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The article is a fair summary of what is going on in Broadmoor right now, and the author interviewed the right people. But she missed an important fact touched on by one of the other commenters. Yes, this was a manmade disaster. And that is verified by the fact that Broadmoor was completely dry immediately after Katrina passed. It was only after the levees broke that the neighborhood went under.
Since early 2003, Broadmoor has been significantly protected against natural flooding from rains by virtue of the Southeast Louisiana Drainage Improvement Project, or SELA for short. Precisely because it is at the bottom of the bowl, the Army Corps of Engineers and the New Orleans Sewerage & Water Board poured tens of millions of dollars into pumping and drainage improvements throughout the neighborhood from 1998 to 2003. From personal observation (and hopefully, objective data, which I am in the process of collecting), SELA works like a charm. This has been left out of nearly every high-level conversation about the city, and I have no idea why. SELA amply demonstrates that local drainage solutions building on existing infrastructure can work just as effectively as abandoning a neighborhood and turning it into urban wetland (an idea which is just totally nuts).
With repair of the levees, extension of SELA (which will happen, since they've gotten over $225 million to spend) and coastal restoration, why should people be made to move out of Broadmoor? Otherwise, we might as well all move into concrete bunkers perched on 200 foot high pilings and be given a lifetime supply of bubble-wrap clothes.
By the way, I'm typing this from my family's house in Broadmoor right now, and so are many other people. And new people are moving into the neighborhood every day.
Also (and this is addressed to inside-the-beltway think-tank dope John McIlwain), we in Broadmoor are not saying, "The hell with you" to the city. As a matter of fact, we are looking at solutions that not only benefit our neighborhood, but the city at-large. It must be nice to be able to paint thousands of people with such broad strokes and not have to worry about what they are actually saying. Also, the plan as laid out by ULI and the city calls for neighborhood planning throughout the city, so I don't know what he's talking about when he says that neighborhoods are pulling against a citywide effort.
