My friend/Fraternity brother that I stayed with, Kelly, is an Architecture masters degree student, at Tulane University, with a concentration in historical preservation of buildings. His masters' thesis centers around a piece of vacant property in the Lower Ninth (it wasn't vacant 3-1/2 years ago). Because of this, he is quite familiar with the surroundings - and I got a heck of a tour.In an area that used to be absolutely filled with houses, people, culture, and community - there is nothing. Nothing. The best way I can describe it is this: The whole area looks like a nature preserve, but intermingled with the trees and overgrown grasses are front steps, sidewalks, and numerous house foundations. The vast majority of the houses are gone, either being washed away when the Industrial Canal levee broke or demolished/hauled away by the city. The two videos I took (below) show this 'Nature Preserve' pretty well. Keep in mind that 90% of the houses in each video are vacant and haven't been torn down yet.
Amidst the desolation, there are signs of new-life. Rebirth may be slow in coming, but it is indeed coming. The shining example is Brad Pitt's Make It Right Foundation. Through a massive fundraising effort and private donations, MIR plans to build 150 new houses in the Lower Ninth Ward. Kelly and I counted 7 completed houses thus far - there is much work left to do. Here is a picture of one of the MIR completed houses.
A far cry from this house, less than 100 yards away. (It may have been on stilts, but the flood waters reached 20+ feet deep.)
After soaking this all up in person, I felt that I had to go to the MIR website and make a donation. If you are so inclined, check out the website -- http://www.makeitrightnola.org/ One final picture for you. Remember that this is 3-1/2 years after Katrina.
1 comment:
Wow - I want to go ride out there when we get down there.
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