It's the new year - i.e. 1 A.K. (After Katrina). Traffic lights are still broken, the streetcar is still sleeping, and potholes are sprouting like mushrooms in the crumbling streets. But there is progress - massive amounts of progress - and I suppose that's where the momentum should be. Everyone's frustrated with where we are a year later, everyone's fed up with higher insurance premiums, higher rental/real estate prices, fewer flights from and to the airport, and everyone's wondering where the hell all that money went.
But - I still love this place. I'm sick of feeling geographically retarded and getting wrinkled eyebrows from relatives and friends who live in cities that work. Yeah, yeah, things still suck in New Orleans. But last night I danced in the streets in a second-line birthday parade through the Tremé neighborhood. I can't do that in Austin. Or New York. Or Seattle. Those are places where I can't get a decent po-boy, or meet such friendly strangers, or take my champagne out of the bar and sip it on my bicycle ride home. And countless other quirky things from beignets to zoo exhibits that feature recipes for cooking the animal you're looking at.
There's a LOT to be said for cities that work - cities with a functioning sewer system, a non-bankrupt utility/energy company, few potholes, good air quality, more than one hospital in the central metro area. I really want to live in a city that works, and I hope New Orleans gets a few kinks sorted out in the year 1 A.K. It better start looking up soon, for the sake of all the broken hearts that call New Orleans home.
