New Orleans

I have been lurking on this site (which I love) for years now and finally have decided to jump in.  I am very excited about the New Orleans trip.  I live here but and am concerned about safety issues in the city.  As of tomorrow, the National Guard pulls out and the city is not ready to take over.  There have been recent shootings in the Quarter (in broad daylight) plus on the parade route last week 6 were injured which watching the parade.  With this all said, New Orleans has a lot to offer, but it is also a dangerous city.  Do not go anyplace alone, now stray past the Quarter on foot.  If this sounds like a downer, I am sorry, but I feel people must be aware.

This is a bothersome part of my desire to return back to live in NOLA.  I used to live on Esplanade and the Quarter was a five minute walk.
I really, really want to move back, but there are too many reasons for me to consider elsewhere. I have lost touch with friends who used to live there. I do not think that there is any chance for the city if another storm comes. This country has not and will not be able to deal with it.  I think that going back will make me cry.

My concerns are about eco-migration which for me, is a combination eco-nomy and the eco-logy. This is why I am looking at Austin....
NOLA has always been troubled and I thought that it was possible that a riot could happen if conditions were right. Katrina proved me to be correct. It was that the water was too deep for it to become total anarchy. It became a matter of survival from the elements and its own people.
America needs to rebuild. NOLA is a example that we cannot do it to for even one important city.

mark

Doggydaddy---where on the Esplanade did you live?--i lived at 1010--way back in 1970-1---even then it was not the safest of cities--i LOVED it--but there was a murder a DAY while i was there. But the fact is that there is ALWAYS danger out there no matter where you are.I  hope and pray that all works out for NOLA but we have to admit that we are still a LONG LONG way from getting that city--and its CULTURAL wealth--back. Not getting it all back would be a major tragedy for the food and mnd music scene of this country.

In 71 I was stationed in Mis.  8 of us rented a uhaul and threw our matresses in the back and headed for Mardi Gras.  We parrked the truck about 2 blocks off Diberville.  As we walked to Burbon street the first thing we encountered was a mini riot.  There were 5-6 mounted cops surrounded by about 20 people throwing rocks and bottles.  We got away as soon as we could and wrer rousted by the MPs.  For no reason the rounded up aboout 10 GI's and made us sit in a paddy wagon for over an hour while they called in to make sure we werent awol.
AFter that we had a pretty good time.  We were very subdued and afraid of getting in any trouble.  Other than that one guy got drunk and hooked up with a bar girl.  he woke up on a loading dock by the river.  They not only tooks his wallet and watch but also his pants and shoes.  He ended up going to jail for indecent expousure and vagrancy.  Back then they took them straight to Parish prison due to the numbers of arrests dring the celebration.  I never went again..

tiki,

I lived on 1774 Esplanade, two blocks north of Clairborne and the I-10 highway. Under that highway is a experience in itself as people will have parties under it on the weekends.
I Google mapped and was able to actually see my old place...all of it, and it looks very nice. This is amazing!!! I can see it clearly from the bird's eye view and from the street level!!!
I was able to walk my dog-and my cat- around the block. Definitely a sight to see.

At those apartments, I was the token white guy and learned much, in some cases even contrary to the advice from my neighbors. What I found unusual was their warnings to avoid the Bayou Classic.  I'll tell you, it was one most enlightening experiences ever.
The whole French Quarter was filled with black college students who actually had true goals for their lives. They were there for fun, not trouble. Trouble would arise when locals got into the festivities.
The same type of locals who ruined Fat Tuesday...

