Wednesday, December 07, 2005

The Last Thing We Need

Don't listen to this man.
I'd never been to New Orleans. Figured it was time I went. And after a weekend down there, I urge you to go, too.

We don't need tourists down here. We need residents.
While many of the city's more than 38,000 hotel rooms are shuttered, and many of the 18,000 that remain are filled with workers, there is vacancy.

If there are vacancies, fill them with New Orleanians.

The article goes on to describe a visit to New Orleans like a visit to the zoo: First, you see the Asian Domain. Then, the Primates. After that, make your way over to the Reptile Encounter. Only, in this scenario, the people are the caged animals, seen in their natural environment gutting out their homes. Don’t forget your camera.

A lot of people think we can’t survive without tourism down here. I disagree. Now is our chance to kick our addiction to tourism. Let’s build New Orleans for New Orleanians.

1 comment:

Mr. Clio said...

Did you check out the pictures he uses to document his trip? Pix of streetcars on Canal Street and such. Great job. Very up-to-date. I think people will be disappointed when they get here and see no streetcars.

What would you expect from Forbes? This is the Bush view (mom and son): this has all worked out rather well for us. We're probably better off on our knees begging for crumbs from Texans, right?