Why New Orleans will Rebuild

My wife and I just got back from a long weekend in New Orleans.  We took in some of the Mardi Gras frestivities in really the first year back following Hurricane Katrina.  We took a tour of the areas ravaged by the hurricane...I'll share some of that later in the week.

Today is about why New Orleans will come back. After seeing what we saw, and hearing the stories about the hundreds of thousands of people who were displaced from their homes, I can say that there may only be two cities in the United States that could overcome what they endured...and New Orleans is one of them

If people were forced out of Kansas City for several months -- I don't know that they would ever come back.  There is little that distinguishes Kansas City -- and its culture, from other midwestern cities like Omaha, Des Moines, Oklahoma City, Wichita, or St. Louis. If KC suffered this type of devastation, it would never get back to even close to normal.

But New Orleans is unique...its own culture.  It has its own food, its own music (Zydaco, Jazz, Cajun), its own accent, and its own architecture.  Its people are different...with their own style. And New Orleans is unlike any other place on the planet.  Therefore, the people will bring it back...they developed that culture and want it back.  And thus it will come back.

If anyone reads "Why New Orleans Matters" by Tom Piazza, they'll get these insights and more. But if you visit in person, you'll feel it.  Even as a shell of its former self, you can feel it...and that's cool.

But, if you can't get there in person (you should, if you can swing it), read the book...and you'll get a feel and an appreciation for something that is as unique as New Orleans.

More to come about the trip and what I learned...

Comments

[Dan]

Great post - I was there a couple weeks ago, and I agree that NOLA is coming back. If I were a young person, I think I'd seriously consider moving there - it's like getting in on the ground floor of a soon-to-be major city.

[MichelleD]

I highly recommend everyone go visit NOLA as soon as possible. NO (and Mardi Gras is general) is WAY MORE that the crazy Fat Tuesday Bourbon St. celebration/near riot you see on cops.