[Monti Cello]

As someone who regrets never having visited, I agree it's worth rebuilding it, though it may entail razing much of what is left now. I am sure the best hydraulic engineers in the world have some ideas on how to do things right. New Orleans seems to have a reputation as a city of the past, charming, but somewhat decrepit, with some of the worst dysfunctional poverty and crime in the country.

No reason why it can't be remade into a city of the future, keeping much of the attitude and charm (including permissible public drinking) but fixing up the entrenched social and physical problems. There is no reason a renovated New Orleans couldn't be the top city of the South for decades to come.

[SeniorMoment]

Let's see if any of those big hoity-toity hollywood people put up as much money and raise as much money for hurricane relief as they did the Tsunami.

If they are so worried about poverty in the world, why the hell don't they start here at home instead of Africa and other third world countries?

Bunch of doofus airheads.

[sarasmom]

I also never visited.When I had the money, there was no time.
When I had the time, there was no money.
I may never get the combination correct, but I knew it was there with its history and unique flavor, and it was part of my country.

Even though I have never set foot in New Orleans, it is part of my heritage as a citizen of the USA, and I want it rebuilt.
I would much rather my already confiscated tax dollars be spent on rebuilding New Orleans than wasted on the useless schemes of the UN, or in foreign countries like Africa, Europe, Indonesia, Mexico etc.
Four states of the USA have just suffered through an enormous natural disaster, and I fully expect the other 46 to stand with them, help them to recover, and keep the extraneous BS to a minimum.