Social Inequality in New Orleans

I am a newcomer to the New Orleans metropolitan area. I just moved to Slidell, LA from Indianapolis, IN about a month ago and one of the first things that became apparent to me about the area was the social inequality expressed here. Now it would be naïve not to acknowledge that social inequality exists in varying degrees everywhere, but here in New Orleans it seems that social inequality exists higher on the scale than other places I have been.

A passage from Chapter 8: The Early Metropolis as a Place of Inequality from the textbook Introduction to Cities: How Place and Space Shape Human Experience describe how I view New Orleans: “Though urban density brings together disparate populations, their experiences of the city – even of the very same sidewalk – can be worlds apart. The same city can be clean or dirty, chaotic or orderly, bountiful or desolate – all depending on the neighborhoods one frequents, the resources one has, and the opportunities that one finds available to people like oneself.” (Chen, Orum, & Paulsen, 2013, p. 179)

People from all different walks of life experience New Orleans differently, which is common in every city, however in New Orleans it seems that these experiences teeter between extremes with a noticeable income gap and standard of living between the wealthy and poor. The most shocking part of New Orleans to me is the city’s crumbling infrastructure in parts of town such as the Lower Ninth Ward and New Orleans East. While it is common in every city to have better services and infrastructure in wealthy neighborhoods, I have never seen such a drastic difference when it comes to streets and other things that should be taken care of by the city. I think this in itself makes a case for the existing social inequality that residents face in New Orleans.

Another big issue facing people in New Orleans is a very real housing crisis. Everyone I’ve talked to that has been long-time natives of New Orleans comment on how much the housing market has changed since Hurricane Katrina. Housing prices have skyrocketed and the availability of affordable, adequate housing is very slim. This is the reason I ended up moving to Slidell rather than New Orleans. Availability of housing options was extremely limited and rents were exponentially more. I find this particularly alarming since I would consider myself someone with a good job that provides a fairly decent wage and benefits but still couldn’t find feasible and affordable housing options for my family and myself. This really puts into perspective the obstacles and struggles that the city’s lower income residents face.

While I would agree that New Orleans is growing and developing since Hurricane Katrina, it is obvious that certain areas of the city are being left behind in that development. While new restaurants and businesses are opening in Uptown, Lakeview, and the Central Business District other neighborhoods are still left with the damage done by Hurricane Katrina. While gentrification in the Lower Ninth Ward may help bring the population needed to drive businesses back to operating within the neighborhood, it will also cause the cost of living to go up, displacing many families that have lived in the area for generations. Of course, the city needs to rebuild and these neighborhoods infrastructure will likely not be fixed until the area seems to be a candidate for wealth generation, but if it follows the pattern of gentrification, it will come at the current residents’ expense. This will lead to residents’ being driven out of the neighborhood elsewhere, and the cycle of social inequality will likely continue.

In conclusion, New Orleans is a wonderful vibrant city, much of which has been able to bounce back from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina due to developers’ investment in areas such as Uptown, Lakeview, and the Central Business District. New opportunities have arisen for certain sections of the population, but a vast majority of New Orleans has been left behind in this advancement. Infrastructure in poor neighborhoods around the city is a disgrace and there doesn’t seem to be much hope to close this gap anytime soon. Gentrification in neighborhoods such as the Lower Ninth Ward may lead to an increase in population to the area that will bring in the much needed businesses and infrastructure rehabilitation but it will most likely also cause prices in the area to increase, making it harder for long-time residents to afford the area. New Orleans has rebuilt since Katrina, but it still has a long way to go; fixing the evident social inequality within the city should become a top priority for local government and community developers.

Bibliography

Chen, X., Orum, A., & Paulsen, K. (2013). Introduction to Cities: How Place and Space Shape Human Experience. Wiley-Blackwell.

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