Stay connected with the past

Ms. Tina had a wonderful visit to New Orleans. She wore Megan and I out, taking us all over town and out to the bayou and even dancing at TWO places in ONE night. Wooeee, I still need some rest after that.
Among the many things we did was drive by the house pictured here. It is just 2 blocks from our place in the heart of Uptown, generally a very hip and vibrant neighborhood and among the least affected by Katrina. In complete disrepair since long before the storm, the place is a giant relic of an earlier time, set amongst houses that are well maintained and very much lived in. Tina saw it and offerred an idea that she had read about people in New Orleans and why so many structures seem to be left to become part of nature; people here like to stay connected with the past.
For me this connection with the past is one of many examples of the way that New Orleans vehemently resists homogeny. It will NOT in any way become just another American city. And its own neighborhoods refuse to become like the other neighborhoods. The fancy Garden District has pillars all the way to the roof on every house and a porch on two levels while the Uptown neighborhood has shotgun houses with tall windows on their long one-story front. The Marigny borders on the French quarter but is much less tourist friendly and with much better music.

There are many problems that arise in this city, maybe in part due to the resistance to form a government that operates like other governments. Maybe there should be less poverty, and in-turn less crime, and less corruption, and maybe the city shouldn't be built under sea-level, and the levees should actually work, and the river should be cleaner, and there shouldn't be so many damn pot-holes, and buildings should get cleaned and repaired once in a while, and the roads should make more sense, and the bars shouldn't serve alcohol 24 hours a day. But don't dare try to tell New Orleans to be more like any other city because it won't ever do that. It will always have better music, and better festivals, and mardi gras, and better stories, and better parties, and better ghosts, and better pot-holes, and the people will stay more connected with their past.