Should they rebuild New Orleans where it is?

nadams

Simple question. Post as much as you want to...

I think they should abandon the city and rebuild somewhere else. The city's already a total loss, why rebuilt it in the exact same **** location? Can you imagine how hard it's gonna be to get homeowners insurance there? Why waste all that time and money to rebuild in a bowl surrounded by water on three sides.

I'll have very little pity for them if it happens again.

MacLeod

I dunno. Certainly if we can put a man on the moon that we can figure out how to build a freaking levy that wont give way under hurricane force winds.

New Orleans has been around for eons and is one of the few cities one thinks of when they think of the US. However, with the mayor claiming there wont be power in the city for 16 weeks its hard to imagine how they could get back up and running again.

ND13

The governor of LA said this morning on the news that they would most definitely be rebuilding NO where it sits.

nadams

That's just the thing.... they're trying to hold back NATURE.

As we all know... nature finds a way.

If you have to have a sophisticated pump system to keep the city dry under NORMAL weather circumstances, what makes you think this is a good place to put businesses and homes?

A lot of people aren't going to bother... maybe that'll be a loud enough voice to give the other folks a clue.

Demiurge

Absolutely NOT.

This is also a bigger decision than just N.O. We, the taxpayers, as a country, pay for this ultimately.

neomagus00

i think it'd be a wee bit arrogant to think we're more powerful than a hurricane, and to rebuild in the same place... but these are peoples' homes and businesses, and i totally see where they're coming from in the rebuilding... kinda like putting the twin towers back up, it's a sign that you're not beaten...

Dennis Gardner

I like New Orlean's location, I think they should just fill in the Gulf about 50 miles out. That otta do it.

MacLeod

Nobody is claiming to be more powerful than a hurrican however we are smart enough to figure out how to build a city that can hold up to one without being destroyed.

ND13

Look at Venice. They may not get Hurricanes but I bet they've had some serious **** whoopins from Mother Nature over the last several centuries and it's still thriving.

TroyD

Uh, just where, for the sake of argument, are we going to PUT all these people and who would pay for all THAT?

NO isn't exactly a fly speck on the map. The levy's will be rebuilt, the city drained and people will go on with life, as it should be.

BDT

amulford

Why don't we just relocate the ENTIRE population of ALL hurricane prone areas?

Let's see, there's the entire Gulf Coast, AND 3/4 of the Atlantic seaboard.

Hell, get 'em out of the Northeast. Those nor'easter's ain't no joke.

The west coast has tsunami's, MOVE 'em...

Oh, I'm sorry, this is a seriuos question????

MacLeod

But New Orleans is the only hurricane prone place BELOW sea level! Ocean to the south, big **** river to the east and big **** lake to the north. All of which are ABOVE the city.

dorokusai

Nice idea....NEVER gonna happen.

amulford

MacLeod wrote:

But New Orleans is the only hurricane prone place BELOW sea level! Ocean to the south, big **** river to the east and big **** lake to the north. All of which are ABOVE the city.

When you have a twenty five foot storm surge, Elev. 20' is BELOW sea level...

Demiurge

TroyD wrote:

Uh, just where, for the sake of argument, are we going to PUT all these people and who would pay for all THAT?

NO isn't exactly a fly speck on the map. The levy's will be rebuilt, the city drained and people will go on with life, as it should be.

BDT

Where we're going to put the people, or should I say, where they're going to choose to relocate isn't the issue.

The issue is that you have a city that is COMPLETELY destroyed and not only do you need to move peolple back in you need to tear down (gigantic undertaking), rebuild (not JUST homes and businesses), and then move people back in and give them the "Oh, by the way, no guarantee this won't happen again next year!"

It's NUTS to build there again. New Orleans, God love her, is a swamp. It was build on a river delta. While above Sea Level at the time it was built, it isn't now. Fill up your sink once with a bowl inside of it and plug the sink. Drain the sink and then look at the bowl of water. Still filled, right? New Orleans is the bowl, rebuilding it doesn't change that and building it 'better' doesn't change it. You can't stop brick and mortar buildings from colapsing with some clever design when Mother Nature decides to unleash her hellacious breath across the lands. Mother Nature is greater than us all and doing our best not to eff with her by being dumb would be a good step.

