Pathfinder
Editor, Senior Moderator
New Orleans: A tale of 2 cities since Katrina
Updated: Feb 01, 2013 7:26 PM CST<NOSCRIPT></NOSCRIPT><!--END wnDate--><!--END WNStoryHeader-->
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - While a blimp hovers not too far in the distance, circling over tens of thousands of Super Bowl revelers, Christopher Weaver looks around at the neighborhood where he was born and raised and almost died.
He loves this place, probably more now than he did back in 2005, before Hurricane Katrina tried to wash it all away.
But it's not much to look at, that's for sure.
"You can see it for yourself," Weaver moaned to a reporter, staring Friday at all the vacant lots, overrun with weeds that are taller than he is, at all the abandoned shells of former homes, many of them still marked with the spray-painted "X'' that became the grim symbol of a great American city nearly wiped off the map.
...
In many ways, New Orleans has come back stronger than ever since Katrina. The restaurant scene is thriving. The hotels are packed. The Superdome has received a glamorous makeover. The French Quarter rocks into the wee hours night after night.
But, as the Big Easy prepares to host the party-slash-national holiday it does like no other, Super Bowl Sunday, it's worth remembering that life has not yet returned to normal for everyone here.
Not even close.
"It's like a tale of two cities," said Mike Miller, who works with the homeless group Unity of Greater New Orleans. "It's hard to believe that seven years later, it still looks like this."
Read more...
http://www.fox8live.com/story/20938823/new-orleans-a-tale-of-2-cities-since-katrina
Updated: Feb 01, 2013 7:26 PM CST<NOSCRIPT></NOSCRIPT><!--END wnDate--><!--END WNStoryHeader-->
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - While a blimp hovers not too far in the distance, circling over tens of thousands of Super Bowl revelers, Christopher Weaver looks around at the neighborhood where he was born and raised and almost died.
He loves this place, probably more now than he did back in 2005, before Hurricane Katrina tried to wash it all away.
But it's not much to look at, that's for sure.
"You can see it for yourself," Weaver moaned to a reporter, staring Friday at all the vacant lots, overrun with weeds that are taller than he is, at all the abandoned shells of former homes, many of them still marked with the spray-painted "X'' that became the grim symbol of a great American city nearly wiped off the map.
...
In many ways, New Orleans has come back stronger than ever since Katrina. The restaurant scene is thriving. The hotels are packed. The Superdome has received a glamorous makeover. The French Quarter rocks into the wee hours night after night.
But, as the Big Easy prepares to host the party-slash-national holiday it does like no other, Super Bowl Sunday, it's worth remembering that life has not yet returned to normal for everyone here.
Not even close.
"It's like a tale of two cities," said Mike Miller, who works with the homeless group Unity of Greater New Orleans. "It's hard to believe that seven years later, it still looks like this."
Read more...
http://www.fox8live.com/story/20938823/new-orleans-a-tale-of-2-cities-since-katrina