Post-Katrina New Orleans Two years

Post-Katrina New Orleans

Two years after Katrina the population of New Orleans is still growing, but only 40% of children in the public schools are previous inhabitants. Homes are for sale everywhere and, though the prices have dropped in some neighborhoods, home prices and rents remain high. The economy is considered to have regained 79% of its former energy, in labor force size, sales tax revenue, jobs and employers. Employers are being lost in the Central Business District, since it has seen little growth in the labor force in 2007; the unemployment rate is higher than a year ago (Liu 1).

Homes being newly built or rebuilt have slowed, with only 14,000 permits being issued this year, compared to 46,000 in the first year (Liu 12). Because of the slowing of construction and the growth of the labor force, workers who are unemployed are increasing. Cost of living in the city is high and increasing, though more slowly than a year prior (Liu 2).

During 2007, the absence of further hurricans helped New Orleans continue to grow in numbers of households and jobs, though infrastructure and housing recovery is still uneven. The area is looking forward to some $3 billion in new Road Home money from Congress and some coastal protection funds from the Water Resources Development Act, which was passed over President Bush's veto (Liu 1).

Since construction has continued, there is some optimism, but public infrastructure repairs have stalled and it is hard to find public services. The Road Home program has given out checks to only one-fourth of those who should receive them. Only two-thirds of the hospitals in the region are open. Schools, public transportation, child care, libraries and other basic services are only half-restored. It appears that though New Orleans has regained most of its population and economic base, growth has slowed over the past year and the hardest-hit parishes. Orleans and St. Bernard, have a long way to go (Liu 2).

New Orleans has undergone a major racial population shift in the years since Katrina struck that city. It now faces the problems that most cities in the Southeast have faced, that were not faced previous to Katrina, because New Orleans had few Hispanics. Since it lost more than half of its population, many of them blacks (about a quarter of a million) - it gained about 14,000 Hispanics in 2006 (Belsie 1).

Many Hispanics have come to stay, as well; something that the city leaders have not expected or prepared for. The Hispanic immigrants, only 13% from Mexico and the remaining 87% from other parts of the United States, moved to New Orleans after the storm to take advantage of the construction job market. At that time, the U.S. government gave them special waivers on the immigration restrictions so that employers could hire Hispanic workers, but the State decided in 2006 that it was time to reinforce the laws against illegal immigrants. The may of New Orleans voiced dismay about the city being overrun by Mexicans, but during his subsequent reelection campaign made conciliatory gestures to the Hispanic community (Belsie 3).

Luz Molina, a law professor at Loyola in New Orleans said "You have a judicial system that has no clue how to accommodate Spanish speakers, a healthcare system that is geared toward excluding them, and a [political] system that in general is slowly tightening the noose around them," she says. "It's so short-sighted" (Belsie 4).

In spite of New Orleans' pride in its racial mixture and combinations of cultures found in music and food, the Hispanic population has never been a part of the black and white mixture. "This [influx of Hispanics] is going to create some new challenges for the city," says Katharine Donato, Sociology professor at Rice University. But "there is a certain tolerance and understanding of diversity in New Orleans that perhaps other cities new to foreign immigrants wouldn't have" (Belsie 5).

Businesses have been serviced by the Hispanic population since Katrina, but the growing number of businesses catering to the Hispanic population has only just begun to grow. This is one way in which the city may find a compromise with its perceived problem of the influx of Hispanics. The Central Business District is growing and finding the tourist trade to be coming back, but it is only with the help of the Hispanic population that it will continue to grow.

In the Central Business District, public and private buildings are still being rebuilt. The delay in making repairs to the Criminal Justice buildings in New Orleans creates a danger to public safety in that police stations and police headquarters are operating out of FEMA trailers. Because of this space in inadequate; there is a lack of desks for writing reports, the ability to plan strategies is hampered; interrogations and interviews are not private, protection of evidence, and housing of criminals and victims is lacking, the crime lab is only partially functioning. Special Operations, Traffic, Recruiting, Juvenile, Compliance and Auto Theft Divisions all work out of trailers (Liu 10).

Only a few libraries in the entire city are functioning, some out of trailers. Publlic transportation to the central district is at a standstill. Only 19% of buses are operating on 50% of the original routes, compared to 17% and 45% a year ago. Hospitals and long-term rehabilitation and disability facilities remain shuttered, with only 13 acute care hospitals out of 23 open, yet New Orleans is struggling with increased menal illness, acute situations and deaths.

While chartered schools continue to proliferate in New Orleans, it has been predicted that it will be a long time before any improvements in the school system from two years ago may be seen. In central New Orleans LEAP exam scores fell from 61% before Katrina to 49% last year and fewer children were able to pass the exam (Liu 13).

Less than half the basic public services are available after two years, based on pre-Katrina figures. The U.S. Postal Service says it is delivering 66% of pre-Katrina numbers, up from 50% after one year. Business owners feel the effect, as the population struggles to get transportation, to maintain quality of life and to remain in the face of the dearth of services. The lack of doctors and other critical health care workers, looting of new homes and businesses continues because of continued lack of buildings for public servants (Liu 15).

The Zagat post-Katrina New Orleans survey in January of 2007 found that the tourist areas have recovered quite nicely. They list the French Quarter, Downtown and the Garden District as "fully back in business," but remark that, sadly, the major residential areas remain "desolate." Zagat's 2007 Best of New Orleans, guide was released on the premise that if these successfully restored 390 restaurants, 94 bars, clubs and nightspots, 18 major hotels and 29 top tourist attractions are available for the tourists to use, then much of the tourist business dollars will help restore the rest of New Orleans. Zagat gives the city a 25 on the 30-point scale for culinary creativity, but only a 17 for table availability. This means that there is still a lack of good restaurants opening their doors, leaving much room for future improvement (Zagat 1).

Economically, the region seems to be stabilizing, but this may be due to the lack of public service infrastructure. It is stabilizing at a lower number than previous to Katrina, but it may be stabilizing because the shock of the catastrophe has worn off and the population has become used to the slow pace of recovery. People are looking at it as a quality check. Said the Deputy Director of the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program, Amy Liu, "There is no sense to have faster results if the results are not of value" (Liu 2).

Works Cited

Belsie, Laurent and Axtman, Kris. "Post-Katrina, New Orleans coming back more Hispanic." Christian Science Monitor. 12 Jun 2006. http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0612/p01s03-ussc.html.

Liu, Amy and Plyer, Allison. "The New Orleans Index, Second Anniversary special edition." The Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program. Greater New Orleans Community Data Center. Aug 2007. http://www.brookings.edu/reports/2007/~/media/Files/Metro%20Simple%20Pages/ESNOLAIndexAug07.pdf.

Zagat Survey. "Zagat releases first post-Katrina New Orleans survey showing tourist areas rebound while residential neighborhoods remain battered" PR Newswire, United Business Media. 10 Jan 2007. http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/01-10-2007/0004503240&EDATE=.