I think it is a good idea but Hurricane Gustav might mess it up again.

good idea!

Ultimately, I think it's a bad idea. There are places not too far from New Orleans that are far better for residential neighborhoods to be built on, rather than have so much of the city below sea level.

Bad idea, almost criminally bad. I know everyone thinks we must rebuild after any disaster and its the right thing to do. We are talking about a city that sits below sea level, on a fault line, in one of the most hurricane prone parts of the world. I know everyone points to the dikes in Holland. Holland doesn't get hurricanes. Those dikes have never been tested in a Katrina-type storm and never will be. If they were, as impressive as they are, they very well might fail too. There should never be one person more in New Orleans than is absolutely necessary to handle the needs of river traffic. It should be an easily evacuated outpost. Create a musicians village somewhere on higher ground where the musicians will be more likely to survive. Otherwise, I'm not sure if you aren't creating a musician extermination program. I know that probably sounds harsh, and I'll probably get downrated for it. I will never forget seeing that grandmother of newborn twins stuck on the broken highway bridge in the hot sun without so much as water to keep them alive. I hope never to see that again. But I'm afraid I'm going to see it again when Gustav hits land. Buildings and streetcars are never as important as people. Streetcars can be moved. Build another city somewhere else and move the streetcars too. I also wonder why in the world they would ever build out of wood frame on the Gulf Coast again. Those wood frame houses came apart like Tinker Toys in the winds of Katrina. Why in the world aren't they building out of tilt-up concrete or cinderblock? Reinforced concrete handles 150 mph winds. That is what they are starting to build out of in very tornado prone areas.

Really, really BAD idea!

I vote reLOCATING it instead.

Why, in God's name would it EVER be a good idea???

As good of an idea as it is to keep insuring people to live on flood plains and tornado allys. Perhaps one day man's ego will understand that we cannot control the weather.

If the local and state government of Louisiana and New Orleans had used the federal governments money to rebuild the dikes surrounding New Orleans, this question may have not been asked at all. Instead, the local and state government of Louisiana used this money for other purposes. Who's fault was it? the federal government for not placing a "watchdog" on Louisiana or the locals for using this money as "they saw fit"?. In any event, the unmaintained dikes caused a lot of deaths and property damage. this could have been avoided. Now, to rebuild New Orleans, is another drain on the taxpayers pocketbook. Are we about to make a second money mistake in New Orleans? Probably so, but thats government for you.