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Just a thought... how to "fix" New Orleans? - 9/26/2005 6:35:33 PM   
ShiftedJewel


Posts: 2492
Joined: 12/2/2004
Status: offline 		I understand that New Orleans is a wonderfully historic place with it's own culture... but the way I see it is that no matter what they do it's just gonna keep getting flooded... right? Well, instead of spending billions to rebuild it every so often... why not build it up to be the American version of Venice? You know... dig out the canals and use the dirt taken from there to build up parts of the city and let the water in.... I think it would be a great tourist attraction which would bring money to the city, flood control would be easier and by raising parts of the city would help to avoid future floods. I know, it's hard to imagine a gondola cruising down a "street" in New Orleans try to avoid gators and snakes... but it could be interesting.

Just a thought....

Jewel

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RE: Just a thought... how to "fix" New Orleans? - 9/26/2005 6:42:04 PM   
Pavel


Posts: 308
Joined: 1/10/2005
From: Washington
Status: offline 		I mentioned the same thing to some of my friends. Then a buddy of mine who'd lived down there for a while pointed out how much the place smelled without being flooded.

I think a New New Orleans might be a better solution. Failing that maybe at least build the place up to code.

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RE: Just a thought... how to "fix" New Orleans? - 9/26/2005 6:45:32 PM   
JohnWarren


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From: Delray Beach, FL
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quote:

ORIGINAL: ShiftedJewel

I understand that New Orleans is a wonderfully historic place with it's own culture... but the way I see it is that no matter what they do it's just gonna keep getting flooded... right? Well, instead of spending billions to rebuild it every so often... why not build it up to be the American version of Venice? You know... dig out the canals and use the dirt taken from there to build up parts of the city and let the water in.... I think it would be a great tourist attraction which would bring money to the city, flood control would be easier and by raising parts of the city would help to avoid future floods. I know, it's hard to imagine a gondola cruising down a "street" in New Orleans try to avoid gators and snakes... but it could be interesting.

Just a thought....

Jewel


Nice idea but the water in the canals would have to be river and lake level. That would mean each canal would have to be surrounded by dikes equally as high as those that now exist. In fact, one of the major breaches WAS in a shipping canal between the lake and the river,

The "Venice Concept" only works when there is high ground for building. Swamps can be drained by there you still need a "low spot" for the water to drain to. The problem with New Orleans proper is it is really "lake bottom" and all the water sources around have a median level above the ground level.


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RE: Just a thought... how to "fix" New Orleans? - 9/26/2005 7:11:16 PM   
perfection20005


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Joined: 4/20/2005
Status: offline 		That was the same thought Master and myself were talking about. I don't want to see it not built again, but it will keep flooding. I hope they can do something good for the people down there, finally. I didn't like the way everything was handled, but Bush sure did make sure his home state had enough resources before Rita came inland to be safe, but thats another story!

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RE: Just a thought... how to "fix" New Orleans? - 9/26/2005 7:58:45 PM   
girl4you2


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quote:

ORIGINAL: ShiftedJewel

I understand that New Orleans is a wonderfully historic place with it's own culture... but the way I see it is that no matter what they do it's just gonna keep getting flooded... right? Well, instead of spending billions to rebuild it every so often... why not build it up to be the American version of Venice? You know... dig out the canals and use the dirt taken from there to build up parts of the city and let the water in.... I think it would be a great tourist attraction which would bring money to the city, flood control would be easier and by raising parts of the city would help to avoid future floods. I know, it's hard to imagine a gondola cruising down a "street" in New Orleans try to avoid gators and snakes... but it could be interesting.

Just a thought....

Jewel

to add to what was written earlier by john, this is an "interesting" concept i must say. but where do we stop? shall we rebuild much of the western states (and the area around the new madrid fault as well) because it's just too expensive to rebuild after earthquakes? maybe have a go at all tall buildings that might be targeted by unsavory characters as well? and there are those places in the midwest that flood a lot, too. and we've all seen how much of florida gets hammered; the panhandle is at best barely above sea level. where do we stop, or shall we rebuild the whole country to make it "safe(r)?"

new orleans is indeed the most unique city in this country and the oldest continually settled city in the u.s. as well (st. augustine doesn't count). it is not famous just for having beignets and pralines. the above ground crypts are famous for muggings, carnival is great for social events for 2 or 3 months (that's mardi gras to outsiders) all over the city--not just the quarter--and for getting drunk if you're a tourist, and the audubon zoo is famous in song and in fact. the antique shops and architecture are unmatched other than in europe. the annual jazz and heritage (notice the name includes both things) festival, tippitina's, and blues cruises showcase the roots of jazz in this country and others, as well as the foundings of rock and roll.

new orleans, however, is much more than a mere sum of its parts. it is a city with crime (tulane medical center is a great place to intern and puts out trauma docs that have skills second to none) and that unique flavor of louisiana politics; it is also a city of people with grace, with caring, with love, and with more than what can be said by saying they are a part of the city that care forgot. the crescent city is in anyone's eyes as special as any other in this country, and should not suffer a fate to become merely a theme park for those with money. to take the homeland of generations of people and think of building only the vieux carre or the riverfront (built up mostly after the world's fair), or the high ground (that would be the crypts which held from what i've seen) is to condemn a city to a fate worse than death by water. new orleans has a sense of heritage, of the past, of family values, and that je ne sais quois. it welcomed people unwelcome in other places and embraced them into the family. shall we now turn our backs on these people and on this city? no more would people say, "laissez les bon temps roulez" in the city that started it all. a sad commentary that would be.

