In the past, many moved to the Crescent City because of the easygoing way of life and how affordable it was to live in and around the heart of New Orleans. That has changed drastically in recent years.
WWL’s Tommy Tucker spoke to President and CEO of Greater New Orleans, Inc., Michael Hecht, about the problems the city is facing.
“We don’t want to ruin what makes New Orleans unique, but we have to realize when we have an affordability crisis, those very people that create the culture that everyone loves are forced to move,” Hecht emphasized.
While there are universal concerns in New Orleans that people everywhere have, such as the cost of gas and groceries, the Crescent City also brings some unique problems to the table. The cost of homeowners’ insurance, auto insurance, and school tuition remains high in New Orleans and is a sizable chunk of many locals’ financial concerns.
Hecht notes that other cities have had success in maintaining local culture while keeping the cost of living down. “The good news is we know how to do this. It’s been done in other places. In Minneapolis, they brought down housing prices by 17% … there’s some basic stuff that needs to be done, and it doesn’t cost a lot of money. It requires fixing zoning, giving incentives to developers. There are something like 20,000 housing units not on the market. Let’s get them fixed up and back on the market”, Hecht explained.
In addition, Hecht thinks that adding more (and better) transportation between Baton Rouge and New Orleans would help to regionalize the area and encourage more travel back and forth.
“We’re an interesting place in that, despite being small, we think of ourselves as being New Orleans and not the region. Very few other places do that. We need better public transportation to get people from the less expensive places into the urban core. Unfortunately, we’ve moved backward from that in recent years,” Hecht noted.
Ultimately, Hecht believes the unique problems facing New Orleans are fixable. However, they will require a handful of long-term solutions and patience from locals.
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