Five years later, a richer, whiter New Orleans

Sat, 28 Aug 2010 21:01:00 +0000

Still reeling in the wake of the BP oil disaster, New Orleans is approaching the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina on Sunday. The city has replaced almost all its levees, moved and upgraded pumping stations, written new evacuation plans for the most vulnerable residents, and is now well prepared to withstand another 100-year storm like the one that hit five years ago.

New Orleans now hosts 354,850 residents, almost 78 percent of its pre-Katrina population. At the same time, the city has become significantly whiter since the storm: It is now only 60 percent black, compared to 67 percent black, pre-Katrina. And many of the poorer black people who left town after the storm have yet to return.

New Orleans has gone through a boom while other cities have suffered during the recent recession. The number of poor people living in Orleans Parish has halved to 68,000 over the last five years, with median household incomes rising to $47,585 -- just as household incomes declined nationally over the same period. There is a healthier share of middle-class families in downtown New Orleans.

Salon.com > Matt Davis

Five years later, a richer, whiter New Orleans