QotD: Rebuild
Posted September 1st, 2005 @ 08:58pm by Erik J. Barzeski
Question: Should New Orleans be rebuilt?
My Answer: I don't know that it's worth it, no.
You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.
Posted 01 Sep 2005 at 9:32pm #
No, because for a high school trip we were going to go there and now if we don't go then we get to go to Florida or South Carolina and when I heard we were going to new orleans I was like "Whats even there?"
Posted 01 Sep 2005 at 9:34pm #
Yes, but not where it is currently located. They should rebuild it like 40 miles up river where ships can still reach it. New Orleans is an important port town that needs to stay in operation. Rebuilding in the same location is asking for trouble. Any place that's below sea leaving, surrounded by water, and in a hurricane ally will be destroyed.
Posted 01 Sep 2005 at 9:39pm #
40 miles up river would be about halfway to Baton Rouge... might as well just go another 40 and merge with them.
Posted 01 Sep 2005 at 9:43pm #
Not where it's currently located, no. The whole place should just be abandoned. New Orleans is our "Atlantis."
Posted 01 Sep 2005 at 10:07pm #
Not in the same location. It should be rebuilt above Lake Pontchartrain.
Posted 01 Sep 2005 at 10:37pm #
Anyone who says yes has serious issues... it's been a WELL known fact this WOULD happen some day... despite was G.W. says...
However where will all those displaced residents end up... where will they work...
Posted 01 Sep 2005 at 11:13pm #
Would you be saying the same thing if it was your home? Just asking, not trying to be a jerk.
Posted 01 Sep 2005 at 11:41pm #
brendoman, everyone is attached to their home their city... it would be hard to say it if it was my house, my city. However once you step away and take the logical look at it you can only come to one conclusion.
Posted 02 Sep 2005 at 1:15am #
Actually we should: the New Orleans port is HUGE as is the LOOP (I believe these are two actually different things). Its location beneath sea level is largely immaterial with proper engineering as the Dutch have proven. However, we should probably take its topography into account and build accordingly (e.g. Hire a bunch of Dutch engineers to teach us how to build bad-ass storm walls, they appear to be pretty good at it)
Posted 02 Sep 2005 at 1:56am #
Unfortunately, I'm betting on them merely patching the levee and moving back in as soon as possible. At the very least, NOLA needs a major overhaul, as Chicago, Washington DC, and San Francisco have had in their history, unless they want to present themselves as Venice. This includes letting nature take its course, and the undeveloped delta reforming to serve as a buffer. Business that isn't directly related to being a port, or tourism, will have no problem whatsover, moving an hour north. Most residential zones will act similarly.
Posted 02 Sep 2005 at 2:53am #
Of course; it's a city where people have their homes. You can't just pack-up and go somewhere else. Not on that scale.
Posted 02 Sep 2005 at 7:10am #
Yeah, they can replicate the Dutch delta works (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta_Works).
Posted 02 Sep 2005 at 12:27pm #
Whatever can be feasibly done financially to provide those displaced with a rebuilt New Orleans-- somewhere, somehow. I'm not an engineer, architect or anything in the ballpark of expertise for city building, but logic speaks loudly that rebuilding in the same place with bigger/stronger levees is not the best answer. What else can they do? I don't know. I can't imagine the level of misery... cant wrap my mind around it at all.
Posted 02 Sep 2005 at 3:14pm #
A couple people have mentioned the Dutch getting around being under sea level. However, the Netherlands is far enough to the north that it rarely has to deal with big storms, let along a nearly direct hit from a Category 4 hurricane.
Of course, it would be possible to engineer New Orleans to deal with such a big storm. I believe that the estimated cost of such a system was estimated to be $2.5 billion. Is it worth doing now? I don't know. However, the amount of money that is could be put into rebuilding the area could be a nice boon for an economy that is going to be hurt in the short term by decreased consumer spending due to the gas prices.
Posted 02 Sep 2005 at 8:54pm #
no
Posted 05 Sep 2005 at 10:02am #
For Jason Bessey:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/08/0829_wiredutch.html