Comment & Debate
Adrian Moore. “Rebuild New Orleans Smarter, Not Harder”. Reason.org. 11 Jan. 2006 – Now that many want federal spending to allow rebuilding in the parts of New Orleans below sea level, the lesson of Valmeyer and ritzy beach homes are crucial. There is a choice. The New Orleans that does not face unreasonable risk can be rebuilt. Other parts can be located elsewhere.
We have to ask ourselves – is it fair to make people living in Pennsylvania or Ohio pay billions for massive engineering projects so that some of the people of New Orleans can go back to the way things were and avoid the hard choices that nature presents them?
As long as the federal government is willing to bail out people who build homes or businesses in high-risk locations, they will keep building there. And you and I will keep paying for them to rebuild.
Federal policy should be to help the victims of the floods but not undertake the massive projects to reclaim areas of the city built below sea level. If the people of New Orleans want to rebuild there, more power to them. They can fund the levees with local taxes or fees. There are ways to make it work that don’t tap the limited resources of people who never chose to live below sea level.
“Don’t Rebuild New Orleans”. Watch Blog. 17 Dec. 2005 – “We have a rare opportunity to start over. New Orleans has been a costly mistake. We got into it little by little, so we didn’t notice that the levees are essentially made out of money. Save what is above sea level. We can still have Bourbon Street. We can still have the cool parts. Let the gators and the catfish have back what is theirs.”