Opportunities and Tensions in a Post-Katrina “Brain Gain”
Marla Nelson
Associate Professor
mnelson@uno.edu
Renia Ehrenfeucht
Assistant Professor
renia.ehrenfeucht@uno.edu
Department of Planning and Urban Studies
University of New Orleans
Paper presented for the New Orleans Political Economy Symposium
September 10, 2010
Tulane University
New Orleans
Opportunities and Tensions in a Post-Katrina “Brain Gain”
I. Introduction
According to recent statistics, New Orleans has regained roughly three-quarters of its preKatrina population exceeding many observers’ expectations of the city’s recovery (Carr
2009). Aggregate population statistics, while a useful indicator in tracking recovery,
mask important demographic shifts in the city’s population. New Orleans remains a
majority African American city, yet its share of African American residents has slipped
from 67 to 60%. African American neighborhoods were disproportionately impacted by
the storm. Homeowners in these areas have faced greater obstacles and received fewer
rebuilding resources than their counterparts in predominately white areas of the city
(Bates and Green, 2009). Many low- and moderate-income renters have also faced
difficulties returning due to the slow recovery of the city’s rental housing and public
housing redevelopment.
Meanwhile, there has been a sizeable influx of newcomers from Latino day
laborers to young post-graduates and young professionals who have come to the city to
be part of rebuilding. According to results of a 2008 survey, 10% of the city’s residents,
upwards of 30,000 people, moved to New Orleans after the storm (City of New Orleans,
2010). Although both Latino and young college-educated professional immigration to
central cities have been visible trends in metropolitan areas nationwide, New Orleans’
sluggish economy prevented the city from benefiting from either before the 2005 storms.
These demographic changes have invoked both hope and concern. This paper
focuses on one dimension of demographic change: highly mobile, young and mid-career
professionals who have returned to or moved to New Orleans after Hurricanes Katrina
(August 2005) and Rita (September 2005) to take part in recovery and rebuilding. We
refer to this subgroup as “socially motivated” professionals or “social entrepreneurs” —
individuals who, driven by a sense of vocation, work in the public, private or non-profit
sector attempting to address social challenges in local communities (Leadbeater, 1997;
Purdue, 2001). Many contend that the presence and effectiveness of this subgroup of
professionals is significant to local governments given their pivotal role in promoting
intersector initiatives aimed at alleviating social problems (Bornstein, 2004; Korosec and
Berman, 2006; Squazzoni, 2009; Waddock and Post, 1991). For some, the post-Katrina
“brain gain” heralds an opportunity for the city to transition to a knowledge-based
economy and has catalyzed numerous public and private efforts to attract and retain these
creative workers. For others, the influx of young, college-educated professionals is a
harbinger of further shifts in political power, gentrification and the loss of the city’s rich
cultural traditions (Carr, 2009; Reid, 2007).
In this project, we interviewed young and mid career professionals about their
decisions to come to New Orleans, the work they are doing and what they anticipate will
impact future decisions. The questions were designed for the respondents to reflect on
their locational decision making process and the work that they do. This paper is a
preliminary assessment of our findings. In next section, we discuss our research design.
We then outline two distinct areas in our findings.1 The first area focused on the
qualitative factors that determined job and locational decisions. We found that although
job availability (or alternative opportunities) determined a majority of our respondents’
1
In subsequent drafts, these two areas will be separated into two papers and developed further.
decision to move to New Orleans, the qualitative dimensions of the positions were more
important than wages. Being part of the recovery encouraged many to look for positions
in New Orleans or return “home” to the city if they had moved away. Even though New
Orleans specific amenities were not a factor, the respondents were only choosing among
amenity rich cities. We conclude the paper by briefly considering amenity based policy
interventions to attract and retain creative workers in New Orleans and elsewhere which
our findings suggest may be misguided.
In the second area, we discuss the professional tensions that surround this group.
Our respondents felt a strong need to see the impact of their work and be change agents
and often felt frustrated by various impediments they identified that ranged from a
mistrust of outsiders to others’ incompetence. They also expressed significant ambiguity
between their desire to celebrate New Orleans’ unique qualities and change the city for
the “better.”
