Katrina Evacuees Isolated In Car-Dependent Suburbia

Some people who were forced from New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina chose to settle in suburban apartment complexes, where access to transit is inconvenient or non-existent. This has led to difficulties in reaching schools, jobs, and social service providers.

Flushed out of their city — one of the most dense and most vibrant in the country — many of the New Orleanians who came here car-less find themselves living amid Austin's car-enabled sprawl...

...The New Orleanians by and large came from neighborhoods with deeply ensconced families, little mobility and long-established traditions.

They now find themselves in the opposite situation, in a development less than two years old, with none of the character that comes with history. "