TWO QUESTIONS FOR 2021
At French Quarter Citizens, this year started off, as did the rest of the world, with high hopes at the beginning of a new decade. We’re ending the year questioning the idea of democracy and the thought of individual liberty. Aside from maybe Jason Williams and a number of the new judges elected, most people will be glad to see the year 2020 come to a close.
The scourge of COVID-19 has dealt our City a particularly harsh hand. New Orleans, as well as other tightly packed urban centers, has had to do what is totally unnatural to our culture – not socialize. Instead we have to practice social distancing, an anathema by its very definition. In a city that exists largely on tourism, we are hurting. Our businesses are hurting, our famed culinary institutions are hurting, the legions of people who bring this City to life every day and make this place run and survive, have all suffered.
It has been a mixed blessing for the French Quarter. For many of the people who have lived here for decades, the past 10 months has evoked the feeling of the French Quarter that was, when it was truly a neighborhood without the hordes of tourists. While this vision may be somewhat enjoyable, it is not one without consequences. We need a vibrant, well-managed tourism industry to survive. The economy of the City of New Orleans depends on the tax money derived from our tourist business. After all, how much can our property taxes go up before they become totally unrealistic compared to the services we receive?
As the epicenter of our legacy, the French Quarter always gets the focus: of festivals, of celebrations, of parades, and of the accompanying pressures of safety, crime, cleanliness and enforcement. When any hurricane can totally shut down our economy, we should question the wisdom of business and civic leaders who fail to diversify our economic base. Any plan that impacts the French Quarter should have, and needs to have, the input of its residents and businesses. Where is the economic analysis? How many good jobs will be created? Can the City afford to implement the plan as well as manage it?
Looking at the past for future answers to these questions is not encouraging. Where should we look?
As citizens of the City and residents of the French Quarter, we can ask for two things from our City administration first and foremost: can we be safe from flooding, and can we live here without fear when walking or driving down the street? Any other efforts to build, move, pedestrianize, resign, or repaint only serve to obscure a failure to answer these two important questions.
We need a better effort to address security issues in the Quarter, and indeed the entire City, than we have had from the recent ”quarter for the Quarter” endeavor. An efficient, well-managed NOPD should be our goal, rather than a hodgepodge of overlapping entities and security districts. A well managed and responsive Sewerage and Water Board that coordinates with every other infrastructure entity will go a long way to modernizing and solving our perennial flooding problems.
Volunteer organizations like French Quarter Citizens continue to advocate for common sense approaches to making our neighborhood a safer more hospitable place to live in and visit. Our list of issues address, but is not limited to: enforcement of existing laws, the proliferation of 5G poles and their design, homelessness, graffiti, ABO regulation, architectural issues related to zoning, excessive noise, panhandlers, lighting, litter, sidewalk repairs, oversize vehicles, pedestrian malls, street closures and upgrades, water system leaks, cleanliness, property tax issues, increased fees and regulations, etc.
Add to this the overriding issues of street flooding and safety, plus a pandemic
WHEW!
Quite a job for volunteers on any level!
We are not alone in dealing with the pandemic and its effect on our cities. Changing demographics and increased regulations have put limitations on state and local funding across the nation, and have forced cities throughout the country to deal with the absolute most important issues. Nightlife and cultural events have come to a complete halt. The loss of hundreds of restaurants and jobs has given people few reasons to visit New Orleans and the French Quarter. This makes it increasingly important to make what we have work. And work well.
As a City, we have risen to meet challenges before. For 300 years we have overcome the “Accidental City” status of our location, and given ourselves the “City of a Million Dreams” by virtue of our resilient citizenry.
What we need, and must demand, is enlightened leadership that engages the geographic and political terrain, as well as the cultural mix of our population to work with what we have. Squandering limited resources on plans that do not keep the residents and tourists dry and safe are not in our best interests. Not maintaining and managing our existing resources only damages “our brand” and our livability.
We can’t guarantee success, but we can do something better, we can deserve it.
-Joseph Addison from the play “Cato”
The residents of New Orleans deserve a reason for hope (not dashed again).
Glade Bilby II
President, French Quarter Citizens