This is a very good discussion about the design choices that confront the rebuilding process of New Orleans.

Archetects look at rebuilding questions
Excerpt:

quote:

Most architects and planners say preservation should be a priority. "There was a very unique vernacular," said Angela O'Byrne, president of the New Orleans chapter of the American Institute of Architects. She pointed to the city's mix of Greek Revival, Italianate and Creole styles, and to its cottages and bungalows with porches suited to the climate, adding, "As much as possible, all of it needs to come back."

Also:

quote:

Architects and planners worry that developers might try to recreate some fairy-tale version of the city, compromising its 300-year-old character. "My big concern is that it will become a Disneyland," said Raymond G. Post Jr., a Baton Rouge architect. "If we come up with a plastic New Orleans, then you've got a plastic New Orleans. You lose the charm and the quaintness and the crooked walls and the old shutters."

I listened to the link from Andrei Codrescu on New Orleans and I was very moved. He also is a lover of the city without being a resident, but the essence of the experience of New Orleans comes through his words very clearly. The pain of loss is probably worse than any similar disaster could wreck. But what I heard most of all is something that you are not admitting to, and maybe you should. It's the guilt he feels, as part accomplice, for not doing more to head off this disaster. But as he points out, that city knew how to "live in the moment," drink toasts to the gods of chaos, and give up security for temporary sensuality. In reality it's the old adage live by the moment, die by the moment.

quote:

...maybe you'll appreciate it more when the ecomnomic impact of it's loss reaches Pennsylvania. and it will...

I wish you would stop these tactics. I do not need to be personally affected in Pennsylvania to feel the impact of this.

quote:

... it's obviously a lot easier to feel for them than for people you actually "know" (you don't know me, though i suspect you think you do...), who actually do know New Orleans...

If there is anything I'm trying hard to do right now it's understand what you are feeling because I know that your perspective is different from mine. I appreciate your openness. I know all of this isn't easy for you. But you are helping me understand some things in ways that know one else could. So whether I "know" you or not really isn't the point.

quote:

i should have been done a long time ago with you, but i foolishly persisted in my effort to help you understand why New Orleans is important. it is boldly apparent that my efforts are useless and i for one am not going to give you further cause to paint me as selfish, biased, and generally piss me off. you're not worth it. if any good comes of this at least you have revealed your true colors, and i have been able to vent my true feelings for you. and hopefully, be done with you from here on.

What you are getting from this exchange with me is perspective on how the rest of the world might feel about this. If you want to hone your argument for your position you are going to need to know what is going to be put in your way. I know the two of us aren't going to solve these monumental problems, but discussion of the particulars always comes first.

What I said at the beginning is still true today. I am angry that this happened. I need to know why. After our discussion I feel that I understand it a little better. Much is explained by the attitude of the people, which is also what made that city as beloved as it was. But I've learned there is no easy answer. It's not just neglect, decay, corruption, ignorance, avoidance, poverty, poor planning and history.

Also, I think you misunderstood my reference to the book by Kennedy. I didn't bring it up to imply anything about yourself or the people, I thought it was a first rate book about a very interesting place. It may come to be a marker for what New Orleans used to be like for at least some of its inhabitants, because, as I said before, from what I've seen, I don't think "that" city is coming back. And, just so you know, I'm not feeling good about that at all right now.

do NOT condescend to me. i don't want to hone any arguments. this is not an exercise in debate to me. it is real.

the only thing i plan to add is the link to an All Things Considered report on the engineering of the dikes & levees in the Netherlands. it was broadcast this evening and won't be posted til later. now go on and have your last word
(we should only be so lucky that it would be your last...)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: zoom,

oh, and Andre Codrescu was a resident of NO for a long time, when he first immigrated to the U.S. .

aforementioned NPR links:

Rebuilding & Redesigning New Orleans

How the Dutch Mastered the North Sea