Marketplace

The Fruits of Our Labors

First — thanks for responding to our coverage of the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Your comments reflect enormous compassion and concern. As I mentioned in last week’s post, this is a story that will stay with me for a long, long time. And I do plan to return at least once a year to report on progress… or lack thereof.

There was one critical comment/question that several listeners sent in to Marketplace. Here’s a sampling:

“I was listening to the report on New Orleans and was wondering why the story was about how bad it was that people were not rebuilding. It seems to me that it doesn’t make any sense for people to build in a flood plain. Why allow people to rebuild in a place that has been flooded and will be flooded again. The smart thing to do is to give people money to build somewhere where it makes sense. Not building in New Orleans is a good idea, not a a bad idea.”

“Ms. Vigeland reported with disappointment that neighborhoods in the New Orleans flood plain were not being rebuilt. That people are not rebuilding their homes in an area that is below sea level should be seen as wise and prudent; not disappointing. With a rising ocean, relocating to higher ground is the only responsible action. This story could have been reported as a city moving forward (and upward) with an eye towards the future instead of seeing a failure to recreate a failed experiment.”

These may be valid arguments. But it’s a little late to be making them, isn’t it? This country had a very short — and shallow — post-Katrina conversation about how and whether to rebuild New Orleans. Ultimately the city decided to allow residents to rebuild in the flood zone… and as we mentioned in the show, in an effort to just get the population to return to NOLA, it even allowed residents to go to city hall to reduce their damage assessments so they didn’t have to elevate their homes. So you have to deal with that reality. And I’m not sure the political will exists — at any level — to move people out of the flood zone now that they’ve already returned. Why not make it easier for them to rebuild to a level of safety that experts agree could save thousands of homes, and possibly lives, in the next storm?

Moving on… we’ll be dedicating THIS week’s show to all of our respective labors, and the fruits thereof. We’ve got interviews about how women can become better salary negotiators (‘cause studies show we’re awful at it) and what the mommy track means for women who decide to re-join the workforce later in life. We’ll also take a look at the role of online job networking, where, just like offline, it’s less about what you know than WHO you know. And if you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to run a business with your spouse all day and then go home to… your spouse… we’ve got some couples who’ve done it. Some worked out… some, uh, didn’t.

Meanwhile… I’ll be laboring on Monday — will you?

• August 25, 2008
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