The mayor rented/leased a house in Dallas, where his children can start school. That's want he said in a news conference.
Apparently, his wife's brother lives in Dallas. I imagine that his wife has refused to return until their place is inhabitable.
Nagin himself has been staying in a high-rise hotel in New Orleans. I guess he is getting lonely and wants his constituency to "come on down." He wants assurance that HE IS STILL THE MAYOR.
He is so out-of-touch that he thinks the citizens can afford, like him, to put their families up in another place, leave them, and return to N.O. where they can pay to stay in a nice, clean hotel, while they work to cleanup and rebuild the city.
He is a piece of work.
I guess this is a good example of "follow the money."
Nagin is not getting any money, so he wants people to return (regardless of how miserable it will be for them) so he can extort money from the Feds -- for the people, don't you know!