Why not leave New Orleans for good?

I have seriously thought about leaving New Orleans for good, now that Gustav has reminded me of the reality of Gulf Coast living.  It's not quite the retirement shangri-la...remember all the deaths in hospitals and nursing homes in the Corps of Engineer's floodwaters in 2005.  What keeps me in New Orleans is the big fish small pool environment.  For example, upon returning from a trip to Oregon two weeks ago, I noticed Art Neville of the Neville Brothers of New Orleans boarding with band members in Salt Lake City.  Then upon arrival in New Orleans, his brother Aaron is waiting at the gate.  New Orleans is a place where celebrities are normal people, who are approachable.  Aaron hasn't returned to live in New Orleans since Katrina so I told him it's good to see him back and he said it's good to be back.

I have many friends and colleagues in New Orleans, many new since Katrina; in a sense, Katrina gave me more reason to stay on that score.  I was called on by my city councilperson to represent her on an official committee that approves or rejects applications for home demolitions, many due to imminent health threat in Katrina's aftermath.  I see the city finally addressing corruption and getting into transparent and accountable government, now with the moves by the newly-installed inspector general of New Orleans.  The inspector, formerly the State of Massachusetts's inspector general, is slowly staffing up and we are already seeing positive movement, like the prosecution of Katrina-related fraud.  I also follow the social activism movement in the city, regarding the displacement of disadvantaged poor, primarily African American.  The city seems caught between the reality of how it had always functioned and how an elite want to move it in a new direction.  This is intriguing to me on a human level as well as scholarly level, as my doctorate in urban studies trained me to see things beyond surface appearances.  How the city has always functioned means - it's basically a tourist town, now even more so; this meant low-wage jobs in hotels, bars, restaurants, entertainment, city services.  How do you get people to get along on low wages?  Supply them with cheap, public housing is one way.  Katrina was used as the excuse to demolish nearly all of this housing, and it is now almost complete but the new replacement "mixed income" housing has yet to be built.  Since 1980 14,000 units have been reduced to a few hundred.  The tourist industry has had trouble getting workers at the lower wages.  The new direction means - it appears an elite have successfully bought up major sections of the city, especially along the Mississippi River so as to cash in on a "new New Orleans" they call "Re-inventing the Cresent."  That includes $300 million worth of riverfront developments, museums, entertainment complexes, etc, etc.  It is interesting that the Louisiana Board of Ethics ruled that Sean Cummings, CEO of New Orleans Building Corporation who is also directing the riverfront development for the city was allowed to buy up at least $1.1 million worth of property in the Faubourg Marigny neighborhood that would vastly increase in value from decisions he was about to make as a public official (see http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4200/is_20080509/ai_n25423214).  Talk about corporate welfare.  So, you see, New Orleans remains in a crucible of 21st century urban change.  I think one way out for the non-elite is the development of community cooperatives with legislative clout...this has yet to form, but the movement has begun.  I believe there is a growing backlash against the elite that would make New Orleans into a stale parody of itself, much like other Disneyland tourist destinations.  This is why I like New Orleans.