Lee Celano for The New York Times
Dylan Langlois, center, and Kasandra Larsen said goodbye to a friend as they prepared to move out of New
Posted on 02/16/2007 3:58:58 AM PST by Pharmboy
Lee Celano for The New York Times
Dylan Langlois, center, and Kasandra Larsen said goodbye to a friend as they prepared to move out of New
NEW ORLEANS, Feb. 15 — After nearly a decade in the city of their dreams, Kasandra Larsen and her fiancé, Dylan Langlois, climbed into a rented moving truck on Marais Street last Sunday, pointed it toward New Hampshire, and said goodbye.
Not because of some great betrayal — they had, after all, come back after losing everything in Hurricane Katrina — but a series of escalating indignities: the attempted carjacking of a pregnant friend; the announced move to Nashville by Ms. Larsen’s employer; the human feces deposited on their roof by, they suspect, the contractors next door; the two burglaries in the space of a week; and, not least, the overnight wait for the police to respond.
A year ago, Ms. Larsen, 36, and Mr. Langlois, 37, were hopeful New Orleanians eager to rebuild and improve the city they adored. But now they have joined hundreds of the city’s best and brightest who, as if finally acknowledging a lover’s destructive impulses,snip...
Their reasons include high crime, high rents, soaring insurance premiums and what many call a lack of leadership, competence, money and progress. In other words: yes, it is still bad down here. But more damning is what many of them describe as a dissipating sense of possibility, a dwindling chance at redemption for a great city that, even before the storm, cried out for great improvement.
“The window of opportunity is closing,” Ms. Larsen said, “before more people like us give up and say it’s too little, too late.”
Mr. Langlois, who has repeatedly called the health and sanitation departments, the police and City Hall, said he despaired of receiving any response.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
People move everyday from everywhere to elsewhere. yawn.
And I'm way too stubborn to click a NYSlimes link to read further, but the neighbor defecating on this guys roof seems more of a story.
Well, I hope you're right, but this city may just be dying.
Ah yes, but this is BUSH's fault!
When nature calls, it seems like a whole lot of needless effort to climb onto the roof of the house next door to answer.
Let's look at this from the health department's point of view. You're probably understaffed and on a short budget, the sewage system is barely working, you're trying to get restaurants inspected opened, and some resident keeps complaining about what he says is a pile of pooh on his roof....
Nice catch. The editor must have felt it was time for another heart tugging story of defeat.
"and what many call a lack of leadership, competence..."
"Mr. Langlois, who has repeatedly called the health and sanitation departments, the police and City Hall, said he despaired of receiving any response."
Well, not by name anyway.
That makes me wonder about the rest of the story.
Oh, those pesky American roofers. /tu
But if he were a Republican, stand back...
Looks like New Hampshire is going to get a couple of more leftist, liberal Democrats. Both with 'great ideas' and 'programs' to 'fix' the schools......
LOL. About two minutes of quick research was all it took, huh? The NYT is something else.
Nice find, although there might be other reasons for the delay. People can sell their house and make a deal with the new owners for when they will move in. Maybe the seller had to work for a while before he could leave, but wanted to make sure his house was sold.
Right bobjam. How DARE this guy complain about the lackadaisical police response to getting robbed twice in a week. Since when is that part of their job?
The puzzling conundrum posed involves gravity, a ladder, stealthism, health code violations, toxic waste management, food inspectors and aerial photogroaphy!
Big money!
Call Blanco.
New Orleans will NEVER be the same... and it has always been a matter of time. Nagin should be building the Future New Orleans, not REBUILDING the welfare state, failed experiment that it was... and yes I went throught the eye of Katrina!
LLS
How do you know that they didn't say anything about Nagin? This story is from the Old Gray Streetwalker isn't it?
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