The high is above sea level. It is the older town.
The places where people originally settled and where the town once was constrained to. It is business and history and infrastructure and the parts of New Orleans we see when we usually are shown New Orleans in movies and TV and print.The low is below sea level. It is the newer town.
The ninth ward. The places where people later settled. After World War II. Middle income once. Devastated now. Mostly empty. Maybe 20% of the homes and people it had once. Before the floods of Katrina.The broken levees are being rebuilt. So that the low ground town parts can be reinhabited. "Safely" this time they say. The empty low town portions of town are being peppered with a few new homes.
Some (with the help of a Brad Pitt foundation) very modern and energy efficient. Most spaces are empty still. Filled with weeds and brush where there were once vibrant neighborhoods.Meanwhile the promised help from the state and nation has slowed to a trickle. And the people who once lived in the low ground have moved on. Or struggle to rebuild on their own. With the help of neighbors. The American way.
