<The world is changing, but do those who should, worry? The Oil Drum DrumBeat: June 1, 2006>

107 comments on Lessons from Brazil

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eric blair on June 1, 2006 - 8:44am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
It has long been recognized that New Orleans is subsiding and is therefore susceptible to catastrophic flooding.

Such matters not to Alan.   He's on record saying the only cities worth spending any ewffort on is NYC, San Fancisco and New Orleans.

Take energy and money from other non-failing places and prop up the failures.

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jokuhl on June 1, 2006 - 9:43am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Interesting choice of words..
"Prop up the failures"

Brings to mind the CinC himself and his gang, instead of a city that has suffered a great deal of national neglect, and in fact is a key piece of our cultural history, as well as an infrastructural base for the functioning of the Mississippi, our greatest export freight engine in the country.  There has been plenty of poor development planning in N.O., but to call the city a 'failure' is particularly narrow.

I wonder if that phrase is also considered when you see bailouts of big businesses and industries that don't seem to be able to justify themselves in the 'free market', but get treated like national treasures, to the chagrin of better alternatives (Trucking and Air Freight vs Rail..)

  I've heard Alan advocate for the support and reinvigoration of cities like N.O., SanFran and NY, but I never heard him say these were the only places deserving all of our Urban Development attentions.  To the contrary, he has offered that making a few cities into examples of smarter rail and commuting options would help show other cities what's possible, and see numbers for how beneficial it would be.

  So what would you call the Non-failing places?

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AlanfromBigEasy on June 1, 2006 - 12:14pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
I will find time to respond more fully later.

One of the three carless people that I evacuated in my car for Katrina was a Tulane student from Wisconsin.  Needless to say I am in good standing with her parents and do not have to pick up the check when they visit.

Her mother recently mentioned that her view of small town Wisconsin had changed.  They were driving to the store and she wondered aloud why they had to drive.  "See, the houses are so far apart, you could have at least twice as many in there and we could all live closer together.  And we could have sidewalks everywhere.   I liked it better when I walked to the store in New Orleans.  You don't meet or see anyone driving".

She has also told me how much she misses the St. Charles streetcar (as do I, open again in 2007) and how "great" it was to take it downtown.

Some few people listen to New Urbanist nerds (who still do not have it quite right, they STILL need New Orleans to learn from).  More people learn by living and experiencing.

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jokuhl on June 1, 2006 - 12:32pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Alan;
I just got my first visit to your city this weekend (Working on the ESPN Poker Tourny at Harrah's..talk about the belly of the beast)..  and what a great place!  I was staying and working right near the Riverside Market, and only walked while I was there, but the trolleys I saw were a great temptation, and an inspiring sight!

I lived in NYC for 19 years, and rode the MTA prodigiously, besides hoofing it.  I built my daughter a 'Redbird' toybox for her first Christmas Gift.. those are the classic NYC '7' Trains that connect Flushing, Queens with Times Square, but I have to fill the other spot in her Toybox garage, and it might have to be a N.O. Trolley!  The other option was a London Double-decker, but Red has already been taken, alas..

Bob Fiske

(Nice Job on the Website you linked us to yesterday!  Made your points, but it wasn't too long to get through quickly.  I didn't have a problem with 6000 Princes remark, though I suppose it could be inflammatory in some circles)

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Richard on June 4, 2006 - 7:10pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Alan,

More people learn by living and experiencing.

You can learn for the price of a plane ticket to an average town in the south of France. Besides, it's fun. Welcome!

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AlanfromBigEasy on June 5, 2006 - 4:01pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Dear Richard, I am spending as much money as possible here in New Orleans, we need it to survive and recover. Besides, I can get better food and music here than in France ! Thank You for the help that France has given. It is much appreciated !! The French come in and ask "What needs to be done ? What has FEMA missed or delayed ?" For example, Paribus bank is rebuilding five fire stations to give minimal coverage in the drowned areas. Although the US is a culinary desert, New Orleans has better food than France. Throw French peasants into the swamp, add African, Spanish, Native American influences, wait 250 years and see what results !
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neapolis on June 1, 2006 - 10:22am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
I don't know about San Francisco and New Orleans, but New York City pays $13 billion more in federal taxes than it receives in federal spending -- even after 9/11!  I'm not sure where you are, but it's more likely that New York is propping up where you live than vice versa.
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jkissing on June 6, 2006 - 4:13pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Most places pay in more than they get out - how else can we fund our wars? Maybe farm states with low population and large subidies are an exception, but there is no reason to think NO is one, too.
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107 comments on Lessons from Brazil

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