n.o. is not ok
i decided i needed a page just for n.o. to serve as a place for:
- reminiscences about n.o. and the residents i worked with while there
- others reminiscences
- news about n.o.
- politics debate about n.o.’s state of affairs
3/07/08
as many i’m sure have heard there is massive demolitions of public housing in N.O. what many of you may not know is that N.O. has the nations most stable and well-built (according to a report i read, from what i saw this is true as well) public housing. many of the units are on prime real-estate. they are close to the french quarter. h.u.d. and N.O. politicians have been trying to find a reason to demolish these units for years. they would like to build a new casino (even though city law states that there is only to be 1 landed casino in N.O.–the one in the lower 9th) and condo’s. katrina provided a great excuse to finally demolish these homes. even though there was minimal flooding in the area and the units (along with most homes in and near the french quarter) had little to no wind damage. there’s a hospital down the road from one of the public housing units that has been up and running since a few months after the storm. all they did was gut the first floor and re-build it after making sure it was disinfected from mold. if a hospital can be reopened then there is no reason to demolosh these homes! here’s a link to a great site with much more information
the thing that i remember most about n.o. is how overwhelming it was. the destruction was non-stop, there was no escaping it, that is until you went to the tourist district (i.e. the french quarter) where it didn’t seem like anything had ever happened.
the first time i went down i worked in the upper 9th ward. around st mary’s (the building that common ground volunteer’s stayed in) was bustling and active, but go 1 block in any direction and it would be so solitary, and quiet. it would be a lie to say that there were no people, but that’s how it felt a lot of the time. i talked to a former n.o. resident last night and she said that a reason for that feeling is the sheer desperation of a lot of people who are there. because there’s no escaping the disaster. it’s such an integrated part of residents life that it ‘just wears on you’. maybe that’s an explanation as to the sense of loneliness in the air.
regardless, even if every resident who has been able to return were the loudest, most excitable, energetic people in existence i don’t think that could change the atmosphere in n.o. on a block there might be 1 or 2 families who are back and that just changes the whole landscape in an urban environment. try to imagine whatever city you live in with 90% of the homes on a given block standing empty. how would that effect you, how would that effect the atmosphere…
end of reminiscence.
the first day i arrived i wanted to wander around the upper 9th (where i was volunteering) and there was an elderly black woman sweeping around her fema trailer. she told me that everyone called her ‘grandma’ because she was so nosy and always in everyones business. common ground and her son were helping her rebuild. she said she wouldn’t have stayed away for anything in the world. upper 9th is her home, and her community and she’ll be there trying to get everyone else back.