Rebuild New Orleans

I haven't posted about New Orleans in a while, in part because I've had so many other things going on and in part because it's really, really depressing. But I read at lunch today some suggestions by CNN.com readers for rebuilding the city.

One person wrote:

...rebuild, but do it wisely. Ask the Dutch government for help in building in a flood zone. The Dutch build houses that rise with water levels. Also, plant trees and reestablish the natural barriers that would help minimize hurricane damage in the future.

A whole series of excellent ideas. First of all, our friends in Europe -- and yes, they are still our friends, in spite of a growing disagreement over Iraq -- are happy to lend us a hand in terms of expertise, equipment, experience, and even expenses in our rebuilding efforts. They know some things we do not; they are better at some things than we are. If we turn them down, it is because of our arrogance, and we cannot afford to be arrogant in terms of dollars, ideas, manpower, or lives. No one goes it alone in this world and when our friends offer a much-needed helping hand, we should take it. Secondly, houses that rise with the water are possible (the Dutch do it) and it makes amazing amounts of sense in a city that is below sea level. Third, an extensive greenbelt and urban planting of trees not only would help control the water table during non-flood times, it would serve as a windbreak for artificial structures during storms (not to mention beautify the city and moderately check air pollution).

Another person suggested that we look to Venice as a model. Venice is a network of hundreds of islands. The channels between these small, close-together islands have been sculpted over time into a network of canals and bridges. Venice is not precisely unique in its incorporation of urban canals as modes of transportation; Amsterdam has canals incorporated into its urban structure, and a network of canals laces across much of England. An interesting idea, but I suspect that New Orleaneans would rather preserve their city's historic architectural tradition than reinvent itself in a form that reminds its residents of the recent series of disasters.

Certainly the city will be Disneyfied, but perhaps that is not a terrible thing.

I would suggest a look at Barcelona. While The Wife and I were generally not pleased with Barcelona during our honeymoon, that was because the city's tourism industry is really aimed at young single people who want to party and drink and dance and have sex from the time the sun goes down until about ten in the morning. This is great fun when you're 19, more tiring than pleasurable when you're more than half again that age, and somewhat pathetic when you're over twice that age.

One thing really impressed me about Barcelona was the Eixample neighborhood. It is a grid of blocks; each block holds an octagonal superstructure of a building, four or five stories high. Inside each of these superstructures is an open courtyard, and the residents of the superstructure were able to build what they chose inside each one. Some set up playgrounds for their children, others created gardens, others created parks, others set up adult sporting equipment, I'm sure some set up sculpture gardens. The first floor of each of these super-blocks consisted largely of retail shops, grocery stores, and things like that; the upper three or four stories were apartments or condominiums. I imagine that each of these superstructures had the equivalent of a homeowners' association to take care of upkeep, decisions about the courtyard, and so on. The octagonal design of the buildings makes each four-way intersection seem more like a small public square, and keeps the area friendly to pedestrians -- and as a result, people do a lot of walking rather than driving to get where they need to go, which is both healthier for the residents, and better for the community.

New Orleans could do a lot worse than to look at giving up its traditional shotgun house designs and make its neighborhoods more like Eixample. By all means, New Orleaneans, keep the French Quarter and the central business district the way they have been, but keep in mind not only where you live and what can happen to it -- but also what your community can become if you are willing to look as much to the future as you are to the past.