New Orleans: Seven Years Later

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New Orleans’ Rebuilding Photo Gallery
These homes are located in the Ninth Ward and are funded by actor Brad Pitt’s “The Make It Right” Foundation. — photos by Peter Forest

For a city that will celebrate its 300^th anniversary this decade, no milestone date is arguably more significant than the one that marks seven years since the destruction Hurricane Katrina wreaked on New Orleans.  We’ve all seen footage of the destruction, mayhem and complete evacuation of the Crescent City.  And now, seven years later, the city continues its fight to former status.

According to the U.S. Census, New Orleans’ population dropped by a staggering 29 percent from 2000 to 2010, leaving the population sitting at around 344,000 today.  This is actually good news, considering so much of the city flooded and virtually everyone was ordered out of the area, scattered to the four corners of the country. As the city slowly regains population, the word resilience comes to mind.

A Legacy of Resilience

A sense of resilience is required for New Orleans and has been since its founding in 1718.  Its precarious location on the banks of the third largest river in the world to the south and the looming Lake Pontchartrain to the north serve as yearly reminders of Mother Nature’s power and dominance of the area. It takes resilience to live here.

Through hurricanes, floods, outbreaks, two devastating French Quarter fires, wars and occupations, the city and its people have shown resilience to return and rebuild throughout the centuries.

High crime, high poverty, and political corruption are no stranger, but a resilient attitude of optimism remains for a brighter future.

Easy to Love

So as you drive around this city, signs of Katrina’s wrath are still evident seven years later.  The iconic “X” markings on homes, a reminder of the days after the levee breach; homes still in need of repair; empty lots where homes once stood.

But, what’s also clearly evident is the rebirth.  It’s hard to drive a neighborhood in the city without swerving around waste bins carrying the load of another home being renovated, renewed, rebuilt and readied for the next residents.

This is New Orleans.  Beat down but not broken.  Tested but not toppled.  It remains because of the fierce resiliency of those who love her.  If you love New Orleans, she’ll love you back.  That mutual love is showcased by the countless festivals and sporting events that have returned; Essence Festival, Jazz Festival, Voodoo Fest, the Sugar Bowl, the Final Four and not to mention the biggest of them all, Super Bowl 2013.

This city has soul.  It’s the city that gave birth to Jazz.  What other city has its own unique architecture?  What other city has its own unique cuisine?  Have you ever just sat quietly and watched a streetcar rumble down St. Charles Avenue?  New Orleans speaks to the inner soul of people and draws them near.  The proof is in the numbers, as the city experienced a record amount of tourists in 2011.  She calls out to people and brings them in from near and far.

So on this seventh anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, let us not forget the devastations of that day.  JFK once said, “to whom much is given, much is expected.”  New Orleans has given so much to the people of America.  Let us join those who also love this city.  Let us keep up the resilient spirit and fight to keep New Orleans in its rightful place as a great American city.