartments destroyed, rents are sky-high and above what you are paid for low skilled women's work

also many women business owners have lost their businesses, such as things as nail salons, clothing shops, hair care, etc -- all that gone in a day

and of course elderly retired folks, who were here for the public health system which was destroyed in a day, can't work and shouldn't be expected to -- nor should they come back where there is no health care system to help them

a lot of people can't and shouldn't realistically return

another big issue is housing, it's chicken and egg, a young healthy man can work all day and sleep in a tent or small trailer and earn a lot of money, but a family changes the equation, young kids and elderly can't tolerate the heat we've been having, they need decent shelter w. decent electricity to provide cooling

without housing a lot of people w. families can't come back or can't bring back their families anyway

everyone can't return, it just isn't going to happen, they have to do what is best for their families

i don't blame people for not coming back, i myself would never again live in new orleans east, gentilly, or lakeview, it just isn't worth the stress to me if there is better life elsewhere

[kskiska]

6. I know a lawyer down there

Half his clientele are gone. Says he has lots more time now for his hobby - ballroom dancing.

[Kajsa]

5. Maybe not all could.

But many of them are workers from the construction field to
office jobs, all of which are needed to rebuild the city.

Many ( if not most) of these people had jobs before the disaster wiped out
their homes and livelihood.