NEW ORLEANS' POST-KATRINA GENTRIFICATION IS TOUCHY

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http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_KATRINA_GENTRIFYING_NEW_ORLEANS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-08-28-05-24-15

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- With Isaac bearing down on New Orleans, the city finds itself at a delicate moment in its rebuilding since Hurricane Katrina struck seven years ago.

Private and government investment is fueling the push to overhaul some of the city's troubled but culturally rich neighborhoods near the French Quarter, where poor families are being replaced as wealthier ones move in. While the city's in a boom and even gentrifying, some question whether it will wither the roots that grew the city's distinctive identity.

"New Orleans is becoming a boutique city like San Francisco," said Gary Clark, a politics professor at Dillard University. "You may see black middle class moving in, but with gentrification there's overwhelmingly white individuals of means who become the new urban pioneers."

The number of whites, although smaller than before Katrina, has grown as an overall percentage from 28 percent to 33 percent of the city's population. The city has its first white mayor since the 1970s, while the City Council now has a majority of white members.