Remake NOLA As "Silicon Gulf"?

[AnnieBW]

I heard an interesting presentation by a tech guru named Roger McNamee this week at a business conference. He's not your usual Silicon Valley suit that's more interested in an IPO than doing what's right. He pitched an interesting idea that could gain some traction. The U.S., especially the tech industry, should use NOLA and the other damaged parts of the Gulf Coast as a lab for high-tech investment. Municipal WiFi, WiMAX, the whole nine yards. Put in the latest and greatest telecom equipment. Use our engineering know-how to rebuild the city so that it maintains it's old-world charm, but has the very latest in high tech. To me, it sounds like a great idea. Thoughts?

Here's his blog: http://www.thenewnormal.com/

[aquart]

1. Uh huh.

And none of it can be wiped out in the next cat 5?

Talk about concentrating on the least important thing.

[don954]

2. jobs

you cant just concentrate on one thing, cities are complex organisms that need all sorts of care and feeding. N.O. needs its defenses shored up (the levy system) along with its economy, one of the reasons its defenses were allowed to wane was due to the money=power factor, and NO hasn’t had much money in a while..

[MADem]

3. Well, when you see what has happened when that city flooded

--imports/exports affected, gas and oil supplies disrupted, it would seem they had the power, but just did not realize it. Everyone knows how critical they are now, every time they gas up, or go to a store and see prices have been hiked, again...

NOLA will always be a massive tourist destination, IF they can get it back on line--that is a huge sector, right there. The oil and gas ain't going away, nor is the outlet to the sea. Why not add a high tech patina over the whole lot--it sure couldn't hurt.

[TahitiNut]

4. Heaven forbid that New Orleans be what its RESIDENTS make of it.

Let's all just decide for them. :eyes:

What has bothered me most of all in this debacle is the tacit disenfranchisement of the People of New Orleans. Unconstrained by the will of the people, the local government of New Orleans is now a rogue government. Without an electorate, what legitimacy is there? Not only have they been forced out of their homes and had their jobs eliminated and property destroyed, their "body politic" has been (almost literally) dismembered and scattered across the lands. Rather than empower the people themselves to rebuild and resurrect their own community, the 'elite' have usurped the decision-making authority and presume the same kind of "central planning" that doomed the Soviet Union.

[Psephos]

5. The contrarian view would be...

...that when tens of billions of dollars (or more) flow into New Orleans for rebuilding, that gives the contributors some say.

Given New Orleans' (and Louisiana's) long and systemic corruption, that probably goes double.

Peace.

[orwell]

6. Unfortunately...

...logic would dictate that you don't rebuild the city at all. But of course, logic doesn't dictate anything anymore.

If you are going to rebuild, you might as well put in a 21st century communications infrastructure including VOIP and broadband wireless nodes everywhere. That is what China is doing.

[TahitiNut]

8. Towns and cities arise where people choose to live.

They're not created by some Omnipotent Hand of Government reaching down and anointing the site.

Indeed, not only do the people choose to live where they will and build towns and cities, people also form their own governments. I've very wary of the paradigm of central planning and (in effect) capsized 'ship of state' usurping the decision-making power. In my vew, it is NOT "New Orleans" we should be focused upon, but the PEOPLE (formerly?) of New Orleans. Rather than usurping their rights of self-determination, I think we should be focused on defending their empowerment as both individuals and a community.

If, in spending BILLIONS of taxpayer dollars (not to mention other funds), we benefit those who would EXPLOIT this tragedy and inherit the lands and enfranchisement of the people of that community, then we're merely exacerbating this tragedy.

It is the PEOPLE who must be our focus. If instead we focus on lands and buildings and "rebuild" merely to benefit some future residents and owners in no way harmed by this catastrophe, then we're accessories to a crime of exploitation.

[gulfcoastliberal]

7. Louisiana is disappearing into the Gulf and NOLA will be underwater

NO MATTER WHAT, unless they spend hundreds of billions on a Dutch-type seawall - when they could move the city and do the below for that price. Every year an area equivalent to 1.5 Manhattans of the most precious coastal wetlands in the country fall into the Gulf, due to the Levees that hold the Mississippi penned in since the flood of 1927. Louisiana was BUILT on ALLUVIAL DEPOSITS from Canada, New York - the entire watershed the Mississippi river drains - and is now literally sinking because the deposits have stopped. Now several tributaries to the Mississippi contribute NO silt because of damming. The Gulf will continue its march, drowning entire communities (it has already drowned many) and one day Baton Rouge will be waterfront property. Apparently no-one cares about the massive loss, also exacerbated by all the canals dug for oil and gas lines - which contribute greatly to the erosion. They need to dismantle the levees and move New Orleans inland, and allow the alluvial deposits of the Mississippi to deposit once more in the bayous and marshes of Louisiana rather than dumping uselessly off the Continental shelf, creating the dead zone. Not a popular idea - but the only one that will save one of the greatest wetlands, marine life, and bird estuaries in the country. Period.

[Psephos]

9. Absolutely correct - a good post n/t

[gulfcoastliberal]

10. Thanks, I wish more were cognizant of this disaster.

People complain when a few acres of wetlands get filled, when every day 2 football fields of the most productive, precious wetlands anywhere dissapear beneath the Gulf waters permanently. And it could be remedied if LA politicians grew a backbone.