Monday, September 05, 2005

Kelo and New Orleans

I haven't seen it anywhere else, and it might be too soon, but here is the idea.

Kelo the whole city of New Orleans. Give the people that own property there the market value of the LAND (most structures are going to have to be razed) and then develop the land not as residential, but as park and visitor and industrial land.

The Port of New Orleans could be expanded and improved, most of the levees could be removed or reduced to protect the tourist areas/downtown and a great cost savings.

2 comments:

Steven A. Stehling said...

That’s actually not a bad idea. It’s painfully clear that New Orleans, or any other large metropolitan should area should not built on ground below sea level, especially in an area prone to hurricanes.

They should level the already destroyed buildings and then rebuild on higher ground. They’re going to have to completely rebuild the city anways.

Random10 said...

Since almost everyone but the Supreme Court and Kathleen Falk understands that KELO is a horrible expansion of government power, I hesitate to endorse its use even in a unique situation like the New Orleans mess. The market place may achieve your goal at a fraction of the cost. Sooner or later property tax bills will come due on the LAND and that’s when we will determine if the private property of the area rebuilds or gets abandoned. You don’t have to spend tax dollars on abandoned parcels.