Rebuilding a New Vision in New Orleans

Recovery in New Orleans doesn't just mean rebuilding the city as it was before Hurricane Katrina. Some see the process as creating an entirely new city.

1 minute read

September 1, 2009, 6:00 AM PDT

By Nate Berg


As the population climbs back to nearly 75% of pre-Katrina levels, the city seems to be on its way to becoming a healthy city again. But things weren't necessarily ideal before Katrina, so some are questioning whether it's even the right decision to try to get back to where the city once was.

"So instead of returning to a decaying economic structure, New Orleans is talking about revitalization, a buzzword behind the new energy in the city, carried by an intensity and idealism that would have bordered on indecent in the old, charmingly carefree New Orleans.

It is there among the legion of young nonprofit workers crowding the bars of the Bywater at night, drawn to what one described as her generation's civil rights struggle. They envision the city as a national example for innovative schools, smart urban planning and a housing stock built to the highest environmental standards."

Sunday, August 30, 2009 in The New York Times

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