II.
Research design
This article draws on semi-structured interviews with 78 young and mid-career
professionals who moved to or returned to New Orleans after the hurricanes. The 30-60
minute interviews were conducted between March and July of 2009 and addressed three
main topics: factors that influenced their decisions to come to or return to New Orleans
after the hurricanes; the professional environment in which they are working; amenities
and factors that are likely to influence their future decisions about where to live and
work.
In soliciting interviewees, formal interview requests were sent to the listservs of
two organizations oriented towards young professionals—the New Orleans Young Urban
Rebuilding Professionals Initiative (NOLA YURP) and the Young Leadership Council
(YLC). NOLA YURP is a social networking group of close to 3,000 members established
in 2007 to build a support and resource network for the thousands of individuals,
primarily in their early and mid 20s, from diverse backgrounds who moved to New
Orleans to participate in recovery efforts. The YLC was established over 30 years ago
and its members are predominantly from New Orleans or long-term residents who arrived
before the 2005 hurricanes. YLC members tend to be in their late 20s and 30s and
therefore older than NOLA YURP members. We also unsuccessfully attempted to request
interviews through the Urban League of Greater New Orleans Young Professionals.
Additionally interviews were requested with individuals who arrived in New
Orleans through the Rockefeller Redevelopment Fellowship Program, a program that
placed 27 early and mid career professionals in local government agencies and housing
and community development organizations. Finally, we employed a snowball sampling
technique, contacting individuals who were referred to us by prior interviewees. A
professional transcription firm transcribed the interviews and the authors coded the data
in Nvivo.
Of the 78 interviewees, approximately 61 percent were women and 39 percent
were men. Approximately 77 percent were white, 17 percent were African American and
5 percent were Asian American. We only interviewed one Latina. Twenty eight percent
were originally from New Orleans. Thirty one percent were living in New Orleans preKatina. The median age was 29 years old.
There are several limitations of this study. First, the interviewees are not a
representative sample and African Americans are assumed to be significantly
underrepresented and Latinos are also likely underrepresented. Second, there is potential
for interview bias brought about by the social desirability effect. The attention the “brain
gain” has received from the press and local leaders may have influenced interviewees’
responses with respect to their motives for coming to or returning to New Orleans, the
factors that will influence their future locational decisions, and their perspectives on New
Orleans professional culture. Finally, the interview data only provide a snapshot of
interviewees’ locational preferences and concerns and may not accurately reflect what
will influence their future decisions.
III.
Opportunities to attract professionals to New Orleans, or the job vs.
amenities question
In his highly influential book The Rise of the Creative Class (2002), Richard Florida
argues whereas people once followed jobs, jobs in the post-industrial economy now
follow highly mobile creative workers who base their decisions to relocate on the cultural
amenities, diversity of population, and quality of life considerations. Whether human
capital leads to urban growth and development or successful cities and regions draw and
retain highly skilled and educated workers nonetheless is a matter of much debate (see for
instance Glaesar and Saiz, 2003; Malizia and Feser in Lang and Danielsen, 2005; Storper
and Scott, 2009), and scholars are skeptical of Florida’s contentions given the lack of a
causal mechanism linking “creatives” with urban growth (Markusen, 2006; Peck, 2005).
Other researchers have criticized the notion of the creative class as an undifferentiated
social group, highlighting the diversity of urban dwellers and creative class members
with distinct interests, different locational opportunities, and varying preferences (Allen,
2007; Markusen, 2006).
City governments have nevertheless responded to Florida’s contentions that
amenities attract creative workers and are investing in consumer amenities, historic
housing redevelopment, and art focused redevelopment schemes in order to attract and
retain young, “creative” workers. According to Florida (2002), creative workers are not
drawn to big-ticket attractions like stadiums or festival marketplaces but by more active,
informal, smaller-scale street-level amenities including cafés, galleries and bistros, a
vibrant street life, and cutting edge music and art scenes. Such strategies have been
propelled from the fringe of economic development practice to the mainstream. As
Malanga (2004: 36) details: “Providence, Rhode Island, is so worried that it doesn’t
appeal to hip, young technology workers that local economic-development officials are
urging a campaign to make the city the nation’s capital of independent rock music. In
Pittsburgh, another place that fears it lacks appeal among talented young people, officials
want to build bike paths and outdoor hiking trails to make the city a magnet for creative
workers. Meanwhile, a Memphis economic-development group is pressing that city to
hold ‘celebrations of diversity’ to attract more gays and minorities, in order—in their
view—to bolster the local economy.”
