So now that water is finally moving into Lake Pontchartrain and the evacuation phase is winding down and some residents are even being allowed to return to their homes, maybe it’s time to ask a couple of questions about New Orleans’ future.
Here’s what I mean: New Orleans is a town built on tourism, right? Service industry is king. And, of course, service industry workers–the people who toil in hotels, restaurants, and nightclubs–get paid practically nothing. Ergo, it should come as no surprise to the rest of the country that New Orleans has such a high percentage of poverty-level families because the city’s major employer pays crapola. It’s these families we’ve seen on TV for the past week, families who couldn’t afford to leave, families who lived in flood-prone neighborhoods, families who have now lost everything.
So if these families, the working poor, weren’t able to leave in the face of a major hurricane, do we really think they’re going to be able to afford to come back? And if they do, what’s there for them? No homes. No family. A city full of restaurants and hotels that will take time to get back up and running. All of which begs the question: how does an industry restart itself without a workforce?
There is, however, a bright side–or at least the possibility of a bright side. To draw people back, the service industry might have to start paying people a living wage. That’d boost the city’s mean income and, quite possibly, New Orleans’ quality of life.
Or maybe–and wouldn’t this be interesting?–maybe New Orleans will set its sights on other economic engines. I mean, yes, tourism will always be an important part of the economy–after all, we’re the most interesting city in America, right? But what if we were able to build our the city’s new foundations upon a second industry? I’m not an economist, I’m not an entrepreneuse, so I don’t know what that might be, but there’s got to be something besides Hooters and the W and the Cat’s Meow.
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