"Phase One" For New Orleans

(AP)  The leader of New Orleans' effort to recover from Hurricane Katrina unveiled a $1.1 billion plan Thursday aimed at jump-starting the sluggish revitalization work.

The plan focuses on 17 zones throughout the city, from busy Canal Street to the hard-hit Lower 9th Ward, city recovery director Ed Blakely said.

Mayor Ray Nagin called it part of "Phase One" of the city's recovery from Katrina, which devastated the city 19 months ago.

The money would be used to give developers loans and incentives for building in areas that the city has identified as key to its recovery. Blakely said the target areas are in line with citizen recommendations.

Blakely said he envisions "cranes in the sky" by September, but Nagin cautioned against holding the city to any timelines, saying the city has had difficulty seeing big projects through. The work will require City Council approval.

The proposal is expected to eventually be part of a citywide redevelopment plan. Billions of federal dollars have been earmarked for recovery from Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana and Mississippi, but it is unclear how much New Orleans will get.

[realpatriot1]

Mrschassis,

For what it's worth, my heart goes out to you.

The only way that it will be different this time is if all Americans hold the Congress accountable and they in turn hold the Louisiana officials feet to the fire.

[mrschassis]

I was born and raised in New Orleans. I love that city. But politicians for decades have done nothing but use the city as a prostitute to line their own pockets and pockets of their friends and family at the expense of the city's infrastructure and her citizens. Take the levies for example. The Levee Boards (there are many of them) would take the Corps of Engineers requirements and give the construction permits to their relatives. Then, years later, it turns out that there was inferior material used to construct the levees. Meanwhile, those families live in million dollar estates across the lake where it doesn't flood. Gee, go figure.

So now, when it really matters to do something right, we have more politicians who are "overseeing" the recovery process. Billions of dollars have supposedly been spent so far down there but you can see no visible results. Hmmm, sounds familiar.

Unfortunately, no politician and certainly not anyone whose father, mother, husband, aunt or uncle was a politician in Louisiana can be trusted to do the right thing by that city. I weep for my city. The pimps are running the "rebuilding process" and I truly fear that the only thing they are "rebuilding" is their bank accounts.

[rray52]

"Blakely said he envisions "cranes in the sky" by September, but Nagin cautioned against holding the city to any timelines, saying the city has had difficulty seeing big projects through. The work will require City Council approval."


That gives me a warm fuzzy about the success of this plan

[susanhelit]

Lots of questions with this - is it going to fund smart development, in areas resistant to floods, or are we going to finance a bunch of homes that will flood with the next big storm?

And how clean is the system - New Orleans had a huge corruption problem before Katrina that hurt the levees and many other systems - so are they going to do this right, or just give 1.09999 Billion to their preferred buddy contractors.