For our respondents, jobs were the primary driver and most respondents secured a
job or opportunity prior to coming. The type of job mattered more than the wages. Many
sought desirable jobs in different cities even if they wanted to come to New Orleans
because it appeared to be a place where they could make a difference. The lack of
possibility for advancement and relatively weak job market in New Orleans were
identified as factors likely to influence future decisions to leave the city. Although our
interviewees did not come to New Orleans because of the amenities or the city’s unique
qualities, most were choosing among amenity rich cities. Finally, although the types of
amenities that these young professionals valued mirrored those found in other studies,
they specifically enjoyed how accessible the amenities were, that they spent more leisure
time, and that their professional and personal lives overlapped.
Jobs
Three quarters of the people we spoke with had secured a job, volunteer position
or graduate school admittance before moving to New Orleans, however they sought
specific types of jobs/opportunities. They came to “make a difference” and help the city
rebuild. And while many of these socially motivated young professionals appreciate the
cultural amenities and quality of life in New Orleans, the amenities are not what brought
them here. The following quotes from both life-long residents and newcomers capture the
desire for a meaningful career through which they can affect change.
I was disillusioned by my legal career. I was feeling like I wasn’t really
making a whole lot of difference to anyone. I wasn’t really contributing to
the betterment of society for a lack of a better way to say it. (white
woman, 30s)
I’ve had eight years of getting paid a lot of money to do something that I
didn’t feel very satisfied with and that wasn’t personally fulfilling … so
definitely I want to be doing something that is worthwhile and good for
the world. (white woman, 30s)
Before [Katrina] I was two-car garage, two little dogs, running a small
business … and now I want to do what’s best for the community. It’s a
completely different line of work. (African American man, 30s)
I have met just a lot of people, interested, smart, professional people, who
also are here because they about things, other than just going for money,
which is great, which is something I can identify with. (white man, 30s)
My husband and I were really interested in coming down after Katrina and
Rita hit. . . we just felt like it was a call to action. . . it was like ‘this is our
civil rights struggle, this is our war’, in a sense, that we really should be
engaged in. (Latina, 30s)
While “making a difference” and “affecting change” were important to majority
of young professionals we interviewed, what exactly this meant to the interviewees
varied widely. Some have framed recovery as the “civil rights movement of their time”
and are involved with challenging racial and class injustices at the grassroots level.
Others work within established nonprofit institutions or city agencies. Still others are
employed by private entities working in highly controversial recovery arenas such as
school system reform or public housing redevelopment. Although many sought
specifically to come to New Orleans, as many were considering opportunities in a variety
of locations of which New Orleans was one.
Relative wages levels, while an important consideration for many of our
interviewees, was not a determining factor in their decision of whether to return or move
to New Orleans. In fact, a number of individuals interviewed took substantial pay cuts in
coming or returning to New Orleans that were not offset by decreases in their cost of
living. Our respondents discussed at length the professional opportunities they found, the
impact they felt like they had, and especially the level of responsibility they have been
afforded in New Orleans.
In New York or Washington, I think, you’re immediately replaceable.
There are a million people, not a million, but scores of people, hundreds of
people, just like you. And I think it’s hard to be – a little harder to be
noticed or recognized there. And I think New Orleans is a smaller pond.
It’s a little easier to be a bigger fish in a smaller pond. (white man, 20s)
Looking at the job I have now, I am able to get a wider range of
responsibilities that I would in a similar job in a bigger city…You have an
opportunity to grow up a lot quicker. (white woman, 20s)
Not everyone saw the responsibility as absolutely positive. Some identified significant
stress and others reflected the reason that they would not have the same opportunities
elsewhere was a lack of experience.
