French Quarter may reopen on Monday
 

Just saw this headline on Yahoo -

So, it may indeed be possible for the Fodorite to visit NO as scheduled at the end of the month (September).

The meanness in some of the posts from the deleted thread truly discouraged me and I've not been on the board for a couple of weeks. For all of us that said "wait and see", we evidently weren't as incredibly stupid as some claimed.

For those of us that said the tourist industry needs our dollars as soon as possible, we're going to have our chance sooner than expected.

Can't wait for a chance to toast the French Quarter and New Orleans. God bless.
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...ricane_katrina

The owner of Broussards says he is ready to open, but no power, no water, no food & no staff.

Breannan's is ready to reopen as soon as water and power are back on. He's ready to roll in two days - if only to serve workers and not tourists.

It's amazing how well the French Quarter and homes on higher ground fared.

By the end of the month? Let's get real, folks. Sure, it's good news that SOME (read that "a few") businesses will reopen, and yes, it would be nice to help the New Orleans economy. But, it'll be some time before the city returns to its former grandeur (if that's the right word).

starrsville, being stuck in a tourist location after a hurricane shut it down, I remember too well how bad they need tourist dollars.

Thanks for posting.

But how will you catch a cab there from the airport with no cab drivers, and (more difficult) how will people fly in with hardly any commercial flights in or out of the airport? I'd still recommend waiting a while for things to really get back to normal...

and.....where would you stay all the hotels had their windows blown out.

I don't think it is reasonable to plan a trip there in the near future, until a few of the hotels are able to get repairs done. I'm sure there will be financial assistance as there was after 9/11 in NYC for companies to tide them over until more recovery has happened.

I think you will see some enterprising use of Algiers/West Bank as the entrance to the city by ferry, speedboat etc

"and.....where would you stay all the hotels had their windows blown out?"

This is the kind of totally misinformed post that causes mass confusion. What hotels IN the French Quarter had their windows blown out?

I'm really happy that the French Quarter fared so well. I have had reservations at a hotel there for quite a while, with arrival scheduled in early October. But I am going to cancel my reservations because the rest of the city (a lot of it at any rate) will not be ready. Certainly most of the city's infrastructure will not be up and running in a few weeks. And the amount of severe pollution being found might have to be cleaned up before many visitors can be really safe.

There's no meanness in my saying these things. I think if a person wants to go to the FQ in the near future, he/she is not going to enjoy the things that many visitors normally enjoy. Again, this is only my opinion, but having grown up in the area and having been in New Orleans countless times, I know that a meaningful recovery of the city's facilities is still many months, if not a couple of years away.

Let's see. what will you do? There was a feature on NPR about the folks that play in the jazz places--no instruments? Who is going to be the waiters and busboys. The maids in the hotels? I wish it would be true, but being "open" may not mean "ready for toursists".

That's what I was thinking Patrick! You saw the Hyatt with blown out windows, wantsomesun, but even that is up and running as a 75 room hotel with water (cold as of Sunday anyway) and A/C, housing support staff for the clean-up! And here's a report from a friend of ours connected with Sonesta: "The Royal Sonesta NO is back in action housing CNN and various relief agencies. Power generators for all the hotel and the water is back running. They are now trying to get a restaurant and bar in operation."

With a mandatory evacuation though, where would they find the personnel to keep the hotels and restaurants running, other than the bare minimum necessities? End of the month sounds optimistic, but stranger things have happened when people put their minds to it.

It's sheer insanity, foolishness and, yes, perhaps even stupidity, to think that the French Quarter will be in any shape to meet, greet and treat tourists by the end of September.....or October....or perhaps even later, for that matter.

From what I've seen and read, Gretchen is right. Although a few valiant business owners have said they'll welcome anyone who shows up--and indeed, in the Quarter, some bars never even closed--officials mean that the Quarter will be open for residents and business people to return freely. That does not mean "open for business as usual". But I can't say what the right thing to do is. IMO, it's too soon to burden these people with guests. But when the time is right, they will certainly need our tourist dollars, as well as a plan for reducing NO's dependence on tourism.

Aw, bunchargum has a little friend! Or a new personality has emerged from the teeming cesspool in his head...

Actually, I suspect it will be surprising how quickly parts of NO bounce back once power and water are restored to them.

Keep in mind that although much of the area will be uninhabitable for quite some time, there's going to be an army of clean-up and construction workers there who are going to need places to stay and places to eat. As an undamaged area, the French Quarter will be a nighttime magnet for these folks.

Yes labor may be scarce to begin with - but to begin with so will the patrons. As the number of patrons grows, so too will the number of waiters and cooks.

You may start to see the area begin to be "fairly" lively by early October (though not what it was before the storm). By the end of October, I'll bet it will be pretty busy there again.

With tourism being such a big part of the New Orleans economy, you can bet that the city will do everything it cam to revitalize tourism as soon as possible.

Now Orleans suffered terribly - but mostly not in the tourist areas. The French Quarter is apparently intact, as is most of the Garden District.

Ken

Oooh, Bunch has a new little friend!

If Ray Nagin says the French Quarter is open for business then I'll beleive him and if I have the money, I'll visit.

I would imagine the man IN CHARGE of the city would have thought through those pesky little details like public transporation, restaurants, accommodations, and the like before announcing to the world that his city is open for business.

I would love to be able to go down soon! But I'm not sure of the logistics. It's still being reported on our local news that unless you have proof that you are a resident or own a business, you're not allowed in. At least for Jefferson Parish, and you have to go through that to get to the French Quarter.

