One Path to Rebirth in New Orleans - New York Times

One Path to Rebirth in New Orleans - New York Times:

"While New Orleans haggles over a master redevelopment plan, people in some neighborhoods like Broadmoor have been rebuilding on their own. They are forming partnerships with companies, universities and nonprofit groups to help gut homes, assemble volunteers and find pumping equipment.

“I think what has happened is the government has pursued a very laissez-faire approach,” said Thomas Murphy, a senior fellow with the Urban Land Institute in Washington. “There’s been no strong redevelopment authority to date; that agency doesn’t exist.”

Rebuilding has not been easy. For those who choose to stay, sky-high insurance premiums and rising crime rates await. Insurance payouts have been slow, and a state rebuilding program has paid only a small fraction of applicants. In a city that often did not run smoothly before Katrina, some residents are growing frustrated and leaving. But others, like those in Broadmoor, refuse to go."