I’m not sure what the recovery period is for a life-changing operation like a heart/lung transplant. I also don’t know whether patients view such radical work as bodily destruction or complete renewal. I do imagine that, over time, the scars are less noticeable (but ever-present) and conversation returns to other topics.

The turning point in the recovery of the damage to New Orleans’ heart and soul seems to be about 36 months. My family recently returned to the Big Easy as the launching point for a western Caribbean cruise. The trip provided some great contrast to a visit just 15 months earlier.

The first thing that struck us was the number of visitors. While nowhere near the crowds of the past, there was palpable life in the French Quarter. Last September, New Orleans felt a bit like a ghost town. The restaurants were desolate and sidewalks were empty.

Queuing Up Again

Our measuring stick is the venerable Café du Monde, home of the additive powered-sugar-coated French doughnuts known as beignets. In headier days, you’d queue up night and day for a table, any table. Last year, the place was one-third full on a Saturday evening…typically the peak of busyness. The lines were back this year, and the café au lait was just as good as ever.

Signs of renewal were all around. We stayed in the Warehouse District, a developing area south of the French Quarter past Canal Street. There seemed to be a number of new restaurants in the area, and the weekends meant streets full of cars.

In the Quarter, another sign of re-birth was a joint called Stanley. This is a companion restaurant to Scott Boswell’s Stella! Both places take their names from Tennessee Williams’ “Streetcar Named Desire”; can’t you just see Marlon Brando shouting “Stella!”? Stanley features basic fare with breakfast selections always available, and the aptly-name “Best Reuben in Town.” It’s located in the heart of the French Quarter on Jackson Square. We discovered that by locating in the building, Boswell was able to keep Starbucks from co-opting yet another location into its corner dominance. Stanley represents the drive by New Orleanians to rebuild their city from the inside.

Rebirth in the Ninth Ward

The most significant signs of re-growth were in the now famous Lower Ninth Ward. The piles of debris that dominated street corners last year (two full years after the devastation, mind you) were now gone. More houses appeared to be rebuilt, renovated or removed altogether. The visit last year to the area was disheartening; this year, it was encouraging.

There are some huge renovation project underway in the 9th, including Make It Right, Brad Pitt’s pet project. Make It Right is targeted to build 150 sustainable homes on existing properties in the area. The homes feature eight-foot risers, solar panels for self-generated electricity, and roof hatches for the inevitable “next flood.” About a half dozen of the homes are up and occupied, with another three or four in various phases of construction.

New Orleans is showing its resilience and rejoices. Throughout the French Quarter, visitors are welcomed by locals with genuine open arms. These are the people that see the potential for New Orleans, and seek to rebuild and rejuvenate it to its former grandeur.

Back in the 9th Ward, a small sign among the renovations captured the spirit of the city. The sign originally read “I AM COMING HOME”, a bold declaration of confidence. Now, the word “coming” was covered, revealing a proud ownership in the renewal of the city.

Check out some of our photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/techguy.dm/NOLA9thWardRenewal#

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