Twenty years after Hurricane Katrina decimated the New Orleans metro area, some parts of the region are still struggling to rebound from the storm's wrath, especially the Ninth Ward of New Orleans and St. Bernard Parish. The people who live and work in there say those areas are ripe for development.
Larry Barabino is the director of the New Orleans Recreation Department. He spent part of his youth in the Ninth Ward playing baseball here and visiting relatives who lived in the area. Barabino says a little investment in the Ninth Ward would go a long way in revitalizing a long-neglected part of the city.
"There's a lot of property around here that needs attention. There's a lot of property around here that needs new owners," Barabino said. "As we continue to rebuild, there's definitely landmass for people to come and rebuild."
In the Ninth Ward, you don't hear the hustle and bustle you'd expect to find in the Central Business District or in the French Quarter. You'll hear birds chirping, Weed Eaters whirring as people clear yards. Barabino says those are sounds that Ninth Ward residents enjoy and want to hear more.
"If people are looking for peace, some peace of mind, some quiet neighborhoods, serene neighborhoods where they have a lot of trees, this is a great neighborhood to start rebuilding in."
Peace in the Ninth Ward? Barabino says, "Yes." That's because, he says, the Ninth Ward's history of crime and violence is just that, history.
"That image went away with Hurricane Katrina--of it being a high crime neighborhood," Barabino said.
Still, Barabino understands why people who lived in the Ninth Ward before Katrina are hesitant to move back.
"Some people still have the fear of: what if the levee breaks again? That's the fear," Barabino said. "The Upper Ninth Ward and the Lower Ninth Ward were heavily hit. A lot of people have that fear that if it happens again, what do I do with my property?"
St. Bernard Parish also has an abundance of property awaiting someone to buy it, including in Chalmette.
"There are a lot of empty properties here that people can build on," said Tommy Tommaseo, owner of Rocky and Carlo's Restaurant, a Chalmette institution that's survived 60 years and several major hurricanes, including Katrina.
Tommaseo says St. Bernard Parish's problem is different than the Ninth Ward's. Specifically, Chalmatians who left town amid Katrina want to come home but can't.
"The property values have hurt them in other places from helping them move back here because they can't sell what they have now," Tommaseo said of St. Bernard Parish residents who fled the parish after Katrina and settled on the Northshore. "During those couple of years after Katrina, we got people who came back wishing that they could move back, but they can't because they can't sell their house across the lake because it's so expensive."
Tommaseo added that post-Katrina regulations prevented people who bought vacant lots next to their homes from building on them, creating some of those open spaces in and around Chalmette. He says developers later came in to try to build on those lots, but their efforts failed. Tommaseo says the parish is ready for people to build their homes and their lives there.
"Our infrastructure, I think, is ready for it," Tommaseo said. "They may bring in more jobs for people to come down here, but me personally, I think we need another high school. I think that's how we can get more families to come here."
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