The city of New Orleans is an odd place. There are times when the compounding action of the city’s food, music and hospitality combine to produce an atmosphere impossible to recreate anywhere else. And in those moments, it’s the only place you want to be.
The city’s downtown screening of LSU’s 9-6 win against the University of Alabama at Champions Square was a moment that reminded me of this invaluable characteristic. Constructed in celebration of the New Orleans Saints’ 2009 Super Bowl victory, the festival venue is what a blossoming city craves — a place to simultaneously provide entertainment and memorialize a shared history. Such areas are good indicators of a healthy city and show that New Orleans is making a concerted effort to revitalize the image of the city for both locals and tourists alike.
Unfortunately, attempts to rejuvenate the city get caught up in the constant tug-of-war between New Orleans’ unique attractiveness and grimy reputation.
On Halloween night, gunfire throughout downtown turned celebration into nightmare. The shootings, which occurred during five separate incidents, left two individuals dead and 16 injured, most of whom were caught in the crossfire.
Regrettably, the interruption of seasonal festivities by violence has given New Orleans a checkered past. A Mardi Gras Day shooting in 2009 left six injured, including an infant. Further insult was added to injury when an Air Force reserve medical doctor at the crime scene was quoted in a CBS interview calling New Orleans more dangerous than Afghanistan.
These incidents highlight what New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu called the “battle for the future of the city,” and his analysis is not far off.
The Greater New Orleans Inc.’s International Business and Trade Development Department was specifically created to turn the city into a hub for commercial job growth and international trade.
Such initiatives are held hostage by the eventual success or failure of New Orleans’ ability to market itself in a respectable manner to both national and international investors.
As the city’s murder rate is 10 times higher than the national average, Landrieu’s words hold more gravity.
However, understanding the dynamic mechanisms behind crime in New Orleans is almost as difficult as bringing about a permanent solution.
Perhaps the most substantial cause of the city’s predicament is what is colloquially known as “misdemeanor