Many felt that they would have to leave New Orleans to progress professionally,
and high quality of daily life would not supersede career options. The two factors that
mattered would be opportunities to have greater impact and see that impact as well as
new professional challenges.
I’d love to stay here. But I can’t imagine that I will be able to and still
progress professionally the way that I want to. . . There’s no middle
management here. I can't even get promoted at my own job, and so my
only option, if I want to stay in what I'm doing, is to start my own
company…I feel like DC is probably where I'm going to have to go back
again if I want to continue to do policy work which I do. (Latina, 30s)
The age of the respondent was a notable difference in how our respondents thought about
future moves.
I have a real travel bug. Without any sort of family obligations or that sort
of thing, I have the ability to go elsewhere, to travel. Do I want to go back
to Europe where I went in high school once for a little trip? I haven’t been
back, but I’d like to. Now is the time I can do that. In five or ten years, I
would hope to have my own little piece of land, maybe. Maybe have a
family at some point. (white man, 20s)
I’m 30; I’m not 24. I really can’t – I’ve done it before, moving to a city
without a job and you just make it happen, but I can’t do that, financially.
I’m not gonna do that to myself at 30. (white woman, 30s)
Amenities and Daily Life
Despite Florida’s claims and the actions of economic
development officials across the US, some have questioned the notion that amenities are
the determining factor in where high skilled individuals live. Because high incomes are
exogenously determined individuals must live somewhere they can be well paid before
they can satisfy their consumption tastes. It is therefore more likely that amenities follow
rather than attract, high skilled workers who have the means to consume (Storper and
Manville, 2006; Shapiro, 2005). Consumer amenities vary little between metropolitan
areas and although consumer based amenities may explain why college-educated would
prefer urban to rural areas, they would not explain the decision to live in one metropolitan
area over another (Storper and Manville, 2006).
Our interviews support the assessment that the amenities in one area over another
were not determinative. Although they mentioned the typical New Orleans’ unique
qualities, including food, music, architecture and urban form as well as the city’s public
culture as factors they liked, no one moved here because of these factors nor would stay
because of them. The factors that were identified as most important—as hardest to
leave—was a sense of community and a sense that New Orleans was “authentic.”
I love that there’s a sense of family, and that there’s this sense of
everybody kind of watches out for each other.
What is it about here? What is it about the people here, the life here?”
They still have communities. They know their neighbors. They have
local stores they shop at.
The city is really authentic. It doesn’t pretend to be something it’s not,
and the people don’t pretend to be something that they’re not.
It has a rhythm. I always say when people come visit me that you either
get it or you don't. You either understand what it is about New Orleans or
you just see Bourbon Street and drinking and cockroaches.
Many had moved from amenity-rich cities such as New York and San Francisco, but they
nonetheless specifically identified New Orleans’s cultural amenities and public life as
features they valued. Although they had access to similar and a wider variety of
experiences in the cities the resided in prior to New Orleans, they took advantage of New
Orleans’ offerings more than they had in the past.
In New York, I just think of all these great things to do, and when I’m
there, I never have any time to do any of them. (white woman, 30s)
I never took advantage of [amenities] in New York. I felt like it was so
big, and so overwhelming that it was almost – I didn’t know what to do
sometimes. (white women, 20s)
And I think that the city’s pretty accessible, and easy to get your hands
around. It’s a good size. You can easily get around. You know all the
neighborhoods. You see people you know everywhere. It’s very familiar.
This partially can be attributed to New Orleans’ size, urban form, and affordability, but
respondents identified the local culture of public socializing and slower pace of New
Orleans culture.
