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New Orleans - Should it be Rebuilt?

Answer or fear the wrath of Damian's ponytail!11

  • Yes, rebuild it where it stood!

    Votes: 10 25.0%

  • Yes, rebuild it in a more flood-resistant area.

    Votes: 24 60.0%

  • No, it's a waste of money and time.

    Votes: 5 12.5%

  • I dunno, because I'm weak-minded and complacent.

    Votes: 1 2.5%
  • Total voters
    40
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Why would anybody want to rebuild it where it is now? There's a good chance another hurricane will hit before they even finish rebuilding!
 
Voted "Yes, elsewhere".

And Mozz, for future reference, I got my hair cut to shoulder length a month ago :-p
 
It's a difficult question I think, and for that reason I chose not to vote in the poll.

As much as I think it should be rebuilt somewhere that isn't, you know, SINKING, is there another place nearby as useful as New Orleans for the port? I think at least part of it has to be rebuilt simply because New Orleans is where it is because it's in such a good location for a port.

On the other hand, I think anything that's not directly related to the port should be moved elsewhere. It's really a safety issue. The city is a bowl that's below sea-level and sinking. But how much of the city is so dependent on the port that it can't move? I really don't know.

Out of concern for the people there, I say move it. Out of concern for the effectiveness of the port and its effect on the economy, I say leave at least parts of it.

I guess I'm really on the fence on this one.

- Trip
 
You could move the port up or down the coast a bit without impacting on the advantages of the position too much. Rebuild somewhere far enough from the toxic wasteland that NO's going to turn into once the water drains out, that it's not going to be a health hazard for the people living in NNO.
 
Exactly, the city can be rebuilt elsewhere without sacrificing the port. Run a train line between the city and the port, and you solve transporation and land-based shipping problems between the two. Maybe we could use it to experiment with magtrains in the US.

New Orleans as it stands, shouldn't be rebuilt. Clean it up, and declare the area as a monument to those who died. Then build a safer city farther inland. Call it New Orleans, call it New New Orleans, call it Bob...just think safety. If it had been purely hurricane damage, then I'd say rebuild it where it is/was, but you can't safely live in a place like that. Even if they build better levees. Because better levees just means more chance of complacency, meaning fewer will evacuate the next time there's a dangerous storm. It's one of those fun things.
 
Meh. They should rebuild right where they are. Only build the houses and buildings on stilts like they do Long Beach Island NJ style...... meh forget it, they should just go east or west along the coast.
 
Can't really put it anywhere else to be the major port that it was. Larger levees and a better emergency system should make sure something like this doesn't happen again. Besides, this is the first time such an event has happened in the 300 or so years we've had records there. This isn't something that will be going on constantly.
 
They really should rebuild it, if only because New Orleans' biggest industry was tourism. When it comes down to it.. it would all be for the best.
 
You're forgetting that its location in the Mississippi Delta made it a pivot of the American economy. Imagine the effect of steel not being able to be shipped on barges up the Mississippi to the car manufacturers in Detroit. What about the oil industry? New Orleans had a storied musical history as well. It should be rebuilt and fortified.
 
You folks do realize that larger leevees lead to more erosion and likely worse floods in the future, right?
 
Larger levees and a better pumping system also would lead to it taking a much higher storm surge to wash out the city, although the erosion and devastation caused by larger levees breaking would increase proportionately.
 
I say rebuild it where it is. However, the flood control system needs to be modernized to The Netherlands standards. I'd also double the roads leading out of the city and make an extensive public transit system that could be used to evacuate people who don't have cars to safer locations.

Then the infastructure and structures themselves (and this goes for the entire gulf coast) should be built to higher hurricane resistance standards like Florida adabted after Hurricane Andrew.

Granted this will cost a lot. However, if it can lessen the damage by future hurricanes (and mark my words there WILL be more) it would be a wise investment.
 
As a civil engineering student, I understand the hassle of maintaining cities, infrastructure, water systems, roads, etc. is extremely demanding in a normal city alone. The smartest decision engineers would have to make would be to slowly rebuild the city closer inland. For years, New Orleans was always under a close eye whenever a hurricane came directly overhead. This recent devastation was only inevitable given another decade or so. Since the first satellite images were taken of the area around Louisiana, around 20% or so of the land has disappeared. With rising water levels and draining marshes, water has nowhere to settle other than the lowest elevation and land slowly vanishes from the shoreline. Within a century, the land around New Orleans will eventually be underwater. If redevelopers were smart about this, they would build inland.
The only 'problem' or issue I should rather say is that the people that live in the area will have to make the decision to move away. Keep in mind that not the ENTIRE city was ruined. There is still a sense of pride the people have for their city, even if it is in ruin now.
 
Man, you think - it's essentially $1 trillion going into Louisiana via FEMA, Red Cross, everybody...

NNO and the state of Louisiana is going to be the top city in the country from this. That's my bet.
 
There's very few people left, so just let the memory of New Orleans be a memory.

As for what's left standing, let the people come in, get what they want, then level it all down.
 
Actually there's a lotta people there. But there're mostly lower class people as well as those with public service jobs. Middle Class wise, it seems pretty split. Some are coming back, some aren't.

In general I think this's been a long time in coming. That flood back in the 70s wrecked New Orleans back then, so this just made it worse, especially since they'd only just finished rebuilding from the one in the 70s. Estimates are pretty steep about the effort and money it'll take to rebuild the city. Plus I'm not sure its worth the effort unless we can come up with a more effective levy system.
 
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