Originally Posted by Blumie
First of all, I want to reiterate the recommendation that people absolutely should go to New Olreans. The main tourist areas -- the French Quarter, the Warehouse District, the Garden District, Uptown -- are largely back, as are many, many restaurants, clubs and other tourist venues.
But people should also understand that New Orleans is still very much devastated by the effects of Katrina. While in the city, I highly recommend the people rent a car or hire a driver and explore some of the neighborhoods where the real people of New Orleans live: the lower 9th, Mid-City, New Orleans East, etc. These neighborhoods, which were the backbone of the city, are beyond belief almost a year after the hurricane hit. It's not doing New Orleans justice to stay away because of the hurricane, but it's also not doing New Orleans justice to visit and not see the reality of this beautiful city a year later.
I had to be in the NO area to install some new computer systems in the 9th Ward, Lake Forest and Chalmette (sp). This area is really in bad shape and there is still a lot of work to be done to get the people back in the area. If you want a full story of what is going on, talk to the locals who are still living in the area, who have rebuilt and are trying to get back to a normal life. You will gain a great insite of what is going on and what is not going on!! You hear a lot about the lack of any direction of the NO Mayor or the Governor. There is a lot of money to rebuild but the problem is where do the people live while the rebuilding is going on. They need people to work to rebuild but they need a place to live. I didn't see that many busses running or any way for some people to get around.
The main areas around the FC are up and running. We ate dinner at Emeril's while there and didn't have a reservation. I was a little surprised at the cost of some of the hotels. I was able to find a $100 rate at the Embassy Suites and I had a great stay.
Go into NO and drive around the area. I was very surprised seeing what little had been done in some of the area's and how much was done in others. It doesn't matter how much money you have, because some of the bigger, expensive homes still have not been rebuilt. There is still a lot of homes that need to be torn down but they still block some roads, there are still ships in the roads ( I saw a shrimp boat in the street and on the front lawn of another home). There is still help that is needed but they need some kind of direction. That is what I heard the most of, there is no direction of what to rebuild and how they have to rebuild.
If you want to really see the problems, go there for yourself. Don't take my word or anyone else. You have to see this for yourself. Not only NO but the Gulf Coast itself. I feel the Coast is doing better by far in rebuilding but the floods were bad all the same.
Go down there, see it, live it and then come back here and tell us what you thought.