NationStates Jolt Archive

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/16/us/nationalspecial/16orleans.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin

Looks like people with the ability to move elsewhere are giving up - people with education, or the ability to find a job elsewhere.

Why? Because the place stinks on ice.

The ones being left behind are the poor - they would probably leave if they could.

Gosh, what will Nagin do now? Force the more wealthy and more educated to stay?

The death of a city, eh?
Its too bad, I was in New Orleans once, the nicer parts of the city were pretty pleasant. They had a cool aquarium, I recall that they fed the pirranahs while we were there.
Alas, only small chunks of meat, no live cows.

The port is too important for New Orleans to die; there will be a dramatic downsizing, but it won't be the end of the city. Of course, if the government makes a commitment to fund the city, it might be possible to redevelop it to better fit green building and smart growth principles so as to make the city safer and more resistant to natural disasters.

Of course, that money could also go a long way to improving conditions in poor areas, raising land values and attracting people back to the city as well as improving conditions for those who remained.

If a natural disaster destroyed my city and nothing was done to fix it up after a whole year and I was being robbed and so forth you bet your jollies I'd give up and run.

If a natural disaster destroyed my city and nothing was done to fix it up after a whole year and I was being robbed and so forth you bet your jollies I'd give up and run.

I wouldn't, because I'm an American, and these colours don't run. :mad:
http://www.lotikxane.com/salute_flag.jpg

Gosh, what will Nagin do now? Force the more wealthy and more educated to stay?
Why should he? He only promised that New Orleans would be a chocolate city again, not that it would be Amedei, or anything.

I think that it's very frightening how a few days can more or less spell the end for such an amazing city...

I wouldn't, because I'm an American, and these colours don't run. :mad:
http://www.lotikxane.com/salute_flag.jpg

I don't what makes me sicker, the patriotism, or the uneven fake boobs.

I wouldn't, because I'm an American, and these colours don't run. :mad:
http://www.lotikxane.com/salute_flag.jpg

Ze goggles! Zey do nussink!

I don't what makes me sicker, the patriotism, or the uneven fake boobs.

The veiny arms gross me out the most, I think.


Ze goggles! Zey do nussink!
lol

I wouldn't, because I'm an American, and these colours don't run. :mad:
http://www.lotikxane.com/salute_flag.jpg
AAARRRGGG! EVIL IMAGE! My eyes! My Brain! My poor defenceless brain!!!!

I wouldn't, because I'm an American, and these colours don't run. :mad:
http://www.lotikxane.com/salute_flag.jpg

Well, there goes my sex drive...

I think that it's very frightening how a few days can more or less spell the end for such an amazing city...
It was a pretty stupid place to put a major metropolitan area (below sea-level, on the coastline, etc), and the recent run of bad luck seems to be making people realize this.

It was a pretty stupid place to put a major metropolitan area (below sea-level, on the coastline, etc), and the recent run of bad luck seems to be making people realize this.

Well, it wasn't always below sea level...that happened when genius urban planners decided to drain the hell out of the natural marshlands which had been there for hundreds of thousands of years and were there for a reason and slapped up new developments below sea level.

Have we ever had a death of a city in our country before? Ghost towns don't count because well they're towns, and I mean cities.

It was a pretty stupid place to put a major metropolitan area (below sea-level, on the coastline, etc), and the recent run of bad luck seems to be making people realize this.

Damn Frenchies, this is all their fault.
France should be the one paying to rebuild New Orleans ;)

Damn Frenchies, this is all their fault.
France should be the one paying to rebuild New Orleans ;)
Not this time around. The French built their city above the waterline, we expanded it below the waterline.

I'm sure someone had a good reason for it at the time.

Damn Frenchies, this is all their fault.
France should be the one paying to rebuild New Orleans ;)

I like your idea!

I'm sure someone had a good reason for it at the time.

$.

Exactly! It was a CONSPIRACY to lure honest hard working Americans to build their houses in the lower areas of the city!
Dont you see how devious those French are? Theyre almost as bad as the Jews! :D

And them damn Injuns...

Not this time around. The French built their city above the waterline, we expanded it below the waterline.

I'm sure someone had a good reason for it at the time.

Exactly! It was a CONSPIRACY to lure honest hard working Americans to build their houses in the lower areas of the city!
Dont you see how devious those French are? Theyre almost as bad as the Jews! :D

And them damn Injuns...

Hey, you quoted me before I even posted!
...
HES A FRENCHY! GET 'IM!
(Pitchfork wielding mob appears)

In other news:
This thread is emitting some xodorap.

Have we ever had a death of a city in our country before? Ghost towns don't count because well they're towns, and I mean cities.

Plenty.

Name one.

Kaskaskia, Illinois.

Plenty.

Name one.

It was a pretty stupid place to put a major metropolitan area (below sea-level, on the coastline, etc), and the recent run of bad luck seems to be making people realize this.

Well, below sea-level wasn't how it was meant to be...

Kaskaskia, Illinois.

Ahh, so apparently this isn't the first time a water disaster has spelt doom for a city.

Name one.

Dogtown, Massachusetts.

Name one.
Centralia, Pennsylvania and St. Thomas, Nevada

Dogtown, Massachusetts.

