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To: Maurice Winn who wrote (67738)	9/1/2005 7:19:05 AM
From: carranza2	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 71178

New Orleans will be rebuilt, Mq, you can be assured of that. What form the rebuilding will take is another question. I am personally leaning towards returning as the opportunities are going to be huge because a lot of folks will leave permanently, leaving large vacuums which will somehow have to be filled. Besides, I thrive on challenges, and the present conditions are definitely challenging. Thanks to a very nice insurance policy--I was thinking ahead to a day like this, vbg--a wife whose salary is backed by the full faith and credit of the US gov't, and the hospitality and kindness of relatives, I can afford to ride out the time it will take to go back home and start rebuilding without much personal economic impact. But enough of my personal considerations and back to your points. The reasons why New Orleans is located at its present site are purely economic and historical. Being at the mouth of the M. River lead to the establishment of a great port. Earlier in America's history, its location was utterly strategic not only for commerce but also for control of the interior. Naturally, people lived there and established themselves. No one said, "Hmmm, let's build a city smack dab in the center of Hurricane Alley, see if we get clobbered this year." While the strategic reasons for a populated NO are largely gone, being at the mouth of the River still is very important fom an economic standpoint. The river corridor from NO to Baton Rouge is the largest port facility in the US, something which is unlikely to change. A very large percentage of Midwestern grain shipments overseas are loaded on vessels plying this corridor as are our chemicals exports. In short, enormous capital investments exist which are unlikely to be relocated. And it takes people to operate and administer these things. They naturally live close to them. And that, MQ, is why folks have lived in NO for centuries and will likely to continue to live there. It's always been a dicey place. Yellow fever probably killed more people in years past than Katrina did by orders of magnitude if you adjust for population density. The points you have made surely were made before by those who were afflicted by that horrible disease. And the lifestyle is fabulous if you are middle class or upper middle class. And it is easier on the poor, too, which are numerous. It's not called the Big Easy for nothing. Because it is a good, no, a terrific, place to live, yet poor, the competition is intense. That's why you see so many good artists, musicians, chefs, lawyers, doctors, etc., there. We only go around once, Mq., I don't plan to do so in Des Moines or Cleveland, though I'm sure they have their charms, too.

To: Maurice Winn who wrote (67738)	9/1/2005 1:46:53 PM
From: Ilaine	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 71178

I once asked a lawyer I worked for in New Orleans, why they tolerated the poverty, the illiteracy, the huge gaps between rich and poor, the terrible public school system. He told me, "things are the way they are here because we like them this way. We don't want to live in another Atlanta." (Atlanta is the New South.)

To: Maurice Winn who wrote (67738)	9/1/2005 11:06:39 PM
From: JF Quinnelly	Respond to of 71178

You can't get good gumbo in yankeeland, MQ, not to mention lagniappe, so of course New Orleans will get rebuilt. Somebody needs to introduce the locals to the concept of "stilts", however, seeing as how Lake Ponchartrain will still be higher than the city. And maybe they can just take this opportunity to turn the place into the American Venice, with pirogues instead of cars. New Orleans isn't right next to the Gulf, so I doubt that a tsunami is much of a threat. But there's always plenty more hurricanes to deal with.