A NEW New Orleans

Joel Kotkin has some pointed words about New Orleans:

For decades before this latest hurricane, public life, including the police force, were battered by corruption and eroded by inefficiency. Now Katrina has brought into public view the once-invisible masses of desperately poor people whom New Orleans' tourist economy and political system have so clearly failed.

Although the number of hotel rooms in the city has grown by about 50% over the last few years, tourism produces relatively few high-wage jobs. It encourages people to learn extraordinary slide trombone technique, develop 100 exquisite recipes for crawfish and keep swarms of conventioneers happy — none of which are easy or unimportant tasks. But this economy does little to nurture the array of skills that sustain a large and diverse workforce. Contrary to Florida's precepts, having a strong gay community, lively street culture, great food, tremendous music and lively arts have not been enough to lure the "creative class" to New Orleans. The city has been at best a marginal player in the evolving tech and information economy.

The answer become more like Houston.