I don’t think it’s just that there’s more activities [in New Orleans], more
fun things to do. I think it’s also just a culture of being more social
compared to Boston. Part of that is that we turn into hermits six months
out of the year in Boston because it’s so cold. It’s also a distinct
difference in people’s attitudes about being out and about. (white woman,
30s)
Part of [coming to New Orleans] was looking for somewhere where we
could do productive work, but not have it consume who we were. (white
woman, 20s)
It’s exciting in DC because everyone is very mission focused. And there
was still plenty of that happening here in New Orleans, so it felt like a nice
combination of people being there for the value of what they were doing,
the mission they were doing, without having the same sort of attitude that
if you weren’t at work, you weren’t, you know, doing your job somehow,
you were slacking. (white man, 30s)
Less often, respondents identified the sense that the city’s challenges and strengths
overlapped as a desirable quality.
One of the characteristics of New Orleans is that there – it’s hard to kind
of shelter yourself from some of the realities of human suffering and
human existence and some of those social issues and things like that,
which, frankly, is something I really enjoy about this place. Because I
think it’s too easy for us to build a little bottle around us and act like oh,
that’s over there. Separate from us. You know, there’s starving children
over there, there’s homeless people, mentally ill people, that’s all out
there. And I’ve got my safe little world in here. And I like that New
Orleans challenges you about that.
IV.
Tensions around who is rebuilding whose city
Tensions between “natives” and “transplants” are hardly new. In New Orleans, they can
be traced back to the early 19th century conflicts between Americans and Creoles (Lewis,
2003), and underlie many nineteenth and early twentieth century reform movements.
They arise in rapidly changing cities, and are a basic experience in neighborhood change.
Long term residents often appreciate some elements of change when mistrusting others
(Freeman, 2006). New middle-income residents also feel entitled to call the police or
agencies with authority when they dislike existing activities (Freeman, 2006; Proudfoot
and McCann, 2008).
The hurricanes aftermath heightened tensions in New Orleans, in part because of
substantial immigration and in-migration of new residents for the first time in decades
when many New Orleanians have been unable to return from their Katrina imposed
displacement. In the 2000 census, New Orleans had the highest share of native-born
residents of any major US city, with 77 percent of New Orleanians born in Louisiana.
Such a large share of native residents contributes to the city’s strong sense of pride, close
ties and family connections, and rich cultural traditions.
Public conversations about the city’s shifting demographic profile engendered
fear that some were not welcome home. This was grounded in direct statements from
influential residents. Millionaire businessman Jimmy Reiss was quoted in the Wall Street
Journal that Katrina changed New Orleans for the better if low income African
Americans could not return (Horne, 1996: 214-215). With a different sentiment but
similar proposal, more than 200 liberal social scientists saw the displacement as an
opportunity to “deconcentrate poverty” (Reed, 2006: xviii). The rhetoric against people
returning came from various sources and even popular council member Oliver Thomas
invoked welfare queen stereotypes when he stated that those who did not work were not
welcome back (Reed, 2006).
Reiss along with developer Joseph Canizaro—who had redeveloped a public
housing project in New Orleans into “mixed income” housing—were appointed to the
mayor’s Bring New Orleans Back Commission (Horne, 2006: 200-215). The resulting
discussions about “shrinking the footprint” were reasonably viewed by many as a
mechanism of exclusion that would prevent some residents from returning (Sanyika,
2009). There was palpable concern among many residents that evacuation made well
located neighborhoods ripe for redevelopment and gentrification, and clearing residents
from swaths of land could facilitate this process.
An influx of professionals in the post-Katrina environment
The influx of outside
resources and newcomers to the city nevertheless increased the capacity of local agencies
and organizations. Various programs, including the Rockefeller Fellows Program, the
National Alliance of Vietnamese American Service Agencies (NAVASA), Teach for
America, and Americorps created opportunities for mostly young but some mid career
professionals to work in New Orleans where otherwise there would not have been
funding for paid positions. The participants were native New Orleanians, people living in
New Orleans prior to the hurricanes as well as newcomers.
Many NAVASA fellows, for example, were staff—a few long term staff members
and more short term volunteer positions—that established and developed the Mary Queen
of Viet Nam Community Development Corporation (MQVN CDC), an organization
associated with the Vietnamese-American Mary Queen of Viet Nam catholic church in
New Orleans East. The MQVN CDC has been effective. It successfully opposed a
proposed landfill and administered a city-wide small business grant program as well as
helping residents navigate the complex recovery processes. MQVN CDC is also building
a Low Income Housing Tax Credit project for senior housing and a community garden.
