Monday July 31, 2006

New Orleans -- Rising Beneath The Radar

New Orleans: sure, you've been hearing a lot about murders...still unidentified Katrina victims, and the National Guard. And all other sorts-a-things that methinks contribute unfairly to the perception that New Orleans is somehow disconnected from the rest of this country -- both culturally and economically.

And although I think New Orleans is a wholly unique place for a panopoly of reasons both good and bad, the "disconnected" perception, of course, is based on a very small sample. New Orleaneans still wake up each morning, turn on their tvs and radios to the same channels we do, still send their kids off to school, still work a job, still care about their neighborhoods, still bring new businesses to life and still keep the old ones churning along. It's challenging, but it's still life in America.

So today we look at three stories of the roll-up-your-sleeves variety that, although they've been published or broadcast in major media outlets, may have fallen off your media-diet's radar. Each contributes to a bigger picture of progress and hope than what I've become used to reading about in the last 10+ months since the hurricane hit.

From the New York Times: Despite a City’s Hopes, an Uneven Repopulation

"There may be no clearer indication that the people of this city have taken the recovery into their own hands than the homemade street signs in the Claiborne-University area. Along Nashville Avenue, the signs, made mostly from scraps of wood and debris, announce Rocheblave, Tonti, Galvez and Miro Streets with the decorative flair of flowers and stars. Such homemade signs can be found all around the city."

From NPR: Tasty Summertime Tradition in New Orleans

My wife and I were excited to hear college-friend Ashley Hansen on national radio last week. Her story: the family's decades-old Hansen's Sno-Bliz business [Flickr pics] suffered a major blow when the founders (Ashley's elderly grandparents) both passed in the hurricane aftermath last year. Now Ashley's re-opened, and it marks the continuance of a gastronomic staple in a city still known for its food. Interview includes audio.

From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Roadside Renaissance for Farm Stands

Can farmers be the new "rock stars of agriculture?" Richard McCarthy (another college compadre[!]) of Loyola's Economics Institute and the Crescent City Farmers Market thinks so. But that's just a catchy hook for me to lure you into reading about the model he's building for tweaking the all-too-familiar concepts of markets. His work is gaining significant traction in the South -- and it all started with a small stand on Magazine street in downtown New Orleans.

( Jul 31 2006, 11:41:35 AM PDT ) Permalink