Watching New Orleans Dissolve

We're all watching New Orleans dissolve right now, first under the rain and wind of Hurricane Katrina; second, when the levee broke and flooded the entire city; and third, in the heat and water and dissolution of social bonds. It's awfully hard to watch.

1. The Weather: The magnitude of the physical forces hitting New Orleans is rather mind-boggling in this satellite image of Katrina from the European Space Agency. The NASA Earth Observatory has images here. There is a terrific list of more web maps and satellite images of Katrina in the Map Room.

2. The News: Google News has 6,150 stories about New Orleans and Katrina. Boing Boing has a partial list of New Orleans blogs and webcams here. Nola.com has a lot of coverage on New Orleans, and a weblog of stories from the disaster.

Most of the articles, like this one, seem disbelieving that this happened to a city, let alone to New Orleans. Looting seems to have begun quickly, and the newscasts I watched tonight all focused on the desperation of people unable to obtain basic food, water, medical attention, or fuel. Transportation in and out of the city is paralyzed by water.

All of the networks and newspapers are there. I usually find the appearance of news reporters in natural disasters kind of ridiculous, since they're dressed in fresh-yet-adventuous cargo pants and military-loop shirts, generally trying to elicit stories from those in dire straits. There are more substantial differences, though, between mainstream media and blogs. Blogs don't seem to have taken up this topic yet, as this is the first day that it is really starting to unfold, and I doubt if anyone is at the scene to record the disaster first hand. Salon and Daily Kos are already out with a comment linking the hurricane flooding with diverted FEMA money for Iraq here.

3. Science: Scientists do seem relatively prescient this time, in particular a Scientific American article in 2001, detailing the effects of a hurricane on New Orleans. It begins:

Drowning New Orleans
A major hurricane could swamp New Orleans under 20 feet of water, killing thousands. Human activities along the Mississippi River have dramatically increased the risk, and now only massive reengineering of southeastern Louisiana can save the city.... New Orleans is a disaster waiting to happen. The city lies below sea level, in a bowl bordered by levees that fend off Lake Pontchartrain to the north and the Mississippi River to the south and west. And because of a damning confluence of factors, the city is sinking further, putting it at increasing flood risk after even minor storms. The low-lying Mississippi Delta, which buffers the city from the gulf, is also rapidly disappearing. A year from now another 25 to 30 square miles of delta marsh--an area the size of Manhattan--will have vanished. An acre disappears every 24 minutes. Each loss gives a storm surge a clearer path to wash over the delta and pour into the bowl, trapping one million people inside and another million in surrounding communities. Extensive evacuation would be impossible because the surging water would cut off the few escape routes. Scientists at Louisiana State University (L.S.U.), who have modeled hundreds of possible storm tracks on advanced computers, predict that more than 100,000 people could die.

Real Climate addressed the hurricane season this year before it began, after last year's four hurricanes hitting Florida. Global warming is topical here, even if it sounds Pollyannish, flooding of coastal zones is going to be a bigger effect than anyone realizes. As a recent report on the potential effects of global warming on New York City stated:

"Within the next 100 years, global warming due to greenhouse gas emissions may cause worldwide rates of sea level rise to increase 2 to 5 times over present rates within the next 100 years. Low-lying areas and coastal wetlands would be inundated, beach erosion would intensify, and storm flooding would become more frequent. The effects of regional sea-level rise, and associated coastal hazards, including storm floods and beach erosion, have been examined as part of the MetroEast Coast region climate change assessment....

Moreover,

"Climate change will affect people in cities multidimensionally. Heightened frequencies of storm-surges will damage major infrastructure juxtaposed to already threatened coastal wetlands; health impacts cannot be separated from the impacts of augmented heatwaves on energy demand. Finally, since global cities are major sites of international capital and labor flows, climate change impacts may not be limited by a city’s boundaries. For example, a major climate-related disruption of the New York Stock Exchange would have reverberating impacts on global financial markets."

This sounds like exactly what is happening with disruption to oil production, resulting in $70 oil. Again from Scientific American:

As if the risk to human lives weren't enough, the potential drowning of New Orleans has serious economic and environmental consequences as well. Louisiana's coast produces one third of the country's seafood, one fifth of its oil and one quarter of its natural gas. It harbors 40 percent of the nation's coastal wetlands and provides wintering grounds for 70 percent of its migratory waterfowl. Facilities on the Mississippi River from New Orleans to Baton Rouge constitute the nation's largest port.

