[kiml122]

Originally Posted by MsDelta797

The lower 9th ward is impoverished when you compare it to the French Quarter and some areas of Uptown where there are mansions. This is a fairly large area and was 99 to 99.5 percent Black. It was very family oriented there, everybody knew everybody in the neighborhood. Alot of people owned houses and lived there for 30 or more years. People there worked very Hard at jobs that either paid minimum wage or a little over, what you call your working poor. Now, of course this doesnt apply to every individual there because there are exceptions. As far as a bad area, to me crime was all over the city, maybe a few neighborhoods in the lower 9(as we call it) were "hot spots" for crime, but again we have them all over. It still looks like Katrina just hit there. It's very overwhelming and heartbreaking to know that many people will not come back because they simply can't afford to do so. Almost the entire area would have to be demolished because there, at least the part I saw, was no water line. This is the area of the city that would need the most help.
New Orleans East, is also a part of the 9th ward, just not a part of the lower 9th ward. Many people that stayed there are your lower middle to upper middle class. Many people lost everything there as well.
Although I personally didn't stay in the lower 9th ward, I had family and in-laws that did. I have lived in the East.
Everyone is still waiting for the money from the government so that they can rebuild and that hasn't happened yet. Then there are the insurance companies that won't pay as seen on the documentary. So many people are stuck in limbo.
If any of my fellow New Orleanians can add anything Please do.
I hope that this shed some light and answered your question, Soror.

Yes Soror it shed a lot of light, and thanks for the history.