[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

Which goes back to my earlier comment about "parts in billions". In my city and others as well, they condemn, confiscate and abandone property that had less contamination than what most structures in NO will face. If they apply the same rules, then much of NO will never, ever be inhabitable again. But I am guess that for the sake of economics, cultural considerations and logistics, they are going to have to compromise the rules - as you said.

Here's the thing though - those rules weren't put in place by drawing a number out of a hat - you might have quibbles about the exact level that should be considered safe, but I can't imagine it will be possible to allow a level on orders of magnitude higher in terms of pollution, both in the water and the soil as well as existing structures. This is going to be a very expensive and probably long-term reconstruction.

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

My guess is that the region will focus on its resources and to maintain a working population to run those resources (oil, gas, refineries, sugar? etc.). The rest will 1) become an enclave centered around the FQ and 2) become a shell - East Bank particularly. I don't see core NO become a consumer-centric city in the near future, unless Congress authorize hundreds of billions.

This will be fascinating to watch - I can't think of any American city of this size that's basically faced a near-total reconstruction. Urban planners are going to go crazy figuring out how New Orleans will be rebuilt. I think you're right - I think essentials will be the first thing rebuilt and then the historic (and least damaged) areas, with the rest possibly left alone or the focus of a massive, very long cleanup process.