Full Circle
Maréchal de Saxe, Pigalle (1777)
St. Thomas Church, Strasbourg
St. Thomas Church, Strasbourg
I returned home a week ago. It's been a week of readjustment to my very familiar routines and environments. Like a cat, I gradually expanded my orbit. Initially, I shuttled between my neighborhood coffee house and my house. Then expanded to Sam's Warehouse and the Whole Food (two opposite recreational shopping experiences.) Then I went to Tulane, reconnected with my advisor Jimmy Huck, did some preliminary research in the Latin American Library and headed home. Dinner with friends (Janie and Paul) and my New Orleans world is reconstructed.
Today, I requested a proficiency exam in French and drove through my old Broadmoor neighborhood. It was severely affected by Katrina. This is a quite fancy area, not too far from Tulane and Uptown, areas that primarily suffered wind damage and are referred to as part of the "Isle of Denial." Here, there are signs of recovery. Some houses seem to be receiving attention. SUV's are parked in driveways, contractor's trucks along the street. There are many "For Sale" signs, stripped or neglected yards but it appears, that at least here, it seems likely that the neighborhood will recover. I have yet to venture back to the neighborhoods close to Lake Ponchartrain or down-river of the Industrial Canal - areas with much less secure futures.
We are approaching the anniversary of Katrina and there have been articles in magazines that I am finally receiving again - the New Yorker, the New Republic. There was a traditional Jazz Funeral, last weekend, for the pets that were lost to Katrina. The city seems caught up in a great mood of depression. People coming back to the city, even after a time short away, are struck by the slow pace of recovery. It seems like the time to make a more realistic assessment of futures here. I see two time frames. In the next five years, I predict the city will condense. The residents of many of the flooded neighborhoods will realize that reconstruction will not be happening at an acceptable pace and that, in the end, it is unwise to reconstruct their houses. The resulting scattering of restored houses within the block after block of abandonment, despite the effort and investment will only produce an unlivable and dangerous situation. Government policy, could have avoided what I believe will be a second wave of ex-migration by concentrating reconstruction and avoiding the discouragement of dispersion but politics, or the lack of courageous communication, would not generate support for decisive public action.
On January 12, 2006, I wrote about the Hotel Isle of Dry a neighbor's house that was surrounded by a wooden fence covered with blue spray paint graffiti. A friend, a nearby shop owner, provided this update. The owner of the house very likely did not evacuate and stayed in his property during the period after the storm and before the city was forcibly evacuated. Apparently, bands of looters swept the neighborhood. They broke into my house, as well. The owner of the Hotel Isle of Dry was armed and was aggressively defending his house and block. A rumor spread that the gang of looters was after him. At that point, he grabbed a spray gun and attempted to give the impression that police and rescuers were now staying in his house. On the other hand, this too could be an urban legend.
Check out my Strasbourg photos:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/spjacobs70118/album?.dir=/9289re2&.src=ph&.tok=ph4mlYFBWZgJBjoW
Today, I requested a proficiency exam in French and drove through my old Broadmoor neighborhood. It was severely affected by Katrina. This is a quite fancy area, not too far from Tulane and Uptown, areas that primarily suffered wind damage and are referred to as part of the "Isle of Denial." Here, there are signs of recovery. Some houses seem to be receiving attention. SUV's are parked in driveways, contractor's trucks along the street. There are many "For Sale" signs, stripped or neglected yards but it appears, that at least here, it seems likely that the neighborhood will recover. I have yet to venture back to the neighborhoods close to Lake Ponchartrain or down-river of the Industrial Canal - areas with much less secure futures.
We are approaching the anniversary of Katrina and there have been articles in magazines that I am finally receiving again - the New Yorker, the New Republic. There was a traditional Jazz Funeral, last weekend, for the pets that were lost to Katrina. The city seems caught up in a great mood of depression. People coming back to the city, even after a time short away, are struck by the slow pace of recovery. It seems like the time to make a more realistic assessment of futures here. I see two time frames. In the next five years, I predict the city will condense. The residents of many of the flooded neighborhoods will realize that reconstruction will not be happening at an acceptable pace and that, in the end, it is unwise to reconstruct their houses. The resulting scattering of restored houses within the block after block of abandonment, despite the effort and investment will only produce an unlivable and dangerous situation. Government policy, could have avoided what I believe will be a second wave of ex-migration by concentrating reconstruction and avoiding the discouragement of dispersion but politics, or the lack of courageous communication, would not generate support for decisive public action.
On January 12, 2006, I wrote about the Hotel Isle of Dry a neighbor's house that was surrounded by a wooden fence covered with blue spray paint graffiti. A friend, a nearby shop owner, provided this update. The owner of the house very likely did not evacuate and stayed in his property during the period after the storm and before the city was forcibly evacuated. Apparently, bands of looters swept the neighborhood. They broke into my house, as well. The owner of the Hotel Isle of Dry was armed and was aggressively defending his house and block. A rumor spread that the gang of looters was after him. At that point, he grabbed a spray gun and attempted to give the impression that police and rescuers were now staying in his house. On the other hand, this too could be an urban legend.
Check out my Strasbourg photos:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/spjacobs70118/album?.dir=/9289re2&.src=ph&.tok=ph4mlYFBWZgJBjoW
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