For nearly 10 years I have lived in downtown New Orleans and talked favorably on my show about what a great city this is and how cool it is to live downtown. I constantly rejected pleas from family, friends, and listeners to move out of the downtown area because it is too dangerous.
Even in the face of being attacked by 4 males and being seriously injured after getting hit by a renegade motorcycle rider at the corner of Canal St. and Bourbon St., I held strong to my conviction that living downtown was an awesome experience. But I have reached a breakpoint, and I am moving out of the downtown area.
The changes that have taken place in the apartment building I live in have contributed to the downfall of the Central Business District. I can speak from first-hand experience about the negative changes. I lived in one of the buildings that is declared historic, and I can tell you that the culture of the building and this area of the CBD are forcing me to leave downtown New Orleans.
The changes have been driven by the greed of big-owner money and many credible residents, like myself, are motivated to leave. I will not go into detail except to say that decisions made in more than one attractive historic downtown building serves as a frightening trend. If you have any desire to live in downtown New Orleans, I suggest that you look very closely into the details of the criteria for living in any building you might choose and further consider the impact that the decisions of other buildings are having on the downtown area.
Adding to the changes is the spillover in crime and criminal types from the French Quarter into the CBD. It is disheartening that crime is forcing good citizens,who contribute to the tax base of New Orleans,to abandon downtown.
The most recent bullying tactic of Mayor LaToya Cantrell only confirms that I am making the right decision. Tuesday night, Cantrell tried to force one of her staff members into the position of leading the Downtown Development District when the DDD board had already selected a new interim CEO.
From the beginning of her reign - Mayor Cantrell has displayed a dictatorial mentality; and as her re-election seems certain by current polls, her brazen attitude is ramping up.
There are serious questions about Mayor Cantell’s integrity from abuse of a city credit card, when she was a member of the city council, to years of unpaid back taxes, to selective enforcement in the beginning of the pandemic, to questions about mishandling the tragic and fatal collapse of the Hard Rock Hotel.
As of this Friday, August 27, I will leave downtown New Orleans and move to West End. I admit there will be a few things I will miss about no longer living in the heart of downtown New Orleans with a view of the French Quarter, but nothing that I will miss will supersede the benefits I will reap by moving to West End.
I will still be a New Orleans resident with a vote in the city, but I am fed up with the constant fear factor of walking anywhere at any time of day and the growing encounters with aggressive people on the street - not all of them technically homeless. The city of New Orleans has allowed the downtown area to deteriorate to the point where doctors, lawyers, medical and business professionals no longer feel comfortable living downtown.
I embraced and passionately promoted living in downtown New Orleans as long as I could, but I no longer feel safe living in the environment.
I will still go to the French Quarter and enjoy what the city has to offer, but I will no longer live in an area where the criminal element is becoming dominant.