If you've read the 10 chapter long account of my troubled and turbulent years primarily between 2003 and 2004, then you may have learned a lot about the time I spent in New Orleans, getting accustomed to that city's culture, landmarks and citizens. Though my pockets were frequently empty during that time, I still have many fond memories of the Big Easy.
Recently, I noticed that Google Maps FINALLY put Street View photos up for N.O. These are relatively recent pics, post-Katrina for sure, and clicking on any street in the 9th Ward especially is quite a shock...it's like you're somewhere else, out in the boonies with only a scattering of boarded-up, graffiti covered houses and lot after lot overgrown by years of copse, grasses and brush. To see a tight grid pattern of paved streets seemingly laid out for no reason, since there are no houses on them is quite eerie.
Here's a little photo tour of my haunts from "back in the day" as they appear now:
Here's Regan and Jay's house. It fared well and looks exactly like it did pre-Katrina. I wonder if they still have rats?
Here's the Grants place I worked at for much of my time in New Orleans. This is in the antiques row area of the Garden District. But believe me, we weren't sellin' antiques. Of course the business isn't there any more but that had nothing whatsoever to do with Katrina.
We used to cash our weekly paychecks from Grants here, pretty much across the street on Magazine (thus the name of the store). There was a fierce Chinese lady who owned the place and was more than happy to cash our checks for a fee which was determined not by any set percentage but more by what she assessed she could skim from you on the spot. Usually around 5-6%. Do not mess with her!
Here's the place on Dorgenois both Alicison and I "stayed at" for a few months. She was in a unit on the first floor, kinda in the center of this photo. I was up on the second, my window was the last dormer on the right (was cut off when I cropped the pics to a standard 700 by 425 pixels for uniformity, oh well...). Notice the lovely automobile parked in front (no, I don't know who's it is since this is a recent pic and not from our days there). Great neighborhood...if you like crack and gunfights...woo hoo!
Despite how this pic looks, we had "moved on up" to this street in the Gentilly neighborhood. This was a pretty middle-class, well-manicured and landscaped street, full of huge shade trees. Now it's a rundown cesspool. How sad. Our house is circled here.
Here's a close-up of our house (well actually, I had the converted garage in the back down at the end of the path you can see on the left). This was once a pretty little thing. The windows we see would have looked in to Alicison's rooms. Notice the house next door in much the same shape, as is the entire neighborhood.
This is the neighborhood grocery store I shopped at almost every other day. I'd get off the bus from work right across the street and buy a small amount of groceries which I carried the 3 or 4 blocks to my house. In the fall of 2004, the store owners had just finished remodeling the exterior including the installation of some really neat retro-styled neon signage near the roof. Now, as you can see, it's all just an empty lot.
Six Flags New Orleans
Born as Jazzland in 2001
Closed and abandoned after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Recently, I noticed that Google Maps FINALLY put Street View photos up for N.O. These are relatively recent pics, post-Katrina for sure, and clicking on any street in the 9th Ward especially is quite a shock...it's like you're somewhere else, out in the boonies with only a scattering of boarded-up, graffiti covered houses and lot after lot overgrown by years of copse, grasses and brush. To see a tight grid pattern of paved streets seemingly laid out for no reason, since there are no houses on them is quite eerie.
Here's a little photo tour of my haunts from "back in the day" as they appear now:
Here's Regan and Jay's house. It fared well and looks exactly like it did pre-Katrina. I wonder if they still have rats?
Here's the Grants place I worked at for much of my time in New Orleans. This is in the antiques row area of the Garden District. But believe me, we weren't sellin' antiques. Of course the business isn't there any more but that had nothing whatsoever to do with Katrina.
We used to cash our weekly paychecks from Grants here, pretty much across the street on Magazine (thus the name of the store). There was a fierce Chinese lady who owned the place and was more than happy to cash our checks for a fee which was determined not by any set percentage but more by what she assessed she could skim from you on the spot. Usually around 5-6%. Do not mess with her!
Here's the place on Dorgenois both Alicison and I "stayed at" for a few months. She was in a unit on the first floor, kinda in the center of this photo. I was up on the second, my window was the last dormer on the right (was cut off when I cropped the pics to a standard 700 by 425 pixels for uniformity, oh well...). Notice the lovely automobile parked in front (no, I don't know who's it is since this is a recent pic and not from our days there). Great neighborhood...if you like crack and gunfights...woo hoo!
Despite how this pic looks, we had "moved on up" to this street in the Gentilly neighborhood. This was a pretty middle-class, well-manicured and landscaped street, full of huge shade trees. Now it's a rundown cesspool. How sad. Our house is circled here.
Here's a close-up of our house (well actually, I had the converted garage in the back down at the end of the path you can see on the left). This was once a pretty little thing. The windows we see would have looked in to Alicison's rooms. Notice the house next door in much the same shape, as is the entire neighborhood.
This is the neighborhood grocery store I shopped at almost every other day. I'd get off the bus from work right across the street and buy a small amount of groceries which I carried the 3 or 4 blocks to my house. In the fall of 2004, the store owners had just finished remodeling the exterior including the installation of some really neat retro-styled neon signage near the roof. Now, as you can see, it's all just an empty lot.
Six Flags New OrleansBorn as Jazzland in 2001
Closed and abandoned after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.