Other non profit organizations hired Americorps volunteers and the Rockefeller
Fellowship program provided staff to public agencies such as the New Orleans
Redevelopment Authority and non profit organizations working in housing and
community development.
Tensions surrounding the change agents
Many of our respondents saw themselves as
change agents. As many emphasized that they happened to be in New Orleans now and
made specific efforts not to suggest that young newcomers were what drove the changes.
A common experience nonetheless was a sense of impatience.
‘Can we just get something done, please? Can we build some houses?
Can we take some damaged houses down so we can replace them? Can
we rehab some houses?’ These things happen very slowly. Not a lot is
happening that you can point to with your finger over the last 18 months…
it’s been a slow game. For people in their 20s and 30s that really want to
be a part of something that’s moving and happening, I think it has required
people to be fairly patient. (white man, 40s)
I think there’s just been an incredible frustration with things not moving
forward, and so, in that frustration, there’s a willingness to try something
different and open to it. And so I’ve seen opportunity. I think people that
are now calling me to say, “Let’s talk about homelessness,” that, for the
first six months, were fighting me…and now are inviting me to the table.
And so, I think that there has been a shift, and I think it stems from
frustration and I think just a lack of movement forward. But I don't care
what it is. I'm just glad it’s happening. (Latina, 30s)
In the post-Katrina environment, myriad tensions arose. While many of the
newcomers we interviewed expressed feeling welcomed on a personal level, they spoke
of the professional difficulties they have encountered due to their “outsider” status. One
individual noted how he was routinely asked where he was from as a way to
“symbolically deport” him and place outside of the community (white man, 40s). Another
remarked, “I wasn’t prepared to the degree of which people will say, you know what, you
may know, we do things our own way down here, and I do feel as though that despite my
experience, and what I can bring, people really do discount being an outsider” (white
man, 30s). African American respondents who had come to New Orleans after the
hurricanes also identified professional outsider tensions and specifically mentioned the
African American or Creole elite.
Some white newcomers felt that they were mistrusted both because they were
white and nonlocals. Some described it as understandable, in the sense that “the pie has
been shrinking for so long…everybody is really focused on holding onto their piece as
opposed to being willing to work with people” to increase opportunities (white man, 30s)
while others attributed it to “racism.”
Those who were from New Orleans were more likely to identify tensions in the
city’s history and find it logical.
I’m working with a coalition of young professionals … some of young
professionals …who aren't from here don't get …why everything ends up
breaking down along racial lines and why … every discussion, discussion
about master planning becomes about race, a discussion about
transparency is about race, a discussion about public schools becomes
about race and they don't understand … but I also meet with a group of
older civic and political African-American leaders and there’s a lack of
trust of the white community that I can’t completely dismiss (African
American man, 30s)
While the particular context was one of recovery and redevelopment, a mistrust of
outsiders who want to effect change, particularly those engaged in community
development, is logical and not unique to New Orleans. Some felt they could overcome
barriers associated with being an outsider by demonstrating their commitment to the city
and the particular neighborhoods in which they work.
