New Orleans No Longer Home For Many

As the NY Times article seem to put it, somewhere between the spring election of 2006 and November 2007 when the NO city council turned to a white majority, thousands of people gave up on considering New Orleans their home.

 Read NY Times "With Regrets, New Orleans Is Left Behind",

I don't think this had to happen.  If New Orleans, including the poorer sections had been restored earlier.

 If the public housing hadn't been slated for destruction.

It could have come back.  It could have even been made nicer with less crime and more amenities for the less affluent. 

I read recently about Katrina Cottages that sound a lot like the housing lost in parts of New Orleans.  But they went to Mississippi first.  Why? 

And then it turns out that the Mississippi communities don't even want the cottages there unless they are  used like FEMA trailers.  Why can't New Orleans get these installed in the lower ninth?

Excerpt LA Times report "Post-Katrina cottages get a lukewarm welcome": 

the cottage that was designed to offer long-term shelter is now being used strictly temporarily -- and in many cases not by people who seem to need it most.

So far, more than 900 families on the Mississippi coast have moved into the cottages as part of a national pilot program to determine whether those units make better emergency housing than trailers. Yet while there is no shortage of residents who want to move in, many local officials are reluctant to concede that the cottages represent a step up.

...

the cottage is a transitional or long-term housing solution.

In principle, the cottage can serve both needs, said Mike Womack, the executive director of the state emergency agency. Under the pilot program, the cottages are constructed off-site, wheeled in and strapped to concrete blocks as a temporary measure, their wheels left dangling in midair. The cottages are exempt from flood-elevation regulations.

Yet Womack said there was no reason the structures, which have a 30-year warranty, could not provide a long-term solution. The agency had hoped to allow tenants the opportunity to purchase the cottages and convert them into permanent homes by elevating them to meet flood requirements, but that plan has been up to city councils. "We did not expect resistance to be this strong," Womack said.

While cities along the coast have imposed cottage restrictions, debate has been especially heated in Bay St. Louis. With most of the resort town's historic beachside homes gone, the City Council has been trying to prevent the cottages from taking root in what had been its most valuable neighborhoods.

...

Meanwhile, Louisiana received $75 million in federal funds for a separate effort -- construction of four long-term cottage communities. Because officials have come under fire for the delays in the project, no one has moved into the cottages. Yet some believe the Louisiana plan -- which involves 600 elevated modular cottages -- could provide a more thoughtful long-term solution.
 

Nice to know that they are getting a round TUIT, but why such a long time? 

It's been 2.5 years already! 

Also see N.O. council may seek middle ground on demolitions

Nice to know they are paying attention now, but again why so long?

Why were those units not repaired at the earliest possible time and then let out to help bring people back to  New Orleans?

tags: new orleans  katrina cottages  

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