The infrastructure of the city was old to begin with, now it's completely decimated.

It would be cheaper to give everyone 40 Grand and telling them to relocate than it would be to rebuild the entire city. Of course things are more complicated on BOTH sides of the issue, but building a city in a place where this can easily happen again....is arrogant and stupid. We could say it's ignorance, but we KNOW what can happen and would be choosing to ignore it. The very definition of stupidity.

I feel for everyone who is affected by this and I can't imagine what it's like losing everything you have. The should get every dime we can give them to get them back on their feet and donating so that this can happen as quickly as possible is something we should all do if we can spare it.

I also believe that after this fact that a serious debate should be had about a city that has been flirting with disaster since ground was broken on it and people started inhabiting the area.

Have any of you been there before? Being on dry land and seeing a gigantic boat ABOVE you is a friggin' head trip. It isn't right.

If people want to live there, fine, but at some point you have to ask "why?" Especially when you know what the consequences of your actions are. While we all may have been able to speculate about it in the past...it has now actually happened. It's kind of like when you're a kid and you touch the hot stove. Hurts, right? You usually don't do it again.


Over the past 3 days we've watched an American City die. I know we can clean it up and I know we can rebuild. The question remains WHY?

nadams

Demi- thank you. You've said exactly what I wanted to say. The city is going to have to be rebuilt at an enormous cost ANYWAY, why doesn't it make sense to move it at the same time?

I, for one, would have never lived there in the first place. Regardless of the atmosphere, the people, or the scenery, it just isn't a smart place to live!

amulford- you are the one getting rediculous here. Yes, we have storms no matter where you live, but to actually WANT to rebuild a city that's at the mercy of some man-made levees on 3 sides... well, they're not going to get money from me for _that_. I'll happily donate for food and medical supplies for the people wounded, as it is a tragedy.... but if they just invite the same tragedy on themselves again, they'll find public pity for them much lower....

This was a tragedy, but it's one we can prevent from happening a second time by telling people, "yes, we'll rebuild... but it'll be over _there_"

amulford

Nice idea....NEVER gonna happen

Kinda of says it all. That's the point of the sarcasm..

Dennis Gardner

nadams wrote:

"yes, we'll rebuild... but it'll be over _there_"

Not a bad idea, but not really practical with half a millon people involved. Remember the small town in Illinois (if I recall) that moved up on the hill to avoid the Mississippi river floods a couple years ago? They seemed smarter for their move.

neomagus00

what's the difference? if you have to tear it all down anyways, why not build a modernised replica 12 miles away? what's the difference, architecturally/logistically?

dorokusai

This is New Orleans, not Anonymous, USA....simply NEVER gonna happen.

If you want New Orleans to move it's location, start a coalition for that idea, and I'll laugh when it NEVER happens. You must be on drugs to think logistically that idea makes sense. While you're on your crusade, drop a line to the folks in Florida, what is essentially Hurricane alley, and ask for donations to the cause.

I'm willing to bet most folks gave zero thought to this issue, including myself, until it became reality. Reality as in not what you see on TV, and hear at the Starbucks Coffeehouse.... actual reality.

New Orleans will survive, it will rebuild, and it will be better than it was before. The ramifications of this event will be felt for a couple years, but so will the memory of the USA.

Get involved, do what you can, and leave it at that. Communities evetually heal themselves, not the masses.

PolkThug

They'll rebuild with probably some new building codes.

exalted512

ha, you guys are insane. hell, why dont we move everyone out of florida to, they got hit by 6 hurricanes last year. i honestly cant believe some of you are even thinking this is plausible, much less theres a chance itll happen. New Orleans will rebuild, have better levees, and much more people will take evacuation notices more seriously. **** happens, but if you think relocating people away from their heritage, their homes, their land theyve had for years is the answer, then my friends, you are wrong.
-Cody

danger boy

i keep hearing on the newz.. "can New Orleans be saved?" of course. what a stupid question.. why couldn't it be saved? it's in ruins right now.. but if that happen to ANY other city, hell yeah they would rebuild it. why is this question even being asked?

