Day 292: The Good & The Bad

Thanks to good samaritans, D & B have recovered their stolen trailer along with a few items that were left behind.  “While the valuable items — china, silverware, an antique desk, a collection of antique Christmas ornaments — were gone, [the couple] was delighted to discover that the two crates of family photographs had been left behind, as were a handful of older Santa Claus figures from the couple’s original collection of 30.” 

In the last post on this matter, I reported that a pod had been stolen, as that was what I was initially told by a member of the family.  In fact, the container was a utility trailer with wheels, but it doesn’t make the crime any less egregious.  Also, the fact that the trailer was discovered in MidCity gives me reason not to rule out that local crooks committed the theft.  D & B have their pictures – their real treasures – back, and I breathe a sigh of contentment.

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In not so good news, my dear friend, Amanda, has decided to leave New Orleans.  A resident of the French Quarter, she feels increasingly unsafe in her own neighborhood, and her pay and tips dwindle while rent has gone up by $500 in the last two months.  She simply cannot afford parking tickets (half legit and half not), rental insurance and other amenities any longer.  

Amanda’s cherry on top came when she was accosted by not one, but two, men while crossing Bourbon St. yesterday to get in her parked car.  When she begged him to escort her back to her building on Royal St. (where Amanda is the only tenant), she was sternly informed by an NOPD officer that he was not allowed to leave his post on Bourbon under any circumstances.

With affordable and safe housing almost impossible to find in this city, Amanda leaves at the beginning of August after taking the Louisiana bar exam.  Until then, a mix of her male and female friends will make sure that Amanda remains safe and calm until exam week is over.  This will be a great loss to New Orleans and us, but the beautiful blonde assures us she has given her departure a lot of thought and finds it the best current option, whether temporary or permanent.

This is not the first such deflating story I’ve heard.  In fact, Amanda is the fifth or sixth in a growing number of Quarter and Marigny inhabitants to leave New Orleans.  How are average citizens without great jobs, offstreet parking, alarms, security and reliable neighbors to live here?  We need more police officers/patrols and for the inflation of property value and insurance costs to stop.  Otherwise, what we have is a great recipe for a slow exodus.