As geographers, we don't only like picking up states but also better understanding the spatiality of the human condition. With that being said, we decided to stop in New Orleans on the way home. I had seen a presentation at the 2006 REP Conference and had wondered about the planning implications of rebuilding parts of the city after Katrina. We decided to go to the Levee district which is near UNO was along Lake Ponchartrain. It had been a middle class neighborhood that took a lot of damage. A year and a half later, it is still a disaster. it angered Julie and I to think about the billions of dollars spent by the USA on a misguided Civil War in Iraq and how many American Citizens have been forgotten. While it might not be the federal government's job to bail out poor residential choices and insurance coverage, but these people are Americans and should be treated better. If these areas are not going to be rebuilt, the structures should be demolished to avoid continued hazards from rats, mold, etc. The French Quarter was no different than the two other times I have been there, and the Garden District to the west along the Mississippi was at the final stages of recovery. Julie will be sharing these images with her Geology class and I will be talking about this in both my political geography and planning class.
Kevin
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