I feel the same way. I've been before, but we almost made the trip and didn't. Goodbye Desire Oyster Bar. Goodbye Royal Sonesta. Goodbye Pat O'Briens. Goodbye Commander's Palace. Goodbye Brennan's.
Goodbye Galatoire's...Goodbye Angelo Brocato's...Goodbye Acme Oyster House. :-(
Goodbye Antoine's, Goodbye Tippi Tina's, Goodbye Arnaud's, Goodbye Cafe Dumond......
Oh man... don't say that. I love those places, and Central Grocery, and Evelyn's (a litte dive next to the Quarter House were we always stay) and a dozen other places....
No, the French Quarter and nearby historic areas will be one of the areas rebuilt, along with repairs to the major industrial facilities, such as the refineries. Too much investment to abandon. And there will be housing and support businesses rebuilt for persons who work in those areas. But much of the white collar business will move elsewhere, many of the retirees won't return, so the service sector and the population it supports will be far smaller. WAG, within a couple of years NOLA will be functioning fairly fine, but at about 1/2 the population.