What is the Deal With Louisiana?
I am from South Louisiana and have moved to Atlanta, GA two years ago...but everytime I go home for vacation or whatever, I now notice how wacked out the state is. Its my home don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my home! Louisiana will always have a place in my heart. I just get more and more dissapointed with the condition of the state. The streets are terrible, the politics are corrupt, N.O. looks like a dump and is not any safer. Througout the south of the state where I am from, most of the schools show no improvements. Heck my old H.S. looks the same since my mother graduated in 1970! Where is the money going besides politicians pockets?! I just didn't realize how bad it was since I moved to another state. I would move home, but the job market is terrible. After graduating college from LSU, I couldn't find a decent paying job in-state. Politicians wonder why most grads move.they offer no incentives to stay! What do yall think?! I would like to hear other people's opinions!
Answers:
I lived in N.O. for 2 years, (92-94) and really loved the people there. While my job was secure (military) it was pretty clear that the overall job market was pretty poor then, too. The level of corruption was never made absolutely clear to me, but then, I didn't want to know - but it is pretty clear if you just read the newspapers there. Moving "home" to another southern city, however, I noticed some very favorable things about N.O. The acceptance of everybody by everybody else is remarkable and makes the less pleasant conditions far more bearable. The "minority" population (which isn't a minority) do seem to have taken their rightful role as a majority in N.O., while at "home" they can't seem to get unified to accomplish anything. The destruction from Hurricane Katrina certainly didn't help the situation, since N.O. relies a lot on tourist dollars, and people don't want to see the disaster - that's a difficult conundrum.
Government money to recover from Katrina (or any disaster) has a predictable path: The money doesn't go directly to politician's pockets - they get kickbacks from their buddies who are awarded the fat contracts and do nothing, and much of the rest of anything left pays the bureaucracy. That's pretty much a given, wherever "free" money from the government is available. Unfortunately, you'll find that situation in every large city in the US - maybe in the world. Atlanta may have made progress at cleaning it up, but only after earning a sordid and corrupt reputation for many, many years.
N.O. still has wonderful things about it, and wonderful people in it (besides your family!). The overall attitude seems, however, to be one of not taking rapid action about things. There are 2 ways to look at it, the most positive being that rash action is often the wrong action, and I think Louisianans know that things will work their way out, in time. They will, you see, but maybe not the way they were originally envisioned. And that's not always a bad thing.
I also think that Louisianans have a better grip on the reality of politicians than most other people - their a necessary evil, but they don't do much to effect daily life, so why worry? "Laissez les bon temps roulez" isn't necessary a call to party, but to enjoy life as it is, now, rather than worrying about what's not happening.
P.S. - Other people rave about Cafe Du Mond's begnets (sp?) and they are good, but King Cakes are the real crown of N.O. pastries! :-)
Start with that idiot Governor and work your way down, Im from Mississippi and noticed a vast difference between the way Katrina was handled by our Governors.. As for N O, as long as they keep putting that wacko Mayor back in office nothing will change there.
Go wherever that's best for you. Don't be afraid to do a little bit of exploring in where you settle. I live in New York City, and I want to move to Seattle when I graduate, even though there's nothing wrong with the city.
I used to work offshore and traveled all throughout Lousyanna. One common theme was prevalent, people did NOT TAKE PRIDE in their state, property and appearance. I say that with the caveat that MOST did not. Hell everything south of I-10 is swamp, so really what can you do with swampland?
You did blame the politicians and rightfully so, but the people of that state vote them in time and time again. They run the gamut from a white supremacist in David Duke to a black supremacist in Ray Nagin. Lousyanna will forever have its hand out to the rest of the country because it's a state built on scams. Go to the French Quarter and my point will be proven.
Abbeville was the only decent town I saw in the two years I worked offshore. I was once refused service at a gas station in Alexandria because I was white. Believe me, I'm not some carpet bagger from New York, but even that one shocked me.
I met some great people (mostly Cajuns) from the southern part of the state (Houma), and a few from other parts that were nice too. Overall it's a friendly state, but they just don't take care of where they live. I guess I'm not into cars up on blocks in the front yard.
P.S Hurricane Katrina did New Orleans a favor.
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