4. What Comes Next? Part of the problem seems to be the sheer density of people in any city -- even a small one like New Orleans -- and they couldn't even get everyone out before the storm, let alone now. I do admire Texas, though, for welcoming in an entire urban population. What happens next? Cities rebuild. The Van Alen Institute in New York had a handy exhibition on how cities rebuild after disasters, two years after September 11th.

Technorati Tags: cities, New Orleans

Things that I'll Miss in New York City, Part 2; and there's Less in Seattle

OK, my last post about "things that I will miss in New York City" got a little out of hand before lunchtime, but I actually vacated New York yesterday! Now, since I'm on the move for the next few weeks, I think I'll finish that thought, at least as a way of looking forward to settling in a new place:

2. Movies: The phrase "opens today in New York and LA" says it all. I do like the feeling of watching a movie on the very first day that it opens in the U.S., in New York, there's a certain energy and enthusiasm, bordering on smug self-satisfaction -- after all, you're seeing it first! For example, on the very first night that the "The Two Towers" opened, the kid next to me was wearing chainmail and a helmet.

You also can't beat the sheer number of independent and repertory movie theaters, like the Film Forum, the Angelika, and the Landmark Sunshine -- and that's just on Houston Street! Also, I'd be willing to venture that New York has the largest population of people discussing "The Aristocrats" and "2046" right now -- how can these movies be on everyone's lips elsewhere, if they're not even showing? NetFlix, I know that you are loved equally in the boondocks and boomtowns, but it's just not the same as being in the dark with strangers.

Of course, to be fair, there are some downsides to movie-viewing in New York: First, $10. Second, $0.75 on top of that.

3. Not Driving: I'm kind of tired of the subway, but then again, when you compare it to driving everywhere everyday, well, it is starting to look pretty good. Escaping out of the city through Penn Station and Grand Central is surprisingly easy, if you have somewhere to go on the other end. Here's hoping for good bike and bus riding in Seattle.

4. Walking-Talking-Eating-Drinking: I am usually loath to equate density with urban vitality, partly because I find that professional urban planners do this some or all of the time. (When I do, then I at least like to make a graph or chart.) However, I will succumb to this abstract love for one moment, to describe what I think of as a quintessentially New York day, when the sheer density of city lends itself to an long day of walking, talking, eating and drinking. Everyone with friends and a cellphone has probably had that perfect day in New York that is composed entirely of near-seamless connections between multiple times, activities, and friendship, where your early brunch becomes a walk together to the subway stop; which is then joined by a group walking in the park; followed by a quick cup of coffee; interspersed with dropping into a museum for an hour; meeting a friend for a movie; meeting with a random group for a late dinner; ending up at a party; and then you doing it all over again. My favorite days were one just long stream of activities, going from one friend to the next, with the city neighborhoods scrolling by, like a cheesy but wonderful montage of New York film cliches. Sigh.

5. More, more, more: I have always found that tired old Samuel Johnson quote -- "when a man tired of London, he is tired of life" -- a bit depressing, because I used to live in London, and I got tired of it. However, there is a truth about big city life in that quote, because if big cities do contain a multitude of experiences, they also contain more of it than anywhere else. New York always promises more, really, as much as you can want. More of everything: more to see, more to do, more to see differently, so much so that one's entire life can be devoted to just being a New Yorker, devoted to learning about and synchronizing with the city. For longtime city residents, it's both a sprint and a marathon, through a succession of neighborhoods, jobs, lovers, associations, times, events, and phases of life.

Since I've always moved to successively larger cities in my life, I've never moved to a place where there is less. I'm hoping that I move to Seattle and find it.... just right. Goodbye, New York City.

Technorati Tags: cities, New York

Things that I'll Miss in New York City

Moving is a rather frantic time. The most self-reflection that I usually do during a move is to wonder if I should keep this, if I should have bought that (ever), or how to get something back to a friend: in the end, it all goes out the door, one way or another. Right now I'm trying to finish my last project in New York, but I thought I should jot down a few thoughts at least about the things that I'll miss after five years in New York.

1. Food -- when I think back on all of my past loves and lives in New York, what I really think about is.... food.

My friend describes New York as a 'dining culture', which I think is correct but overly formal. Food really is, though, both the highlight and backdrop for a lot of one's life here, between working and running to and fro, and because it is a culture always striving towards personal customization and novelty, a great deal of time and energy is spent on picking the right place to eat and meet. Half of my friends, I've made because we hit it off in deciding where to eat.

