New Orleans: Boom Town?

“New Orleans has gone through a boom while other cities have suffered during the recent recession.” But don’t be fooled, says Slate. Katrina exiled many of the city’s poor. “The number of poor people living in Orleans Parish has halved to 68,000 over the last five years, with median household incomes rising to $47,585—just as household incomes declined nationally over the same period. There is a healthier share of middle-class families in downtown New Orleans. But these statistics are largely a result of poor people leaving the city after Katrina and not returning. And there’s a growing divide in the greater New Orleans area between those who have benefited from the city’s recovery and those who haven’t.”