I never really had any problems with the city and basically walked around wherever I heard music playing. Every part of every neighborhood has musical noise emanating from it. It is a beautiful, noisy and aromatically delicious city.  It is a city of the physical senses and a city that needs to get it sense of worth back too.

mark

 P.S. ...I love to brag that I was able to get some of the best parking for the parades on Canal St.  There was a flaw in the route as there were no 'No Parking' signs under the I-10 overpass. This is important. Every band would stop under it, and just blast out the bejeezus as hard as they could at full volume to make things shake. I had friends who lived there all their lives and were amazed at my ability to do this.

mark

A good friend of mine is a Major in the LA National Guard who has been stationed in NO since Katrina.  We served in the first Persian Gulf War together (enlisted) and have kept in touch since.  In my infrequent visits to NO I stay with him (save a hotel visit!!!).  A few months or so after Katrina the city was headed in the right direction (crime wise) and seemed to be on the path to a better future.  Unfortunately, unseemly sorts saw this as an opportunity and moved in.  He and I both agree that NO has regressed to its former self in the years since the hurricane.  Sad.  A large part of my family moved to NO in the Depression and stayed until the mid-70's when the city started going downhill.  They moved to Metairie right outside because of the way the city was going.  The schools are a perfect indicator (I am an educator and realize how much many NO schools are struggling!). 
 
If you visit NO stay in the well-populated (touristy) areas and be cautious.  It's still a great place, but you should watch out for yourself.

I have been to NOLA a 1/2 dozen times since Katrina and everything is fine if you use your street smarts.  Most of the dangerous areas are places you and I wouldn't normally travel.

With all that was going on around me--i too walked around--day or night-and had a wonderful time-i also hung with a lot of "people of colors" --mostly cooks waiters and musicians and after all these years i still belirve NOLA to be THE most unigue place i have ever been! I cant think of another city where i would get up EARLY after partying all night to WATCH THE GARBAGE GET PICKED UP!!!!--The guys that worked the "back of the truck"carried huge metal cans with hook type hanndles that could lay on their shoulders to carry --into which they would dump your trash and then DANCE away--tossing and spinning them like they were weightless till they were full and dumping them into the truck and dance off tho the next trash can!! it was a thing of beauty!!! a regular big city ballet! when i finall got to my first mardi Gras i got to these same guys at their finist--they were members of the Zulu krewe and to see them doiing all those same moves--in full regalia with BIG decorated poles-was awesome! I pray for NOLA every day, that all that made it what it was---the people and the neighborhoods-make it back from the destruction--both natural and man made!!-that it has been through! I also remember that we would get someone with a car every now and then and go out into the state LOOKING FOR A BAD RESTAURANT---THERE AREN'T ANY!!!! God Bless NOLA!!!

tiki,

Was this your place? I tell people that I would walk down that street everyday and see something interesting and new. I would notice a different detail in a building that I did not observe previously. Obviously, I walked by this place every day.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=1010+esplanade+ave.+new+orleans+,+LA&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=30.819956,56.601563&ie=UTF8&ll=29.967278,-90.062914&spn=0.008216,0.013819&z=16&iwloc=addr&layer=c&cbll=29.965325,-90.062911&panoid=6RsXqLnoR5tLtQJBeUBtLg&cbp=12,181.98468348027023,,0,5

Here is where I lived. It looks like both places made it through the storm okay. I loved to sit on the front porch and watch the world go by. You could hear the music in the neighborhood.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=1774+esplanade+ave.+new+orleans,+LA&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=30.819956,56.601563&ie=UTF8&ll=29.972353,-90.07139&spn=0.008216,0.013819&z=16&iwloc=addr&layer=c&cbll=29.970386,-90.070224&panoid=AX_i74fjxtaFs3-NHC9qTg&cbp=12,209.85821526988892,,0,3.881987577639753

mark

Yep--that's is---we lived on the second floor and sat on that balcony many times--that's where i'd watch the trash pickup guys! Sure was a fun place to live!

Anybody who is in NOLA, I have an extra ticket for the roadfood insider event this weekend. 
Please let me know if you are interested or else it'll go to waste. reply to my via the forum or e-mail me at way2cynical AT hotmail.com

I walked by those places on Esplanade a thousand times ending up back down in the FQ at my hotel but a bar first.  Great place.

Praying for all the folks down there in La!---just what they needed--a "Second Katrina"----get your butts in gear BP!!!  if they dont get this well taken care of in time to save the marshes it will a VERY long recovery for possible one the greatest seafood resources in the hemisphere! So----DONT cancel any NOLA trips!!! help keep La. economy alive!