I've often wondered who are the people who have the ability and power to change the city? Is it a matter of the right people not caring, or is it beyond saving at this point?

Or maybe we should really treat it as The City That Care Forgot? Order another round, swing that doo-rag around the second line, and forget about the reality staring us in the face. Crank up the tunes man. Hey, at least WWOZ streams over the Internet now.

The "leadership" of the city abdicated sometime after the Morrison days. New Orleans used to have the port and manufacturing, and truly competed to be the first city of the South. Now tourism provides jobs for chambermaids and busboys, but no middle class. Private and parochial schools have trained nothing but lawyers and doctors since the 60s, and the public system is just starved. Kids have no local STEM opportunities outside the oil and gas industry. I wish NOLA could revive in my lifetime, but it won't.

> I've often wondered who are the people who have the ability and power to change the city? Is it a matter of the right people not caring, or is it beyond saving at this point?

Those who have the ability and power to change the city are its citizens. Always stand up for what you believe in and contribute wherever you can. Engage with or become a civil servant. Vote. Democratic progress is slow but inevitable if we stay focused.

Perhaps the city in its current form is beyond saving. At the very least it may serve as a giant remediation laboratory should technology to reverse humanity's assault on nature and all its inhabitants be developed. Ironically, the solution will likely come from nature.