NOLA Blight-Style

I recently joined a recreational flag football team named Team Blight Reduction.  In honor of our 5 touchdown loss the other night, I thought I would snap some photos of a few blighted buildings.

Nearly every American city has its fare share of run-down buildings, and all things considered downtown NOLA is in pretty solid shape.  But if you look around for it, you can find some smatterings of urban decay.  Sometimes an eye-sore, I see these as a strangely comforting reality of living in a city.

At the very least, a run-down empty building can provide for some quality signage.

Bama LifeStyle

I'm at home in Birmingham for a short stint now that finals are over.  To kill some time, I swung by Sloss Furnace, which is an old steel mill from back in the day when this town was known as "Pittsburgh of the South" for its steel production.

Seeing an old run down shotgun next to Sloss Furnace got me thinking about the Big Easy again.  I will be back in NOLA shortly with a cool summer gig in the CBD so I should have some good photo opportunities around town.

Delicious LifeStyle - Cochon

A friend of mine from out of town sent me a link to a NYTimes article about restaurants in New Orleans.  The article itself is a little hokey, but let's be honest - pretty much everything about this city (including this site) is somewhat hokey.  Otherwise, it highlights one of NOLA's most attractive attributes - the sheer number of top-notch restaurants around town.

As a law student of meager means, I have yet to patronize most of our best restaurants.  But I have managed to swing by a few, including my favorite Cochon.  The fact that the co-owner/chef is my landlord has something to do with my affinity.  But I think the restaurant's national attention speaks to the quality of food they put out.  Here is another NYTimes article published during the playoffs (Stephen is the one on the right).

What do these photos have to do with eating out?  Nothing.  But it's exam week and I haven't been outside in awhile.  Deal with it.

Tulane Crawfest

Tulane today is having their annual Crawfest on the quad.  Simple setup: lots of delicious crawdads, a solid lineup of local bands, and free admission for students.  As exams are breathing down our necks, most law students aren't able to fully enjoy the day - but I got more than enough crawfish and sunshine to satisfy my needs.  NOLA always has a good way of relaxing me when I could easily be stressed out of my mind.

Cemetery LifeStyle

Cemetery.

Lower Ninth Ward

Today I made a trip down to the Lower Ninth Ward.  Before Katrina, the Lower Ninth was not extremely wealthy, but it was a reasonably well-off blue collar area of town.  However, the neighborhood took the brunt of the flood.  Even though the hurricane missed NOLA entirely, the water from the storm surge caused the levee along the industrial canal to fail.  That levee borders the Lower Ninth, and everything in the area was flooded.  While the Lower Ninth is not a ghost-town, it is a shadow of what it once was.

Many of the houses that existed before the hurricane have been torn down, a few are being rebuilt, and several are simply empty shells.  The photos below are of a vacant house a few blocks from the levee.  The last photo is where the levee gave way during Katrina.  As always, click the photos for a larger view.

Meyer the Hatter

I meant to do a full write-up of Meyer the Hatter, but I am in a law school time crunch, so a few photos will have to suffice.  Meyer the Hatter has been in New Orleans since the late 1800's, which is impressive.  Even more impressive is that it is still a family owned and operated business.  I met Sam Meyer, who still works the floor of his shop, gives brief history tutorials of the store, and strikes some sweet poses for guys with cameras.... look for him on next season's Next Top Model.