Atlanta’s evacuees, more likely to have left New Orleans before the flooding, often express enthusiasm for starting over in a place where even dishwashers start at $7 an hour. It is not unusual to hear people here declare the hurricane a net positive in their lives. In Houston, a city that offers similar economic opportunity, the mood lies on the far side of resignation, closer to homesickness and despair.At our church, Our Lady of Lourdes, near the MLK tomb, the congregation welcomed maybe a dozen people from New Orleans. My mom stopped on the highway once to help a couple whose van had broken down and it turned out they were from New Orleans. One of the people living in my house while I'm away this year was a refugee from the hurricane's economic impact on the city's film industry. Dear family friends of ours live in New Orleans and the son moved to Atlanta for a time to live with his sister. On the other hand, when helping a friend look for apartments soon after the hurricane, one apartment owner warned us to "Be careful...there are lots of New Orleans people here, walking around, causing trouble."
...many evacuees felt more at home with, even inspired by, Atlanta’s long tradition of black leadership and success.
There are so many New Orleans/Atlanta connections, and the cities have much in common on both sides of the equation: lots of heart, especially in black and diverse communities, but lots of entrenched poverty and racism as well. Power structures are also quite similar, I'd wager, but Atlanta has gotten the greener side of the fence economically, although we can't wave a stick at New Orleans culture.
Culturally, then, I'd say Atlanta is going to see a long-term net benefit from the exodus. We were lucky to be chosen, rather than a city of last resort. It's a sad observation, but one I hope we appreciate, as many of the "New Orleans people" put down roots and make a new home in the Capital of the South, the "No South," our adopted hometown, for better or for worse.
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