Saturday 12 February 2011

Big Changes in the 9th Ward.


We went back and toured the decimated 9th ward of St. Bernard Parish in New Orleans.  Things are looking up in some areas, but some are also very much neglected.  According to all reports they have built 73 brand new homes for dislocated New Orleans residents. 
They are all supposed to be built green.  (energy efficient, and environmentally friendly materials)  It's hard to tell by looking at them, but most of them are ultra modern.  They certainly don't look like the rest of the 9th ward that is still standing. 

They look totally out of place when you see all the rest of the little shotgun houses that used to be the only style here. 
 Some of them are Beautiful, some are Quite  Striking  some are just plain Ugly. 



As you can see by the street signs they certainly need some infrastructure fixed up as well. 
 


Then you still have some of the homes that are uninhabitable, but no one has the money to tear them down and rebuild.  There are thousands of homes that need to be refurbished, repaired and replaced, but it seems that everything is moving very very slowly for some and very quickly for others.  And everything seems very haphazard and unorganized.