Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Available aid continues to decline as the national drop in real estate values
increasingly impacts New Orleans. Recent settlements (2008) averaged less than
$59,000, while comparable settlements in 2007 averaged more than $72,000.
Because of the disparity of financial resources, we seem to be observing a
disordered reconstruction along the lines of “settle where you will”, the approach
advocated by Nagin in his May 2006 re-election campaign. The juxtaposition of
individual initiatives is reflected in the neighborhoods being rebuilt by a diverse and
surreal landscape of demolitions, houses raised on stilts, abandoned houses, and
houses rebuilt as before, but haphazardly without an overall plan.
Orleans
Parish
Census
population 2000
Pop. Est.
June 2006
Structure
2006
Structure
2000
Variation index
(base 100 in 2000)
White
135,956
82,048
44%
28%
60
Black
325,947
86,917
46%
67%
27
Asian
10,972
6,696
4%
2%
61
Hispanics
14,826
16,456
9%
3%
111
TOTAL
484,679
187,526
39
Table 9.2.
Orleans Parish population estimates by ethnic origin
(
Source: New Orleans City Council, June 2006
)
Part of the African-American community has not reassembled (see Table 9.2).
While the value of housing in affected neighborhoods collapsed, particularly in St
Bernard Parish, rents remain extremely high due to the lack of sanitary housing.
Most tenants are poor blacks, and simply can no longer afford to live in New
Orleans. After nearly four years, many have found jobs and rebuilt their lives in
Houston, Baton Rouge, and the Louisiana countryside with relatives or in more
distant cities. Nagin promised that New Orleans would remain a Chocolate City, but,
as his critics claim, there is more than a hint of “a strong vanilla flavor”. While
blacks have left, Mexican immigrants have flocked in to work on reconstruction
projects. The natural disaster caused a social transformation which is fueling racial
tensions. The resentment of the African-American community has fueled the recent
increase in violent crime in the city.
Katrina has provided a laboratory for the study of planning and land-use
practices in American cities. Examination of New Orleans structural problems has
shown where investment and infrastructure maintenance were neglected in favor of
short-term cost-cutting. The disaster brought to light the shortcomings of civil
defense preparedness in the United States and a dysfunctional inter-agency system