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RE: Just a thought... how to "fix" New Orleans? - 9/26/2005 8:57:06 PM   
BlkTallFullfig


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Status: offline 		Someone mentioned it as a joke that it should be placed somewhere else.
I certainly don't think all that money should be wasted on rebuilding a city below sea level. M

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RE: Just a thought... how to "fix" New Orleans? - 9/27/2005 12:29:04 AM   
frenchpet


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quote:

ORIGINAL: ShiftedJewel

I understand that New Orleans is a wonderfully historic place with it's own culture... but the way I see it is that no matter what they do it's just gonna keep getting flooded... right? Well, instead of spending billions to rebuild it every so often... why not build it up to be the American version of Venice?

That's what I always wondered. But also wonder : why spending so much money for this ill designed city, and why destroying all the swamps around it (5000 km2 of swamps disappeared), knowing that swamps would have protected a lot from the flooding, just as the mangrove swamps protect in the case of a tsunami, if they have not been destroyed.

< Message edited by frenchpet -- 9/27/2005 12:33:33 AM >

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RE: Just a thought... how to "fix" New Orleans? - 9/28/2005 10:06:52 AM   
BOUNTYHUNTER


Posts: 9259
Joined: 2/5/2004
Status: offline 		MY thought also,MY wife is from there and her people remain,Her aunts have a wonderful little carry out in the FQ that was just totally ruined an aunt 2 cousins had their homes destroyed ,is this mother nature the good earth beginning to take HER revenge..BOUNTY

< Message edited by BOUNTYHUNTER -- 9/28/2005 10:09:40 AM >

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RE: Just a thought... how to "fix" New Orleans? - 9/28/2005 11:40:31 AM   
RainGod


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Joined: 7/11/2005
From: Hendersonville, NC
Status: offline 		How to fix New Orleans? Simple. Build it somewhere else.

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RE: Just a thought... how to "fix" New Orleans? - 9/28/2005 6:44:55 PM   
onceburned


Posts: 2117
Joined: 1/4/2005
From: Iowa
Status: offline 		Parts of some San Francisco neighborhoods is built upon fill. Since most of tbe homes and buildings in New Orleans that were below sea level will need to be torn down and rebuilt, why couldn't the land be filled in up to sea level before the rebuilding?

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RE: Just a thought... how to "fix" New Orleans? - 9/28/2005 7:43:10 PM   
Tristan


Posts: 330
Joined: 5/31/2004
Status: offline 		I like the canal idea! When I was a kid, I always wanted to fill the basement with water so I could go swimming or fishing when ever I wanted. It would be pretty cool to have canals instead of streets.


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RE: Just a thought... how to "fix" New Orleans? - 9/28/2005 10:05:38 PM   
FangsNfeet


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Joined: 12/3/2004
Status: offline 		New Orleans by nature is an area lower than sea level. It's naturaly suppose to be a swamp/lake that was empty when we built the city there. Any how, we humans are to stubburn to let nature tell us what we can and can't do. Mardi Gras will happen on schedule and the water will keep being pumped out no matter what. We'll add more dirt, stronger levees, and do whatever else it takes. It's going to be rebuilt in the exact same spot despite what the area was naturaly intended for.

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RE: Just a thought... how to "fix" New Orleans? - 9/30/2005 9:31:41 PM   
SirSofaSpud


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Status: offline 		there's a reason new orleans is where it is. it's the farthest inland port for ocean going vessels on the mississippi river. it's the port where much of our imports and exports travel in and out of the country. so there has to be a port at that spot on the river. which also means there has to be a city there. has anyone suggested moving san francisco because it was nearly destroyed by an earthquake and fire? or los angeles because it's on the san andreas fault? we build cities in inhospitable areas. the netherlands is mostly below sea level. should all the dutch be relocated? please, people, accept that nature sometimes knocks things down, and we have to set them back up again. oh... by the way, venice is sinking. perhaps that's not a good model.