Hmm neat. I love reading about abandoned towns and cities. I might like to live in one someday. :D

Well, below sea-level wasn't how it was meant to be...
It is, however, how it ended up: a death-trap baited with good food, jazz and cajun culture. Damn those cajuns.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/16/us/nationalspecial/16orleans.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin

Looks like people with the ability to move elsewhere are giving up - people with education, or the ability to find a job elsewhere.

Why? Because the place stinks on ice.

The ones being left behind are the poor - they would probably leave if they could.

Gosh, what will Nagin do now? Force the more wealthy and more educated to stay?

Sad, America couldn't prevent one of its own cities from falling, if only people there actually took the social contract there seriously this would have probably never happened.

It is, however, how it ended up: a death-trap baited with good food, jazz and cajun culture. Damn those cajuns.

Cajun culture was invented by the French to lure more people to New Orleans! CONSPIRACY! COMMUNISTS!
Etc.

Sad, America couldn't prevent one of its own cities from falling, if only people there actually took the social contract there seriously this would have probably never happened.

They don't take it seriously because there is no "Social Contract".

I wouldn't, because I'm an American, and these colours don't run. :mad:
http://www.lotikxane.com/salute_flag.jpgI'm American and when my city turns into a ghetto over night I'm getting the Hell outta there. I ain't livin' that life twice, no siree.

Damn Frenchies, this is all their fault.
France should be the one paying to rebuild New Orleans ;)

Remember the French Quarter is on high ground. It was the people that came after that built in the low lands.

It's the Government's fault.

I would become rich and move to new orleans if it were made of chocolate.

It was a pretty stupid place to put a major metropolitan area (below sea-level, on the coastline, etc), and the recent run of bad luck seems to be making people realize this.

It's kind of an important place for a port... mouth of most important river in the United States and all...

The original city, as has been mentioned, was above sea level. It was only after the marshes were drained that we silly Americans expanded it lower.

New Orleans will always be significant because of the arts and culture there, as well as of course its locale as a major port. The arts and culture element will always draw people of all races, even if it is just artsy people.

New Orleans is a unique melting pot of even more unique cultures. Some aspects of New Orleans culture cannot even be compared with other places, as a city it has one of the most unique flavors of the United States. I think this will always draw people back.

Rest assured, New Orleans will not be off the map any time soon. It may not be as prosperous as it was financially, but prosperity is measured in different ways too.

I just hope they get the crime rate under control :(

What did you expect from a huge welfare city in a huge welfare state? As someone already pointed out, all the people who could leave, did.

Those people should be ashamed of how lazy they are. I lived in Miami during Hurricane Andrew and two years later there was hardly any proof left of what had happened.

Remember it's the governments fault because Bush hates black people.

Well, for starters, it wasn't exactly good planning to build a megacity underneath the water table in glorified marshland to begin with... add to that the fact that the levy systems nationwide are deteriorating at a somewhat alarming rate, you've got a problem.

Remember it's the governments fault because Bush hates black people.

Did you see the double take the guy standing next to Kanye did after he said that?! :D

lol yeah it was classic. I have that video clip saved somewhere on my computer.

lol yeah it was classic. I have that video clip saved somewhere on my computer.

It was Mike Myers, wasnt it?

What did you expect from a huge welfare city in a huge welfare state? As someone already pointed out, all the people who could leave, did.

Those people should be ashamed of how lazy they are. I lived in Miami during Hurricane Andrew and two years later there was hardly any proof left of what had happened.

Remember it's the governments fault because Bush hates black people.

I'd argue with you. But frankly, what's the point? Hopefully others will, I'm a bit busy, but... the lack of empathy and ignorance in that statement is quite sickening. You are a bad, bad person.

I wouldn't, because I'm an American, and these colours don't run. :mad:
http://www.lotikxane.com/salute_flag.jpg

Oh really?

See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_Saigon; excerpt follows.


Flights out of Saigon, lightly booked under ordinary circumstances, were full.
Throughout April the speed of the evacuation increased, as the Defense Attache's Office (DAO) began to fly out nonessential personnel. Many Americans attached to the DAO refused to leave without their Vietnamese friends and dependents, who included common-law wives and children. It was illegal for the DAO to move these people to American soil, and this initially slowed down the rate of departure, but eventually the DAO began illegally flying undocumented Vietnamese to Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines.
On April 3, President Ford announced "Operation Babylift", which would evacuate about 2000 orphans from the country. One of the C-5A Galaxy planes involved in the operation crashed, killing 138 passengers and seriously reducing the morale of the American staff.
Administration plans for final evacuation
By this time the Ford administration had also begun planning a complete evacuation of the American presence. Planning was complicated by practical, legal, and strategic concerns. The administration was divided on how swift the evacuations should be. The Pentagon sought to evacuate as fast as possible, to avoid the risk of casualties or other accidents. The Ambassador to South Vietnam, Graham Martin—technically the field commander for any evacuation, since evacuations are in the purview of the State Department—believed Hanoi's offensive was less a threat than panic and loss of morale in Saigon, and that the American withdrawal should be as drawn out as possible.
:D