Future Of New Orleans Is Bleak

Today I want to tell you something about where I live, an update about the city and area since the storm. In a local TV news station survey the other day, 50 percent of those questioned in the New Orleans city and surrounding area said they will move out of state or move to a different part of Louisiana if things don't improve in the next five years.
But the survey did shows people trying to give the recovery a chance. Fewer people said they would leave in three years, or in one year, if things don't improve. Or perhaps they just can't leave now?? With thousands of homes for sale and few buyers, people in the area can't leave unless they wish to abandon their prime investment in life- their home. That is unlikely unless another storm like the last hits. In that case all property would become almost worthless and the city would probably largely empty itself.
In New Orleans 59 percent were most inclined to leave. Ha! 50% of the original population are still gone meaning that if another 50% left the city would have only 25% of the population it had before the hurricane hit in August if 2004. I have doubts the city can be viable with the small population it already has. If any more leave it would seem impossible that New Orleans will ever be a major or important place in which to live.
My own suburban area poll results show about 45% of the residents want to leave (they are also trapped by their inability to sell homes or by job or personal responsibilities such as caring for elderly parents or other relatives that would be hard to leave). What it shows is if we had another serious hurricane an awful lot of people would be gone. We are gambling a bigger stake than most casinos offer to players there.
And what was the motivating factor in so many more wanting to leave, the problems we face? The survey asked people to rank a selected list. Loss of wetlands rated most serious, followed by slow recovery, crime, our levees, hurricane protection, public education, flooding, the Road Home Program, the Corps of Engineers and FEMA. Notice crime is first on the list Crime has become an epidemic since the storm Breaking the poll down more shows most people in New Orleans, 75 percent, ranked crime as the most serious problem by a wide margin. Crime’s going right off the charts, and not solving this crime problem in New Orleans means a lot of more people will leave.
And when asked about the performance of it's leaders in handling recovering from the storm the respondents said it was lousy! George Bush had an acceptable performance rating of 31 percent. Our state governor ranked at 20% approval and local officials were in the same range.
The Mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin, ranked lowest of all at with a 16 percent positive rating. New Orleans District Attorney Eddie Jordan, who is the prosecutor of criminals, ranked even worse with nine percent positive overall. That reflects the hopelessness here about crime. Just a little update from paradise.
Keep your fingers crossed for me that we have no more big hurricanes here for awhile.