What I learned in my ten years of doing development work … is that
that’s how [residents] look at anyone…You don’t know what the history is
in the neighborhood. You have to learn to work with people in order to
overcome those barriers. That’s going to be a barrier anywhere you
are…What I found is once you start answering phone calls and following
through, they don’t care if you’re from Mars. They know that you care
about doing the work in the community, and that’s the end of the story for
them. (white man, 40s)
I’ve been told multiple times, “You're not from here. You don't really
know,” and there’s some level of truth to that. I’ve worked in a lot of
different communities, and I’ve worked in communities like organizing
even a specific neighborhood. And so it’s not the first time that I’ve heard
that, and it’s not unique to New Orleans. And I think people think it’s
unique to New Orleans because maybe this is the first place they’ve been
away from somewhere else, but it happens everywhere… But I would say
in New Orleans, it’s unique in that it – you still – you don't ever really
overcome that…[but] just because you didn’t graduate from high school
from here doesn’t mean you're not invested. (Latina, 30s)
The respondents also referred to ineffectiveness or even incompetence of others
they had to work with as an impediment. They nonetheless felt ambivalent about stating
this directly. When talking about a specific situation, they might convey an impediment
such as when a respondent, when referring to the head of a New Orleans office of a
national consulting firm, “doesn’t know how to use a computer … I was like don’t you
have a server, like a shared drive where you keep all your company’s files? So he’s like, I
don’t know” (white woman, 20s). But in a different interview, a respondent described
what she referred to as cultural differences between Seattle and New Orleans, calling
Seattle a well oiled machine with people in New Orleans being less rule following. She
initially gave the example of waiting for the light to change for pedestrians to cross the
street. When asked for a work related example, she explained she differentiated her
objective at work from the city representatives she worked with: “[their] focus is not
getting things done. It’s talking about them and kinda shuffling around paper” (white
woman, 20s). She then called working with the city “disastrous.”
The respondents articulated ambivalence about their role and what they were
attempting to accomplish.
The shift in attitude to make this place some place that works a little better
is actually a little troubling. I want it to work, but it’s part of the ethos of
the place to have it not work quite so well. People always say it’s the
northern most Caribbean city, and if you make it into a Seattle, it no
longer has that character, and I don’t really know where we draw the line,
and all these people coming in to fix the city, and how we fix it without
just changing the character of the place. So I have thought about that a lot
because I’m part of it. I’m part of the influx of people that doesn’t expect
a city to run this way, expect it to run a little bit better. (white woman,
20s)
You know, [in New Orleans] everybody’s got a side muscle. Everybody’s
got a way to make a little bit of money on the side. They’ve got a part
time job. They’ve got something going on. And that’s partly
entrepreneurial, but it’s been a really informal economy, in some ways.
And I think that still continues, but I think that things have gotten a lot
more formalized. I know that’s true for housing codes. You can’t just hire
any “Jack” carpenter to come and fix up your house. You’ve got to get a
permit. The city’s actually watching now. You’ve got to do things by the
letter of the law, and I think, that goes for business, as well. . . But there is
a little bit more red tape than there used to be. And that is only going to
benefit the people who are savvy enough to navigate. (white man, 30s).
It is also important not to romanticize “the way things were,” and privilege local
culture rather than openness to change. When we asked our interviewees whether New
Orleans was an open city, discussing both new ideas and different people, a number of
respondents discussed being the first Asian American or Latina at the table, and the
impact and adjustment others had to make to shift out of a black/white city framework.
V.
Policies
Should the city being making an effort to retain this subgroup, and if so, what form
should these efforts take? Markusen (2006) has called for greater attention to specific
occupations of creative workers as collective actors in urban development to understand
the social, economic and political roles particular subgroups of creative professionals
play within the city and craft effective programs to attract and retain them. Other
researchers however have questioned the appropriateness of creative class strategies,
arguing instead for more traditional measures such as investing in education and
increasing advancement opportunities for low-wage workers (Donegan et al 2008;
Donegan and Lowe 2008).
In Louisiana, one local lawmaker has proposed a bill to eliminate state income
taxes for residents ages 18 to 29 who are in college or have a college degree in efforts to
stop educated young people from leaving Louisiana (New Orleans CityBusiness, 2009a).
New Orleans’ Downtown Development District has recently secured a $750,000 grant
from the US Economic Development Administration to facilitate amenity development,
social networks, and place branding that will attract and retain creative workers (New
Orleans CityBusiness, 2009b). Results of our interviews suggest that these policy
interventions are misguided. The respondents in their 20s were footloose and anticipated
various moves (graduate school, travel) before settling down. Other that we spoke shared
concerns similar to those of the entire population: quality of public schools, economic
opportunities and quality of infrastructure such as roads. Other also wanted to live in a
greener city, mentioning recycling and public transportation in particular. And some
expressed direct frustration that any resources were being directed towards this subgroup.
Policies to keep this population here, to the extent that they are pursued at all, might
better strive for quality of life improvements that benefit the city as a whole.
VI.
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