Is it safe to come out?

Barring any new calamities, the reconstruction of New Orleans will now begin in earnest. Like most bloggers, my opinion is, of course, invaluable:

Never been there, but I understand it was a fairly pedestrian-friendly place. That's great. To build on that, the city and the region should follow new urban policies to encourage just that kind of development, only strong enough to withstand a Cat 5.

This is a great opportunity for the city to not only rebuild its quaint streetcar system, but also to create a comprehensive rapid-rail system to move people in, out and about the city quickly and efficiently -- and with an eye toward evacuation, should it be necessary once more.

I think at this point, we can all agree that the 9th Ward is in a hell of a spot. Twice flooded in the space of a month, I doubt many people would want to return. The government should buy out the folks there and turn the neighborhood into an urban wetland to absorb future floodwaters without risking lives or property.

The massive housing projects should be bulldozed. Concentration of poverty might make the white folks on the rich side of town feel good because they can't see the poor brown people anymore, but it doesn't fix the problem. Concentrate on building mixed-use nieghborhoods that include people of many income levels and prevent the concentration of poverty. That can be the first step toward breaking the cycle of poverty.

And for god's sake, build the levees right! Otherwise it won't matter how pretty the city is.