New Orleans is coming back strong

[Tony&Cheri]

Today the new Orleans Times Picayune will begin publishing Restaurant reviews for the first time since Katrina. The papers policy had been that with the loss of over 90% of all restauarants, reviews were meaningless. After Katrina there were only 22 restaurants left open in the whole city. Today there are over a hundred more restaurants than before Katrina!

The city still has it's problems: "Rent has jumped 46 percent since 2005, pricing out many people who once could live on restaurant wages.

A lack of child care and public transportation has also hurt, Ms. Plyer said. The number of child-care centers has dropped by more than half. Only 21 percent of the city’s public transit routes are in operation".

Here is the whole story:http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/25/di...rleans.html?hp

New Orleans is coming back. In celebration here are some of our favorite places to eat in the Crescent City.

The Cafe DuMonde. Chickory Coffee and puff pastry Beignets.

The Two Sisters court Tavern. No better beans rice and hot sausage anywhere.

Johnny's Poboys. Fried Shrimp or oyster between two pieces of melt in your mouth bread.

Napoleon House. Best Jambalaya around.

The Coffee Pot. Great cajun breakfasts.

Cloverleaf grill. Big messy great burgers.

And for your listening pleasure, Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday:

YouTube - billie holiday & louis armstrong - do...

[tallone63]

Do you know if the Funky Pirate is still around? We always went there and listened to Big Al when we came down. I haven't been back since Katrina but this may be the year. I love New Orleans and especially the food.

[Tony&Cheri]

Originally Posted by tallone63

Do you know if the Funky Pirate is still around? We always went there and listened to Big Al when we came down. I haven't been back since Katrina but this may be the year. I love New Orleans and especially the food.

We were there for Jazz Fest in May and the Funky Pirate is still open and Yes, Big Al, is still singing the Blues.

[tallone63]

I like when Big Al does the dirty nursery rhyme song.....I love watching the people who have never heard him before....their faces are priceless

[SUNBABY]

Connie and I were very surprised by how much the city has come back. If we weren't looking to hard, you wouldn't even know the city was flooded.

Most neighborhoods had plenty of cars in the driveway and there was plenty of traffic. Even Lakeview which was hit very hard (you didn't hear much about the middle class areas in the news) looked back to business.
It was still strange though to see some houses that were still boarded up with the markings on them from being searched.

Seems like all the shops in the quarters was open, restuarants open all around town. We did notice alot more taquieras, though we didn't see a huge amount of mexican population.

Our hotel was out at the Lake near Metarie and Kenner, so we had to travel thru town quite a bit. Even the 9th ward showed alot of activity and new or repaired homes.

A few of the places we liked to eat at on the lake were missing, but most of them in Bucktown were still there.

I love the spirit of that city!

[JoanieBlon]

Mike and I have been to New Orleans a number of times since Katrina. We own a timeshare there at Hotel de la Monnaie ~ located across the street from the Old Mint at the corner of St. Peters and Esplanade.

To us, things haven't changed all that much. The streets are cleaner and there are loads more help wanted signs in the windows. We were VERY happy when they got the St Charles streetcar running again.

Our last trip was between Christmas and New Year's 2007. Time for another trip! New Orleans is our 2nd home!

[SUNBABY]

Yep..plenty of help wanted signs..If you can't find a job there, you don't want to work.

[TAPPY]

Watch out for gators

Alligator disrupts traffic on I-10


New Orleans, La. (AP) — Commuters heading into downtown New Orleans are used to dealing with traffic snarls, flooded roadways, wrecks and fog.

Now they can add an alligator shutdown to the mix.

State police say an alligator somehow got into the elevated eastbound lanes of Interstate 10 Tuesday morning — miles from an exit — and was hit by a car. Rush-hour traffic slowed to a crawl on the Bonnet Carre Spillway across the western edge of Lake Pontchartrain.

The mystery of the tagged, 5-foot gator's ascent to the elevated highway was still unsolved. St. Charles Parish wildlife nuisance control officer Kenny Schmill said the state Wildlife and Fisheries Department is attempting to track its origins.

"I think someone put him up there for a joke," said Schmill, who had to euthanize the alligator because of its injuries.

If farm raised, the alligator's tag should reveal its gender, where it was raised and when it was released, Schmill said.

Schmill said the animal was at least seven miles from the interstate's nearest exit. Had it fallen from a transport truck, Schmill said its mouth would have been taped.

State police were summoned around 7:15 a.m. The alligator had been struck by a vehicle and authorities initially thought it was dead, state police spokesman Trooper Joseph Piglia said.

"They walked up to it and its mouth opened and it started coming at them," Piglia said. "They got back in their cars! It was still feisty."

The troopers used their vehicles to corral the reptile on the roadside. State police said the alligator was removed at 8:45 a.m. allowing eastbound traffic to flow again.

[Tony&Cheri]

Originally Posted by SUNBABY

Yep..plenty of help wanted signs..If you can't find a job there, you don't want to work.

Maybe Rita, Maybe not. If you have to move out of the Quarter where the jobs are because you can't pay the 46% increase in rents since Katrina, and you have no way to get to work because the bus system doesn't run to the neighborhoods yet or you can't leave your kids and there is no school or daycare available...then you can have all the desire in the world to work but still not be able to get a job.

Papa T

[SUNBABY]

Originally Posted by Tony&Cheri

Maybe Rita, Maybe not. If you have to move out of the Quarter where the jobs are because you can't pay the 46% increase in rents since Katrina, and you have no way to get to work because the bus system doesn't run to the neighborhoods yet or you can't leave your kids and there is no school or daycare available...then you can have all the desire in the world to work but still not be able to get a job.

Papa T

Are you just talking about low paying jobs for people with kids, no car, or skills?

There are schools and daycares. Not too many people could afford to live in the Quarters before the hurricane.. That's prime real estate. There are other places in the surrounding area that are doing well. Kenner, Metarie, Algiers, and the rest of the burbs. We saw lots of shopping strips, stores restuarants and a few casino's open for business.
The street cars were full and busy, and we did see some busses. Maybe not all the busses are back but then maybe there isn't the huge demand for them.

It will take a while for more low income housing to be built to draw more low income people to take the low income jobs. Remember...Most of the low income were bussed away to other cities and states.. and they haven't returned.... or in jail. (you don't get your hand slapped in Texas)

We saw plenty of local drunks hanging around..they must live somewhere around there.