It'll take time and tons manpower and money. but in a year or two from now. it'll be rebuilt, bigger, better and it'll bounce back.

I do feel sorry for the people who live there. They have nothing left.. nada, zilch.

How come we don't hear anymore about the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami anymore? I'd like to see what has taken place in the past 8 months since that huge natural distaster. I bet the people there have begun to return and the area is in the process of rebuilding as well.

Not to lessen the severity of Hurricane Katrina, and what's happening in the golf coast but in the Tsunami, 150,000 died. I hope and pray that Katrina didn't take that many lives.

brettw22

One thing is clear, the people that decide to stay will have made the choice that this was no big deal........

Dennis Gardner

Mark these words: New Orleans will now go upscale.


Did you notice that the only people that stayed in N.O. did so because they couldn't afford to get out? Hence my take on N.O.'s future.

They will rebuild, but they will wait long enough for the poor to relocate and condemn so many slum buildings that should have been torn down anyway. Big $$$ corporations will buy up all the devalued condemned properties.This way they can build the city from the ground up around the high rise downtown with all the fed money and you will see N.O. become the next Vegas as far as growth. The new buildings will be outpriced for the old tenants and they will create an oasis city for those that can afford it with great climate, historical districts that survive and we pay to refurb, and new growth that gives all the modern conveniences that a preplanned facelift can provide.

30 years from now, you won't even recall what problems the old N.O. had which actually consisted of a very poor southern town that lived and died on the tourism trade.

People will flock to it if they do it right.

F1nut

One factor not mentioned here and I don't know how it will play out, but there is a possibility that the bowl known as New Orleans may be nothing more than a toxic waste pit when this is all said and done.

danger boy

ummm. what toxic materials are there will all be cleaned up. it might be a superfund cleanup site for a long time.. but it will get done.

Polk65

I've been thinking about the residential neighborhoods under water. All the man-made gunk will be flowing offshore. The Mississippi river was already dirty, now it will be putrid. Gasoline, oil, fertilizer from lawns, chlorine from pools, untreated sewage... there might be a massive fish kill offshore. Several years ago I drove past New Orleans along the coast road to Mississippi. I remember seeing lots of Mom & Pop restaurants and wonder if they rebuild, will there be any local fresh fish?

Has anyone that visited New Orleans had a problem there? During Mardi Gras I parked my car in a private coin operated parking lot about 1/2 mile from Bourbon Street. When I returned a few hours later, the antenna was bent in half and the paint was keyed. If New Orleans does go upscale, I pity the communities that will absorb the human scum departing.

Danny Tse

While I think New Orleans should be relocated somewhere else, the reality is that it will be rebuild on its current location. I hear it on TV, I read it here....however, the truth is that it will take decades to rebuild New Orleans. Seeing the vast damages done to New Orleans on TV kinda makes the 1989 earthquake here in the San Francisco Bay Area looks like a minor incident....yet we still don't have that new Bay Bridge to replace the one that collapsed then. And it's been 16 years!! Billions of dollars in cost overruns, FBI investigations into faulty building materials, now we have bridge tolls of $5.00 to pay for that overrun, and we're still years away from the completion date. And we're only talking about a bridge!!

bobman1235

ND13 wrote:

Look at Venice. They may not get Hurricanes but I bet they've had some serious **** whoopins from Mother Nature over the last several centuries and it's still thriving.

It's also sinking into the ocean. It may have lasted a long time, but its days are definitely numbered.


As for NO, there's no way 'relocating' a major city would ever fly with the American public, no matter how 'reasonable' it seems. As soon as you say you're displacing people because you don't feel like paying to rebuild their city, people will go apeshit. As long as it's POSSIBLE (which I'm not entirely sure it will be) to rebuild NO, it will be rebuild, right where it is, no matter hwo stupid that is. Honestly, if they were gonna "move" it, why not just give all the residents enough cash for a new house and let it vanish into the night?

In a perfect world, this is a valid question... but in reality it's just way too out there to fly.

dorokusai

Money and that which can be made, will accelerate the re-building of this area. Decades? hehe, not when a buck can be made honcho, this is America.