New Orleans Rising

Glenn Reynolds, the Instapundit, has some thoughts about disaster tourism - or the return of tourists to areas devastated by natural disasters. We saw this in New York City after 9/11, throughout South Asia (and particularly Thailand) after the South Asian tsunami, and now we're witnessing something similar in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast.

Some may think it's macabre. I don't. There was a reason that these areas were tourist havens in the first place. It was their raison d'etre. And it will likely be again. The problem is knowing whether it's too soon to resume tourism.

To me, the earliest that tourism can or should resume depends wholly on whether the infrastructure is capable of dealing with the influx of tourists. This includes basic sanitation, fire, or police service. Since many local economies rely on tourism - including restaurants (which New Orleans is famous for), hotels, convention services, and all the services that rely on tourism for their business.

Staying away only harms those people that are trying to rebuild after these disasters. And how is that helpful?

UPDATE:
Mayor Nagin has said that Mardi Gras will be held as scheduled. Is that a great idea? Well, is the city going to be able to handle the influx? Are the hotels and businesses going to be able to handle the influx of people that swells the population? The Mayor thinks so. But the residents of New Orleans have decided that their futures lie elsewhere - like on the East Bank. And what about the levees? The Corps is fighting against time to make repairs that only will restore the levees to their prior level of strength.

The Times Picayune has some more resolutions for the new year.

Elsewhere, Biloxi may be on the verge of a condo boom as developers pore though guidelines and planning documents to build new units.

Before Hurricane Katrina, there were roughly 3,000 condo units proposed in the city. At the end of November, three months after the storm, 23 condo developments comprising 9,587 units were being proposed, according to the city's Web site.

Community development officials have estimated the proposed developments' total value at $386 million - a sum they say is conservative because construction costs were not available for more than half of the 23.

One condo developer credits Biloxi's explosion, in part, to the development ordinance, which is a detailed guideline for developers and architects to follow to gain approval.

"The two most aggressive communities I have dealt with are Biloxi and D'Iberville," said developer Mike Boudreaux. "As you go further west, there is a different mindset. There is not an open-arms ability to go in there and get something done immediately. (In Biloxi) they come in knowing exactly what they need to do."
Boudreaux's Gulf Coast Investment Developers has 14 Biloxi condo projects under way. Three are under construction.