Saturday, January 07, 2006

Apartments in the Mix

This is the first I have heard of apartments being used to temporarily house New Orleanians.

The Governor, the Mayor, and two city council members met yesterday along with FEMA to soothe the differences between City Hall and the City Council concerning where returning New Orleanians should live:
More than 46,800 families have requested housing assistance from FEMA. Blanco said 21,900 of those families can place travel trailers on their own property as they rebuild their homes. The mayor has approved sites for another 8,000 trailers, and an estimated 10,000 apartments could be readied within a few months.

That leaves city, state and federal officials searching for places for about 7,000 families.
This looks like a step in the right direction. Apartments are much better than trailers. They are coming up with a plan and talking numbers.

And the Mayor even said he would cede some of his power to the council:
Nagin said council members would be able to veto trailer locations in their districts.
I am curious how many residents are represented by “more than 46,800 families.” It seems like it would be a big chunk of the population that hasn’t returned yet.

Since I frequently point out when the city is sending the wrong message to misplaced New Orleanians, I must say that this is the right message.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wonder what they mean by "readied within a few months." Do you think they're talking about existing damaged apartment complexes that could feasibly be repaired ("readied")?

Polimom said...

I was wondering the same thing. Maybe the Iberville projects?

There's also (I think) Forest Park apartments in Algiers, that they kinda "shut down for renovations" right after the storm. Haven't heard or seen anything on F.P.'s status in a while.