Blight in New Orleans

Somewhere in Central City, New Orleans, LA.

I won't say all the two story houses look like this, but some of them do.  An errant motorcyclist or bicyclist or simple pedestrian will encounter a fair share on a zigzagging path if he or she has his or her eyes open for such details.  We see the Leaning Tower of Central City today, not to be confused with Mid-City, New Orleans.

You come across the darnedest things in New Orleans and you never know if they are due to the levee failures during Hurricane Katrina or if they've been that way for decades.  I'm starting to just take things in stride.  It is what it is.  New Orleans is such a hodgepodge.  It was difficult enough to make sense of the place before the Army Corps of Engineers fell asleep at the switch for a decade or two before Katrina.  After the fact, it's a a slurry of mud and gumbo.

I'm not in a position to point my finger and assign blame.  My job is to enjoy what I've been given at this point in time.  Nice work if you can get it.  I see the decay, I witness the blight, I see the renaissance, the tradition and the vim of a city on the upswing.  I don't know what to make of it all.  I reserve my judgement.  There are wiser folk than I who have lived through a lot more, a lot worse, and a lot better.  For now, I make my patrols around the Crescent City, eyes open, ears cocked, and pen in hand.