NorthWest Carrollton

I grew up in the lower 9th Ward (Ward 9-Precinct 1) in a small, raised, clapboard house built in 1959. Everything except Jackson Barracks was “uptown” from us. Uptown was where “rich people” lived. So when I saw the beautiful brick houses shaded and surrounded by large oak trees (Lafitte, Iberville, etc.) I naively assumed that this must be where the rich people lived. The houses seem so much nicer, on so many levels, than mine, including being close to where the other rich people lived and cool places like Canal Street and the French Quarter.

I went to college at UNO (78-83) and daily drove past the “Desire project”. Never once did it cross my mind that rich people lived here. Desire was torn down and, preKatrina had already begun to be replaced by smaller single and double houses. In 2004 as I drove to UNO for graduate classes, New Desire was beginning to look like it could be a nice place to live.

I drive my daughter to school past CJ Peete. I look at these sturdy brick buildings surrounded by lovely oak trees and wonder just what it is that makes these buildings unredeemable. Our current house was built in 1929. CJPeete’s buildings were built in 1941. I know how solid the foundational construction is in these older buildings. I also know how fast we were able to get back in our home post Katrina because of these construction features.

I drive to UNO from my job at Chalmette Refining to UNO to pick my daughter up from her Japanese lesson, past “New Desire”. I look at how these new construction homes survived the ravages of Katrina, the Corps induced flooding and PostK neglect and compare them in my mind to CJ Peete and Lafitte. And folks, from my truck window, there is no comparison. CJPeete and Lafitte look like move in condition. New Desire homes look devastated and fragile in comparison and like they need much more work.

Anyone looking for easy answers and quick fixes should NOT be in New Orleans. Sure it sounds great to say tear it down and build a new one. But this is an easy answer and does not take into consideration or respect our history and the complexities of the situation. We need to stop the rush to demolition. We need to stop the dangerously hypnotic mantra and PostK desert mirage of “redevelopment”. We need instead to start talking to each other in real, open, meaningful venues, not shouting matches and not overly organized and facilitated into meaninglessness public meetings. We need to honor our past while securing our future and we need to realize that there are no easy answers. The answers that will serve us best take time and care; the same type of time and care that make our historic New Orleans buildings, be they CJPeete or shotgun in Black Pearl or a raised bungalow in Carrollton, valuable. If members of congress from California and Nevada can figure this out, then our local leaders should be able to as well.

Jenel Hazlett
I’ve been told by NWCCA’s Vice President, Karen Gadbois, that I need to blog more. Since I respect and appreciate Karen’s influence in my life more than I can say… I decided to listen to her advice. Look for future posts under the “President’s Rant” category.

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 16th, 2007 at 12:33 pm by Nola J and is filed under PostK Development, Preservation, President's Rant. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.