What Happens to the Ninth Ward

This is one of the poorer communities in New Orleans, and one that was severely flooded. There is little doubt that tens (if not hundreds) of thousands of homes have been destroyed.

Will these communities be rebuilt?

There are the areas of town tourist didn't visit. The parts of town that drugs moved into, where the police disliked to patrol. It is also home to thousands. Where they grew up, raised their families, ran their businesses, and are growing old.

It is no secret that the upscale parts of the city would not cry at the loss of the ninth ward. Many developers cherish the opportunity to move in carve out bigger lots, and build lavish homes so close to the city. It could lead to the urban renewal that has evaded New Orleans for years.

But, what of the people of the ninth ward.

this neighborhood, with its shops advertising Po' Boys a free drink with every one boiled crawfish and shrimp, and its simple, one-room churches, still had a spark of life. Its remaining residents, driven onto their porches and stoops by the midday heat last week, were a testament to the self-reliance and pride that develops in people who live in a place that has a reputation for police neglect, for being one of the last neighborhoods on the list for government attention. Some are here because they always have been, others because they took a chance on a piece of property. The real estate is all they have and to have left it would not have been evacuation, but desertion.

Lets pray that in the coming months and years the desire for renewal always considers the people who lived there. A city is more than buildings and streets. It's heart and soul are the sum of those who live there. New Orleans is the Garden District, and the Quarter, but it is also the ninth ward, and they can not be overlooked.