A tale of two cities

On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated many cities on the Gulf coast in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. We all remember what happened; New Orleans was nearly destroyed and the cities along the coast were basically wiped off the map. 

During the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, you can catch hundreds of old news articles and television reports about the recovery of the New Orleans area and yes, Mississippi, but how much progress has been made in the Mississippi coast in the past five years?

Yes, it can be said that the greater New Orleans area suffered the most damage from Hurricane Katrina, but it seems quite odd that Mississippi, no matter the circumstance, is often overlooked  rather quickly, and the damage done to the state is often lost in the drama of the event itself (such as Katrina and the BP oil spill). 

While I do understand that there is a big difference between one city and an entire coastal area I don’t understand why the damage done to the Mississippi Gulf Coast wasn’t seen as an opportunity to change or totally reinvent the area? Pre-Katrina, New Orleans had a heap of problems, from a dysfunctional public school system to a totally corrupt police department. Following Katrina’s damage, many people saw the damage as an opportunity to make New Orleans a better place or to make it into something it was meant to be. It seems if as the country doesn’t share that same sentiment for the state of Mississippi. 

In the years following Katrina, public and private sectors have slowly returned to the Mississippi Gulf Coast. This economic develop is good, but to what effect? In North Biloxi, in place of once beautiful, old homes, gas stations and fast-food restaurants are being built.  In one area of the city, historic Biloxi neighborhoods are now gone, with that there are now plans to build a casino in that area. 

Several changes have been made in New Orleans. Several successful charter school programs have cropped up around the city. Big improvements have been made to hospitals in the city. Mayor Mitch Landrieu has also begun to reform the city’s police department. 

I don’t want to damper the progress being made on the Mississippi Gulf Coast or make it appear that New Orleans has somehow magically become a glorious, wonderful place and has somehow turned a 180. I do, however, want to put the spotlight on the development of these two areas.

It seems as if as a group of people got together and decided that they were going to try to make New Orleans a much better place than it had been. Schools are being reformed; the justice system in the city is being reformed, the way they build homes has changed and culture and history has been brought back to the city.

The Mississippi Gulf Coast, on the other hand, seems a bit different. It seems as if someone had the bright idea that all you need to do was prop up a couple of businesses and that would be a job well done. Developers are missing out on a huge opportunity to restore culture and the historic flair of the majority of the once glorious coastal cities. These radical differences in recovery in the New Orleans area and the Mississippi Gulf Coast make no sense at all. 

My only hope is that developers and city planners see the entire Gulf Coast’s recovery as a grand opportunity to make the area as great as it was pre-Katrina or better, and that we bring the warm culture and grandiose beauty back to our states.