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RE: Just a thought... how to "fix" New Orleans? - 10/1/2005 1:43:10 AM   
girl4you2


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quote:

ORIGINAL: SirSofaSpud

there's a reason new orleans is where it is. it's the farthest inland port for ocean going vessels on the mississippi river. it's the port where much of our imports and exports travel in and out of the country. so there has to be a port at that spot on the river. which also means there has to be a city there. has anyone suggested moving san francisco because it was nearly destroyed by an earthquake and fire? or los angeles because it's on the san andreas fault? we build cities in inhospitable areas. the netherlands is mostly below sea level. should all the dutch be relocated? please, people, accept that nature sometimes knocks things down, and we have to set them back up again. oh... by the way, venice is sinking. perhaps that's not a good model.

thank you. i guess that means florida can stay, too, as it's been hammered more times than the big easy, and much of it is either below, at, or very slightly above sea level. level all areas that aren't "right" and we could find ourselves living on bluffs in the desert...if the native americans will share, that is.

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RE: Just a thought... how to "fix" New Orleans? - 10/1/2005 5:07:42 AM   
gypsysoul


Posts: 70
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Status: offline 		This is probably going to sound insensitive, but heck, move the city.

A few years back, some bigass rains or something flooded several communities in counties around Louisville, KY. People lost their homes, and there were historic areas and all... but some of these places had been flooded repeatedly, and FEMA finally came in and bought land out and forced people to relocate. It was senseless for the federal government to rebuild every 15 years or so on the same spots susceptible to flood.

New Orleans obviously doesn't suffer this devastation every 15 years. What kind of money was poured into New Orleans in 1927? How much in federal dollars was spent to maintain the existing (if failing) systems for keeping NO from flooding since 1927?

You CAN beat a dead horse, but what is accomplished?


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RE: Just a thought... how to "fix" New Orleans? - 10/1/2005 3:33:08 PM   
feline


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From: CA
Status: offline 		I must admit I was quite amused by all the answers here. I do believe it'a a matter of pride, spirit and heart, N.O. won't be going any where. lol The people here love their city. And if you moved it any where else it wouldn't be NOLA.






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RE: Just a thought... how to "fix" New Orleans? - 10/2/2005 1:28:36 AM   
girl4you2


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quote:

ORIGINAL: gypsysoul

This is probably going to sound insensitive, but heck, move the city.

New Orleans obviously doesn't suffer this devastation every 15 years. What kind of money was poured into New Orleans in 1927? How much in federal dollars was spent to maintain the existing (if failing) systems for keeping NO from flooding since 1927?

what kind of money poured into san francisco in 1906? it's still not in wyoming. loma prieta/oakland isn't in utah. nyc hasn't been relocated to arizona. where do you start and stop? we could all end up on reservations; ironic, that. high, dry and safe.

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RE: Just a thought... how to "fix" New Orleans? - 10/2/2005 10:39:15 PM   
BlkTallFullfig


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quote:

I must admit I was quite amused by all the answers here. I do believe it'a a matter of pride, spirit and heart, N.O. won't be going any where. lol The people here love their city. And if you moved it any where else it wouldn't be NOLA.
I understand the pride and spirit, but if I thought there was any chance my child or grandchild might be stuck in the hell that New Orleans was a month ago 50years from now, I would move.
I know life has no guarantees, and nature does it's own thing, but if scientists told me this can be predicted to happen again in 50 years, I'd move. Hope it's not too insensitive to your position Feline, it's just what I would do because I'm a chicken when it comes to suffering for any length of time. M

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RE: Just a thought... how to "fix" New Orleans? - 10/3/2005 12:45:05 PM   
sub4hire


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quote:

what kind of money poured into san francisco in 1906? it's still not in wyoming. loma prieta/oakland isn't in utah. nyc hasn't been relocated to arizona. where do you start and stop? we could all end up on reservations; ironic, that. high, dry and safe.


Not only that but no matter where you live in the US you are subject to some deadly act of nature. So, what is the real solution? Move the US and where do we even consider moving our entire country to?
The entire planet has issues dealing with mother nature.


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RE: Just a thought... how to "fix" New Orleans? - 10/4/2005 11:20:37 AM   
chronus12003


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Status: offline 		Like it or not, Bew Orleans will be rebuilt. The city is where it is because it serves a purpose, just like almost every other city in the world. Almost every major U.S. city is subject to either floods, hurricanes, or earthquakes (if not all three). Chicago flooded a few years ago, as did areas in and around St Louis. Florida has hurricanes most years. California has earthquakes, which we cannot predict (unlike floods and hurricanes). New York has not had any floods that i can remember, but it is built upon a river and i am sure that at some time it has flooded parts of the city. So unless everyone decides to live in Kansas, someone will live in a Natural Disaster prone area. But then again Kansas has tornadoes, which can do more serious damage in a smaller space than a hurricane. You just have to know the risk of your area and decide if you want to live there or not. i dont know anywhere that is not subject to natural disasters be it earthquakes, blizzards, tsunamai, floods or whatever.

Rebuilding New Orleans is not a choice that those who live outside of it should make. It is up to those who live and work there to decide, just like if your house burned down you would not want your neighbors to decide if you should rebuild it, we should not decide for those in New Orleans

mike

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