I didn't see any real plans discussed in that article--just speculation and conjecture. You can bet the city will be rebuilt and the port will be one of its major functions. The Mississippi river offers the least expensive way to ship large quantities of things into the heartland of the U.S., so that will stay and perhaps even expand. The tourist industry will stay as will the gambling industry. Beyond these things, I have no idea.

I'm still betting---no pun intended---that New Orleans re-emerges as a Las Vegas of the south, with huge tax breaks given to gaming corporations and resort builders. It will have a little more authentic charm then Vegas, which has none, but it will be yet another crass and glitzy spectacle. Since many of the people who left won't be coming back, a low-wage service-economy based on gambling and tourism will bring some newcomers into town, and the new city we will see will not have much of the history, charm, and mystery of old New Orleans, but the new city will be touted as a "monumental testament to progress," or words to that effect. Sad, really.
---Ryan

Originally posted by WyrdeOne
I have a lot of interest in seeing the reconstruction efforts proceed. Anyone got any opinions on where we might be headed with this?

I agree with the scenario you described above, for some reason though I know it's unavoidable, and in recent years I have found myself more resistant to the style in which they go about this, more so than the actual plan. If I have to live in "that" world, can it at least not be like one giant themepark, or mall? That's all I ask. You mention some sci fi above, when I see the New America I am more reminded of WIlliam Gibson, and the Neuromancer trilogy myself, maybe with a pinch of spice (Dune) for flavour.

Originally posted by RyanC
I'm still betting---no pun intended---that New Orleans re-emerges as a Las Vegas of the south

I couldn't agree more, as a matter of fact I will go so far as to extend it beyond New Orleans, and state that eventually every major American city will be similar to the new vegas/disney type atmosphere.

Anyone who is from N.Y. can tell you that it is a themepark compared to what it used to be. It has in fact become a charicature of itself. Las Vegas was once as seedy if not seedier than N.Y., now it's a "family-oriented" Vegas.

Anyone from California can tell you what has happened to Hollywood. When I lived in Hollywood, half the street lights did not work, hookers were still on Hollywood and Vine, drugs were to be found on EVERY corner, and if you were lucky you might get to spot a celebrity. Now it is like Vegas, or N.Y, a charicature of it's former glory, complete with glitter mixed into the asphalt, so the streets, sparkle, as if paved with gold.

Here in California this has not been limited to hollywood either. Downtown L.A. is building up at a frightening rate. The new disney hall, and various highrise "urban dwelling" developments that have sprung up over the last few years, have truly reshaped the image of L.A. After the proposed downtown reconstruction is finished I would not be surprised if L.A was as unrecognizable as N.Y, Hollywood, and Vegas are now.

The American dream has turned into some weird bastard step child of walt disneyésque architecture/ambiance, and police state a la Orwell. Complete with increased security, surveillance, rental rates, property values, goods, and services, etc, etc....

The more I travel to western cities the more I find that they are all losing their individual flavour, and becoming something completely different, something I can not even fully describe....I am reminded of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (the movie), when Johnny depp is in Vegas and describes it as

"This is what the world would look like had hitler won the war!".....

If in fact New Orleans is not lost, which I really think it is, then I can see it emerging as one of these new Gëschaft über Stadt's. There will probably be some type of theme, bourbon street, french quarter motiff or whatever. People from around the globe will flock to see the City that the US rebuilt, bringing with them, their money. After all, tourist economies are great you know?.....for former empires.

[edit on 14-9-2005 by phoenixhasrisin]

Excellent post, Phoenix, one of the best insights into the soulless and dead wasteland that aAmerica has become, with its identical strip malls, gated communities (there's an oxymoron for you), and Disneyland phoniness. I remember the quote from Fear ANd Loathing well, and if Thompson thought Vegas looked like Hitler's world in the late 60s, imagine what he would make of it now. I also agree with your sentiment that a certain amount of seediness gives a city some flavor, and that gentrification is really just a method of pushing the problem around. I live in the inner city and the gentrification efforts in my neighborhood have resulted in bland "upscale" condominiums, retail chain stores, and basically everything looking "good" on the surface, but feeling a lot deader than when the area was more "troubled." Have my property values gone up? Absolutely, but when I bought my house in this neighborhood eight years ago, it was because I wanted nothing to do with yuppie phoniness, and now I am surrounded by it.
---Ryan

[

The more I travel to western cities the more I find that they are all losing their individual flavour, and becoming something completely different, something I can not even fully describe....I am reminded of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (the movie), when Johnny depp is in Vegas and describes it as

"This is what the world would look like had hitler won the war!".....

San Francisco and Oakland are largely un-disnyfied. So is Santa Fe. Tucson is homely but honest. Reno is still more or less seedy. San Diego still feels authentic.

Phoenix on the other hand is an off-the-charts nightmare of urban sprawl!

And LA, well I mean c'mon!

Really interesting link there about "Hollywood South" --- confirms what many of us were suspecting, more or less, but with a little twist, a new Hollywood rather than a new Vegas---either way a tourist trap in the making. As for your brief comments on Western cities, since I spent about four months road-tripping around the west not long ago---
San Diego is authentic, but basically a military retirement community---nice climate, gorgeous views, but a bit sterile.
LA---I agree with you completely, forget it, total sprawling chaos.
Phoenix---ugly and sprawling everywhere with no plan to contain its growth, and the fact that most of it is so new makes it feel more like a giant suburb than a city. Of all western cities, only Vegas is more godforsaken.
Tucson---I agree, pretty harmless and unpretentious, the last real desert town.
Santa Fe---beautiful and scenic, a little too yuppie-esque for my taste, and damn expensive---but pretty, like I said.
Taos--- about the same as above, only even more scenic beauty .
Las Vegas---Hurricane Katrina, where are you when we need you? Just kidding, but a seriously nauseating place that has lost any semblance of charm it may once have had.
Reno---still kinda seedy, you're right, and a lot nearer to some natural beauty than one would expect in Nevada.
Bay Area---You're right, SF and Oakland are both still more or less themselves, although SF seems much more corporatized than the last time I had been though there about ten years ago.
Okay, way off-topic, sorry, now back to your regularly scheduled thread.
---Ryan

[edit on 15-9-2005 by RyanC]