The FQ will serve as the food & bed resources for CNN, Fema, contractors, consultants--all people on expense accts first and then visitors will come. It will come slowly but surely.

What may be more devastating is the idea being tossed out by fish and game officials is that we may not be able to eat La seafood for a decade due to pollution

According to the Washington Post, the timetable for allowing residents back in is being moved up for certain areas. A sizeable portion (1/3) of the city will be allowing residents to gradually return over the next couple weeks. The population of these areas is 170,000. Obviously there are many things down there that need to be fixed and cleaned up, but I don't think there will be a problem finding unemployed residents who need a paycheck and will be willing to do whatever they can, including staffing restaurants/hotels and other tourist destinations.

There was a story in my local newspaper (no, not USA Today) about a displaced Katrina person heading back because the job is starting back. I think he was from Jefferson Parish.

The areas that weren't totally distroyed, like the French Quater and the Garden District can get up and going with generators and imported/bottled water. Maybe the staff will sleep in the buildings at first.

Sure, some touristy things won't be available, but you can substitute others. There was another post about plantations are open for business.

As with any town, it changes over time. This change, however, was sudden and obvious.

Intersting article in the NY Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/13/bu.../13hotels.html
As Gretchen said, open and open for tourists are quite different.
Hopefully for tourists will be soon.

Actually the thing mostly likely to delay the rebirth of tourism in New Orleans is not so much the damage, but the PERCEPTION that the city has been destroyed. Historically that has almost always been the case.

Thailand was 99 percent fine after the big tsunami passed through. The east coast resorts and interior sites were fine. There were even many resorts on the west coast that for one reason or another were largely untouched by the waves (they were on slightly higher ground or irregularities of the ocean bottom resulted in smaller waves there, etc). From ALL I've read, the beaches there were more beautiful than they'd been in decades. Many of these places were up and functioning within hours or days - yet people stayed away because the PERRCEPTION created by the media was that the entire area had been ravaged. These places were up and running, staffed and begging for folks to come visit them. New orleans will be the same in a relatively short time.

Remember to the media, normality is NOT news and they will NOT show it. The focus is always on the worst hit areas, thus giving the perception that the ENTIRE area is ravaged.

The fact is that it's pretty clear the French Quarter is largely untouched - as are most of the other tourist areas. They will not need generators, the power that is coming back on thoughout the city is regular city power.

Most (not all) of the areas that were submerged are NOT areas where toursist are likely to go.

It won't always be National Guardmen there. An army of professional construction workers (carpenter, plumbers, electricians) will soon have the econmoy of New Orleans booming. I expect you will start to see these folks appearing on the scene sometime next month (maybe sooner).

Ken

Wow, some real winners here today! Funny how the quality of the posts seem to be directly proportional to the poster's ability to spell and/or use proper grammar. Anyone else think some of these trolls are actually in the 2nd grade?!? padrik? whada yous thinck? :-)

Upon checking the websites of several FQ hotels, they state that they will remain closed for tourist business until 10-15 at the earliest (most say after October 31)
Many are currently providing food and shelter for relief workers and media (although, the NY Times article said some of the food in the Royal Sonesta was a tub of peanut butter and a tray of apples--no gourmet fare for a while yet!)

MzPossum -

Well, I guess we'll see. They may be right, but so far things seem to be shifting to the "left" and happening sooner than originally expected (water level dropping sooner, power coming back on sooner, allowing people back in the parts of the city sooner, etc, etc).

Time will tell.
I think I'll stand by my predictions of a far degree of activy and psudo- normalcy over the course of the month of October though.

I may be wrong, but that's my guess...

...and I'm stickin' to it.

:)

Ken

Now if only I could learn to type.

Ken

Bottled water is nice....but it might take a lot for a decent shower. I think I'd wait until they got the laundry up and running. I hate dirty sheets or "clean" sheets that have been washed in polluted water.

Ken, I agree with your post.

The city has zero funds coming in and FEMA is having to cover employee city wages.

Also every day hotels aren't open, it is costing shareholders money.

I agree that NO will be up and running (or limping) much sooner than people think.

I've seen it firsthand.

Bunch-nice to see you and all your little friends today!

To get back on topic for those who are really interested in New Orleans and not in bashing each other: One of the best websites for updates of all sorts is www.nola.com. It shows status of the city almost minute by minute, chronicled by city district and by neighboring cities around Lake Pontchartrain. If you REALLY want to know what's going on in the whole area, you can read reports by real citizens on site, rather than by CNN or other media. You will also get good updates from the local Times-Picayune newspaper.

As for visiting New Orleans (and this is the last time I'll say this, but some posters here just don't seem to understand)---sure, you'll be able to visit pretty soon. But I can assure you it won't be much of a visit. Hope is always a good attitude, but reality is better---and reality says it will be a long time before the average tourist can return to New Orleans and enjoy it.

Well said, Wayne. That's just the point I was trying to get across in my posting this morning.

I've got a friend who has a home in the Garden District. She has always noted that being 8 ft above sealevel has advantages...

Still, she has a home elsewhere in the US (and happened to be visiting friends in Maine lately) so it is doubtful that she is hurrying back to see how her house fared just yet. In fact, I think it would be wise to wait until you could be certain that the water system is safe, electricity has been restored, etc.

Meanwhile, the sooner businesses can open up to serve the people who have liveable places to return to, the better. It's clear that things will progress in stages. That includes building up some sort of an interim economy. GOOD LUCK NEW ORLEANS!