New Orleans under threat from misconceptions
New Orleans is a city famous for many things, as the setting of A Streetcar Named Desire, as the host city of the famous Mardi Gras, which is one of the most visited events in America, as a major hub for jazz and blues musicians and as the most celebrated city of the American South.
When Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005 it flooded 85% of the city and displaced hundreds of millions of people, the city government was no longer able to function, rescue teams were overwhelmed and chaos ruled the streets. In a matter of days this hub of tourism, culture and history was turned into a disaster zone with many commentators making comparisons to the so-called ‘third world’.
Some wondered if the city would be able to recover at all. But it did, New Orleans remains a tourist hot spot and redevelopment has been taking place around the city. But the BP oil spill is the latest disaster to threaten the city’s revenue generating potential.
New Orleans relies on tourism for up to 40% of tax revenues and in 2004 over 10 million people visited the city compared to a decrease of 45% in 2006. The lost revenue was a hammer-blow to an already embattled industry, but the city has fought on, regaining ground and redressing misconceptions that were proliferated during the hurricane.
As chaos took hold of the city and reports of crimes such as violent assaults, theft, rape, muggings and murder were broadcast across the country and the world, New Orleans reputation took a serious knock. The American public, unused to seeing images of a city in their country brought to its knees, were led to believe something must be wrong with New Orleans, that it was ‘different’ in some way to the rest of the country.
These perceptions of difference, of crime and violence, remain almost half a decade after the disaster, but a new misconception, one entirely different, is making the rounds and threatening another great aspect of New Orleans, our food industry and award winning restaurants.
“Due to misperception, people are still thinking you can’t get shrimp po-boys, that there’s no oysters,” Jennifer Day told New Orleans news media. “A lot of our marketing campaign is getting the New Orleans’ chefs to tell the world, ‘This food is safe, and I would not jeopardize my career by putting food on the table that is going to make people sick.’”
New Orleans, famous for its seafood, is now faced with declining sales amid perceptions that the usual seafood is not available, or that it is unsafe to eat. In fact, neither is true. There are shrimp, oysters and grouper available and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has said there’s no need for the public to worry about the safety of the food.
When New Orleans news and national news providers reported that the NOAA had closed off 57,000 square miles of federal fishing grounds in the Gulf, many took that as a sign that New Orleans seafood industry was crippled. But, although the size of the closed off area is huge, almost the size of the UK, the crippling damage may well come from misconceptions about the state rather than the actual effects of the oil spill itself.
In the meantime, the city is also faced with a $67 million budget deficit, due in large part to the decreased tourism, which normally contributes up to a quarter of the funds for the local government’s operating budget.
Mayor Mitch Landrieu recently announced that a series of meetings would be held over the next few weeks in order to provide a platform by which local communities can share their thoughts on how to tackle the deficit. Budget cuts are essential and there is bound to be considerable debate on what spending policies should be trimmed and those that should be protected.
At least one meeting will be held in each city council district and will be hosted by the mayor and a number of city department heads to listen and share views with the public. It’s part of an initiative launched by the mayor, which he calls “budgeting for outcomes”. By attending the meetings and listening to residents, he hopes to build a picture of what residents of the city want to see happen next year.
Based on this, funding will be allocated accordingly.
“We build a budget based around what we want to see happen,” Chief Administrative Officer Andy Kopplin told New Orleans news media at a recent meeting with the City Council’s Budget Committee.
But, with Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the downturn and resultant recession in 2008/09 and now the oil spill and perceptions around the world of its effects on New Orleans, the city is facing a tough couple of years.
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New Orleans Focus
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New Orleans under threat from misconceptions
Looking toward the end of the year and 2011, there are two major challenges facing the city of New Orleans, the misconception created by the oil spill and the massive budget deficit that needs to be filled at a time when the city is still recovering from the devastation of Katrina in 2005.
New Orleans is a city famous for many things, as the setting of A Streetcar Named Desire, as the host city of the famous Mardi Gras, which is one of the most visited events in America, as a major hub for jazz and blues musicians and as the most celebrated city of the American South. Read more
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