Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

This article examines early resettlement of four neighborhoods in New Orleans’ Uptown district, which was among the first areas to officially reopen for residential return. Drawing on survey data collected from more than 400 households, results show that even in relatively unflooded sections of town, racial and class disparities shaped early returns and accumulated to the disadvantage of African American residents of the city. A key mechanism behind this cumulative disadvantage was that neighborhoods that were predominantly White were disproportionately spared by flooding from the disaster and, consequently, better positioned to host displaced residents from more damaged parts of New Orleans. Because racial boundaries shape housing and social aid networks, White residents from damaged parts of the city became more likely to relocate to these early areas of resettlement, allowing White residents as a whole to play a disproportionate role in the city’s early planning and recovery efforts.

Keywords

disaster vulnerability racial inequality neighborhood recovery

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Associated Press. (2005, September 19). New Orleans mayor suspends reopening of city. International Herald Tribune, p. 1.

Blaiklie, P. , Cannon, T. , Davis, I. , & Wisner, B. ( 1994). At risk: Natural hazards, people’s vulnerability, and disasters. New York: Routledge .

Chase, J. ( 1960). Frenchmen, desire, good children . . . And other streets of New Orleans. New Orleans, LA: R. L. Crager.

Elliott, J.R. , & Pais, J. ( 2006). Race, class and Hurricane Katrina: Social differences in human responses to disaster. Social Science Research, 35, 295-321.

Gilmore, H.W. ( 1944). The old New Orleans and the new: A case of ecology. American Sociological Review, 9, 385-394.

Lewis, P.F. ( 2005). New Orleans: The making of an urban landscape (2nd ed.). Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press.

Logan, J. ( 2006). The impact of Katrina: Race and class in storm-damaged neighborhoods (Working Paper). Providence, RI: Brown University, Department of Sociology.

Preservation Resource Center. (2008). Neighborhoods. New Orleans, LA: Author. Retrieved August 31, 2009, from www.prcno.org

Spain, D. , & Laska, S.B. ( 1980). Anticipating renovators’ demands: New Orleans. In S. B. Laska & D. Spain (Eds.), Back to the city: Issues in neighborhood renovation (pp. 27-41). Oxford, UK: Pergamon.

Unequal Return: The Uneven Resettlements of New Orleans’ Uptown Neighborhoods

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References