Vote for what you like about New Orleans.

Here is a section of one of Ashley's rants from the other day that has sparked this rant:

Well, just like Cowen and Wildes, she’s (Stacy Head) going to use post-K problems as an excuse/justification to trash everything. You’ll be seeing a lot more Tchoupitoulas-style Wal-Marts, all under the guise of “it will help us rebuild”. Anything and everything can be expropriated and demolished under Kelo v. New London for the "public benefit".

My rant on this.

There are those in the city of New Orleans who have a great deal of financial interest in them owning things and you not owning things.  With every strip-mall, new bar in a quiet neighborhood, or large scale neighborhood development there are a few white guys who plan to make an enourmous amount of money. There are 2 groups here: the new money re-developers and the old money krewes.  Both are enemies of the New Orleans you live and love.

In the next 3 years we are going to see areas like Gentilly master-planned (there is a Charrette going on right now to do just that by the people who brought you River Gardens / Seaside style blandness and safety).  The master-plans will call for everything being bull dozed and starting a-new.  Buildings will be put up quickly and rough shod and with little to no real attention to detail or preservation.   That empty lot a Burger King.  Po-boys down the street? Why do you need that? That corner store has become a Subway.

But hey, this is progress right? Look at how much money has been spent. Money = Progress. Right? Gotta brake a few eggs to make an omelet, right?

What do you like about New Orleans?  Is it WWOZ, Jazz Fest, Second Lines, real culture, Bywater, dark bars, interesting people, creativity and people open to be who there?  If these are some of the reasons why you live here then you need to watch who you vote for very carefully. There is a group of people in this city that simply don't understand you or why this city is so unique.

Why do "they" love New Orleans?

Well for one they don't love New Orleans.  They love their place in New Orleans.  They love the power they have and access to opportunity to make greater sums of money and control the city's future. 

You might be saying, "Humid, why so conspiracy theory these days?" My answer? "Wake up and pay attention to the next plays made by our city government and the Bring New Orleans Back Commission (Momus/Komus)." 

Don't let yourself lament the "old city" you remember.  Don't allow yourself to think "back" about the places you used to go to.  The beautiful and story smothered city blocks that make this city everything that the rest of the country can never return to. A historic city with a personality that can't be manufactured or "planned."

Don't follow the money.  Follow your heart. We can progress while keeping hold of our cultural uniqueness.

And after the election, stay on their asses to make sure those who "have good intentions" do actually understand this city and her delicate cultural eco-system.  If we don't we might as well move to Austin next door to Cyril Neville.

Let's listen to Mitch again on this issue of moving forward, making changes all while staying true to our identity:

We all want to remember New Orleans nostalgically, all that was good. We have that impulse to want everything to go back to the way it was before the storm. We should not let ourselves be defined by what we have lost in these past few months, but by what we will can create for our future.

The past, the layers of history, have not been lost to us. We can recover our great spirit, our great culture and our inimitable identity. And we can absorb this event over time and emerge with a stronger sense of history still, one that now includes the survival of this storm and catastrophe.