??Condition of the city???

I am thinking about attending a convention in March in New Orleans. My husband is torn on weather or not he should join me after the convention is over. We had heard the city is still %26#39;not up to par';. Can anyone comment on weather we should go now, or wait until a future date? I was thinking about staying at the Ritz. Thanks for your input!

??Condition of the city???

The French Quarter and Garden District are in good shape. The rest of the city still has a long way to go towards recovery, but the %26#39;tourist%26#39; areas are fine. Tell hubby to come on down and have a great time. It is still a wonderful place to visit.

??Condition of the city???

The FQ, Garden District and CBD are fine and more than ready for tourist! We have been 2 times since Katrina and going again in October.

Go have a great time, eat, explore and find all that New Orleans has to offer:)

Celena

The original poster%26#39;s comments are indicative of how the media is absolutely KILLING the recovery of the New Orleans tourism industry. Every week, negative stories are online and on the tube yet rarely do I see stories about how great the city looks in the ';tourist'; areas, how charter schools are finally improving the test scores of kids in the city, how there are plenty of recovery-related jobs here, how the ';spirit'; of the city (which is what makes New Orleans what it is!) is still alive, etc.

Off my soapbox now, lmw9767, please convince the hubby to come visit. You%26#39;d have a great time if you were stepping off the plane tomorrow and I have no reason to think it won%26#39;t be even better in March %26#39;08!

I have been to NOLA once before Katrina, and twice after. Other than some shortages of staffing in 2006, I think that the French Quarter is NICER than before the hurricane. I had to listen to the same things myself, someone actually asked me (this year) why I would want to be in a city with bodies still floating around!!! While I was visiting in June there were three murders, one of a hairdresser in the French Quarter, and if I hadn%26#39;t seen it on the news, I would never have known it happened.

I am sure there are plenty of things not ';up to par'; for the people living in New Orleans. If you go, take the Katrina tour by Isabell. It will open your eyes to how lucky you are. But please visit this great city. As long as you stay in the tourist areas, such as the Frenqh Quarter, you are as safe as in any large city. Other than some street car routes, everything that you could want to do is back to normal.

I think that what New Orleans needs to have to counteract the negative images that we get from the media, is television advertising...saturate the tv stations with commercials showing everything that there is to do in New Orleans and how great the tourist areas look now. While internet advertising is fine, it is really only accessible to people who are already searching for the information. TV commercials would come into everyone%26#39;s house whether they are actively looking for information about New Orleans or not.

Recently I saw something on tv that had New Orleans music in the background, a riverboat, buggy ride, etc...and I thought %26#39;Finally they have made a commercial for New Orleans tourism...%26#39; but no, it was a preview for K-Ville and of course that series probably won%26#39;t be good advertisement since it is a crime drama.

I think TV ads are a great idea but they cost money, and lots of it. The state and the local tourism folks have been doing multi-million dollar ad buys but it still only scratches the surface.

My partner and I went to NOLA for a vacation in Jan and found the city to be up and running - in fact we had such a great time we are planning to go back again after Christmas. Overall, you will not notice anything out of place (although a few places were understaffed while we were there, but this was the only evidence of the hurricane that was left). You should go!

We actually live in Lafayette, LA but have an apartment in New Orleans. Agree media has made a mess of things. I think they are just trying to keep it in the public eye.

We are goiong to New Orleans in the morning for four days. After traveling to many places, it seems like going back to New Orleans often would be boring. NEVER!

We have a fantastic time whenever we are there!

Stay in the Quarter. Find a great restaurant. My fav is GW Finns or Dickie Brennan%26#39;s Steakhouse.

DO breakfast at Brennan%26#39;s! Must get a red rooster!

Walk the Quarter. Take a cruise on the steamboat Natchez.

You will have a great time!

I was never lucky enough to visit New Orleans pre Katrina, but I have visited twice since. (would go more often if I lived on the same continent). It is a beautiful city and you will love it. Not entirely sure the Ritz is the best place to stay if it is your first visit. On the very edge of the French Quarter and the area my be a bit intimidating to some if you are not used to the place.

Just got back from 5 days in New Orleans.

What a beautiful city!

There is so much to do - we still have a long list of things to do next time that we visit.

The city was full of people and most everything seemed to be open and running in the French Quarter and Central Business District.

Go now and have your husband come with you!

Our main purpose of our trip was to help out with Habitat for Humanity so I do have to say that although the ';tourist areas'; look great there are many neighborhoods that look like the hurricane happened last week. Our thoughts and prayers are with all of those people.

We are planning on going back to New Orleans as soon as we can.

Our family had a great time and we enjoyed meeting all of the nice people of NOLA!