Quote:
Originally Posted by photolitherland
How in the world is new orleans still growing? Im all for growth and densification of the city but I would have thought that after the hurricane developers would have kinda abandoned all hope for the city. Especially since sea levels are rising and New Orleans is pretty much screwed in that regard. Im amazed that anyone would risk any new developments in such an environmentally fragile city.
|
It's not quite as rosy as sguil1 makes it look, but there indeed many positive things happening in the city, if you're willing to look past the scarcity of new construction in the office and retail markets. There's even been a boomlet of residential construction along Tulane Avenue, and several large housing projects are being rebuilt as traditionally-scaled neighborhoods.
Neighborhoods like Lakeview and Gentilly are coming back in full force, as homes are fixed up and new ones are built on the vacant lots.
Equally important is a slow trickle of shops and restaurants that are re-opening or starting new, at least in traditional growth areas like the CBD, Uptown, and Mid-City.
The huge problem, of course, is the recession, which could not have come at a worse time vis-a-vis the post-Katrina rebuilding. Local banks are able and often willing to make loans to small local businesses, like shops, restaurants, and small home renovators, but large-scale development requires large, national banks, who are extremely reluctant to lend at the moment.
Because of this, there are only a small handful of large developments that have been built since Katrina. But the citizens are eager to see the city rebuild, and the only source of capital for development right now is government. The Times-Picayune is filled with stories about civic construction projects, from the Charity-VA hospital proposal to the relocation of City Hall to road rebuilding and various improvements to City Park.
Since this is taxpayer money going to these projects, there is an immense amount of controversy and political gridlock, fueled by a growing disgust for the city's elected officials. Hopefully with the election of a new mayor in the spring, things will get moving again (Nagin is term-limited, so he can't seek re-election).
Regarding the levee system: I would like to add that, while construction has been ongoing at a furious pace since Katrina, the system probably won't be complete until 2012, and it is only designed to protect against 100-year storms. Another 500-year storm like Katrina would still do a decent amount of damage in the city, but there would not be the widespread failures that occurred in 2005.