Should New Orleans be rebuilt?

[carrot red]

Are you of the opinion that the city shouldn’t be rebuilt because of the danger of the same thing happening again? The city *is* located 6 feet below sea-level so this could easily happen again, especially with more and more hurricane threats these days.


Or


Are you of the opinion that New Orleans should be rebuilt? It’s one of our most famous cities with a rich history and culture. It’s only been wiped out one or two times so far so why not chance it again?

[Darth Marsden]

I think it should be rebuilt, but not straight away. Give it a few years to sink in, then demolish everything there and start again. With decent flood prevention systems this time.

[fatcatfan]

I'm reminded of that big landslide in California recently. People lost their homes, the places is known to be dangerous, but they keep rebuilding on the hillside because of... well, I dunno the great views or something. Somehow it is worth it to them. Can't have a real Mardi Gras without New Orleans, right? I'm sure they'll rebuild, and make the levees and floodwalls stronger this time. Construction materials have probably advanced quite a lot since they were originally built, and I imagine that a better wall can be built at a relatively comparable cost as the original.

I wonder if my postcard from New Orleans has any special value now...

[theplustwo]

They should rebuild three miles inland. :)

Although I'm sure it will be deemed that the origional location is so historic that it would be worth re-building on the spot. I just hope they protect it well enough from re-flooding. Maybe they should dump a few million tons of garbage in the area to raise the sea level and then put dirt over it, and then build the city on top of that.

It reminds me of Monty Python and the Holy Grail...
When I first came here, this was all swamp. Everyone said I was daft to build a castle on a swamp, but I built in all the same, just to show them. It sank into the swamp. So I built a second one. That sank into the swamp. So I built a third. That burned down, fell over, then sank into the swamp. But the fourth one stayed up. And that's what you're going to get, Lad, the strongest castle in all of England.

[Daarkseid]

No, I say we instead build barricades around the city, and turn the place into one big prison. Where we would dump our most violent criminals and such.

Like in the movies Escape from New York and Escape from L.A.

[Master Ghaleon]

Alrighty heres my outtake on this. I say just leave it in the water and in a hundred years or so It could just be like the lost city of atlantis.

I would not dump alot of money into rebuilding again and just getting mowed the hell over again. I think there was a thread like this before and I stated that people in Florida get mowed over with a hurricane, we give them money to rebuild just for them to get mowed over again in a year? lol I would just move to a safer place.

[zoraking]

They should the remains become Old New Orleans and make it a historical site. Then make New New Orleans further inland. What do they need that delta for nowadays?

[Beldaran]

No, I say we instead build barricades around the city, and turn the place into one big prison. Where we would dump our most violent criminals and such.

Like in the movies Escape from New York and Escape from L.A.

OMG I agree. Seriously. And then every year during hurricane season, it would wipe the prison population out and we could start over, thus ending the problem of prison crowding. I seriously support this idea, but mainly because I'm a bastard.

[Tygore]

No, I say we instead build barricades around the city, and turn the place into one big prison. Where we would dump our most violent criminals and such.

Like in the movies Escape from New York and Escape from L.A.

Or like what Britain did with what are now the State of Georgia and the country of Australia? Hey, if it's worked before...

(No offense meant to anyone affiliated with Georgia or Australia. Nothing personal, it's just history.)

[me2]

No. What's the use if it'll just be destroyed again?

[MacWeirdo42]

Why on Earth would we want to rebuild it? Aside from the attachment many people have with the place, which though understandable, is not reason enough to put a city right in harm's way. I really can't stand how stupid people are with regards to building in known dangerous areas. Ridiculous.

[JimmyJ]

i liked the lost city of atlantis idea most, it would be pretty neat

[Zelda_Warrior]

i liked the city that's in tenesee instead of louisiana idea most, it would be petty neat

[Starkist]

The Feds will rebuild it, probably with a tax hike on the rest of us. People will move back there, convinced that lightning (or hurricanes) won't strike twice. Then it will be destroyed again, and all those residents will complain that the government didn't do enough to protect them...

[Archibaldo]

No, america needs more ruined cities. They should just leave it and then a thousand years from now when all the dinosaur bones have been discovered, they could go looking for the bones of the people who died during Katrina.

[Lilith]

No, I say we instead build barricades around the city, and turn the place into one big prison. Where we would dump our most violent criminals and such.

Like in the movies Escape from New York and Escape from L.A.

That would be fucking awesome.

I agree, the city should either be somehow...given more foundation to stay further above sea level (is that possible? no idea) or rebuilt somewhere higher.

[Darth Marsden]

Here's an idea (maybe a so0pid one, but hey) - turn the area into a lake. Or, alternatively, turn it into a Venice-style thing - have buildings on stilts and stuff with gondolas everywhere.

[ZomfgIts0rzlolo]

Maybe build the city 10 miles north or so, and have a commuter train line going to the port? Because the port kinda needs to be rebuilt, but having the city there is kind of a death wish.

[fatcatfan]

So where do we get the fill dirt to make it higher? Building on top of organic fill (i.e. garbage) is a big mistake.

Maybe we should leave it flooded, and then we can make money giving submarine tours of the location.

[Dechipher]

I have recently heard that in 2002 a plan was proposed to fix the levees in New Orleans, which would significantly reduce the damage when something like this happens, but Bush rejected it because he wanted the money to go to the war.


Which is kinda ironic.

[Machiavelli]

Raise it to sea level and build. I don't think filling it up is such a bad idea. My neighborhood (Canarsie) was filled and built on and there's nothing wrong with it.

[Great Warrior]

NO has a lot of history and culture behind it. it would be a shame to think of it in the past tense.
I am not unsympathetic to the suffering and loss experienced by so many. It is shocking and heartbreaking.
Having said that, what happened, what IS happening NOW was not merely a visitation of chance. It was always a matter of WHEN not IF. And we must eventually deal with the prospect of this happening again. Not IF it happens again but when.
I am not sure I want to subsidize someone else's lifestyle choices. And i don't limit this to NO. retards build like crazy everywhere on the oceanfront. eventually, mother nature will go psycho and demand her property back. would it be fair to ask the people of other States to pony up and bail out these former coast dwellers?

[Axel]

I would not dump alot of money into rebuilding again and just getting mowed the hell over again. I think there was a thread like this before and I stated that people in Florida get mowed over with a hurricane, we give them money to rebuild just for them to get mowed over again in a year? lol I would just move to a safer place.
There's no such thing as a safe place. Every part of the planet is subject to some kind of natural disaster, be it hurricane, flood, earthquake, tornado, or anything else you can think of. Venice is sinking, rising sea levels will eventually flood New York, London was once hip deep in its own sewage from dumping in the Thames, Detroit has its own people. New Orleans was originally built to take advantage of a strategic and economically critical position at the mouth of the Mississippi. It's importance as a port remains. We can rebuild it to continue to take advantage of its location for a time. We would be delaying the inevitable, but every city and country must inevitably fall. Do we write off the Lost City of New Orleans now or later?

EDIT: For anyone who can't figure out what my take is: I don't have one. I don't live anywhere near New Orleans and don't particularly care what happens to it. My only regret is that if it isn't rebuilt then I'll have never had the chance to go to Mardi Gras.