House rebuilding on the rise in St. Bernard and Orleans parishes, survey finds

The Times Picayune reported that of the flooded areas in Louisiana’s St. Bernard and Orleans parishes, 62 percent of homes have been rebuilt or are under renovation, according to data from a University of New Orleans study released this week.

The findings show a large increase from UNO's 2007 flood zone survey, which found 35 percent of homes had been renovated or had work in progress, and their spring 2006 survey that found only about 15 percent of housing being rebuilt.

Yet, stark inequalities in the areas where housing is being built remain. The Times Picayune reported that the survey found the highest percentage of intact houses in a segment of New Orleans’ upper-class Carrollton neighborhood, where 95 percent of homes were renovated or being worked on. The least-renovated area in New Orleans was the 9th Ward. In the Lower 9th Ward, the survey counted houses in the 1700 and 1800 blocks of Delery and Tricou streets, and found that 26 percent of houses were being redone, 23 percent had been demolished and 51 percent were marked "derelict": gutted but nothing more, according to the Times Picayune.

Labels: Gulf Coast Reconstruction Watch, housing, new orleans