So, I'll miss those long subway rides on food pilgrimages to the outer boroughs, such as the Kebab Cafe, Sripriphai, and Pearson's (now in Manhattan). I'll miss the frisson of eating with celebrties at Nobu, the ridiculous luxury of the $40 burger at DB Bistro, though my favorite experience still remains wildly splurging on a personal yet echt-Japanese meal at Sugiyama. I'll miss that slight thrill when you walk into a booked restaurant and they seat you anyway, as I have gotten away with many times at Lupa. I'll miss the weird food crazes that seem to come and go, like barbeque (that's 'cue to you), bubble tea, and cream puffs. I'll miss my favorite burger and beer bars, like Henry's, the Old Town Bar and Island Burgers, because they provided thousands of good, red-meat calories, pints of good beer, and a comfy home away from home. I'll miss the days that I just feel like going ethnic, and the trips to Kum Gung San, New Green Bo or Una Pizza Napoletana.

Sometimes, there are just those places that you wonder if they're worth the wait, like Tomoe sushi (the picture says it all), or worth the quirkiness, like Shopsin's in the Village -- but I'm pretty sure that I'll miss them, too. I'll miss snacks before a movie at the Film Forum at 'ino, brunch at Good, and odd-hour meals at Veselka. I will miss watching the snow fall from inside the Neue Gallerie cafe in winter, watching the sunset at the 79th Street Boat Basin in summer, or afternoon drinks, or tea and cake at the New Leaf Cafe in fall and spring.

Most of all, I'll remember the dinners with friends, dinners with dates, and dinners by myself. What I'll really miss here are the little moments of Proust that get sprinkled throughout life, when food overwhelms whatever else you were thinking about, and of really noticing it for the first time, and remembering that moment later.

(When I started this post, it was going to be about New York and not just food, but I got carried away by food. And now I'm hungry. More later).

Technorati Tags: cities, New York

Not quite random, but not quite organized, either

I've been rather busy lately, finishing up work in New York and planning my move to Seattle, so I haven't had time to note a few interesting articles and a few thoughts:

1. The NYT visits the new green roof being installed at Silvercup Studios (August 10)

2. Also, David Brooks of the NYT extols the virtues of cultural geography. It seems like bad career advice, since the kids who take his advice are likely to become Marxist urban planners, but aside from his twerpy apologies for all things conservative, David Brooks does manage to write some offbeat and interesting stuff. (August 10)

3. Blaine Harden of the Washington Post goes to Los Angeles and examines the paradox of high-density sprawl. (August 11)

4. The new president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was not involved in the 1979 embassy hostage taking, but he is.... a traffic planner! The only comment I've seen on this appeared offline in the August 11th New York Review of Books: "Ahmadinejad is a professor at Tehran's University of Science and Technology, but his special subject, traffic planning does not promise imaginative leadership." Perhaps unfair, but amusing. Iranian bloggers have already expressed their despair at the result here, but hopefully he can apply "traffic calming" to calming Americans, Europeans, and Israelis all terrified at the prospect of an Iranian nuclear bomb (but seriously, some of my best friends are traffic planners).

5. Mayor Michael Bloomberg disses Chinese food, stirring ethnic passions (August 14)

6. Again, sprawl: the NYT finds that America is growing fast (August 15)

More later.

Technorati Tags: cities, sprawl, urban

Departing New York, Arriving in Seattle

Haven't posted much since returning from vacation, since I am frantically finishing up work here in New York.... and preparing to move out to Seattle!

As the actual date of moving approaches, I'm starting to realize that it will be a big move in many ways. I'm moving out to Seattle to go to graduate school -- in urban planning, of course -- but I'm also moving for a number of other reasons. As you all can probably tell, I have a growing interest in environmental issues, and Seattle seems like a fertile place for interesting work. Also, I've lived most of my life on the East Coast, and spent the past eight years in big cities, ten if you count Boston, and I wonder if the West Coast is indeed more open and less conservative.

There apparently is a rather one-sided web rivalry between Seattle and New York of some sort, but I'm just happy to try something new. Maybe I'll write about what I'll miss in New York next time, but here are five more reasons, in no particular order, of why I'm looking forward to Seattle:

1. Food: I hear the quality of the vegetables, food and seafood in Seattle is great. For the past eight years, I've been eating out, eating at my desk, and shopping in grocery stores that have bad to mediocre (and usually expensive) produce. Returning to my small hometown, I can pull over at the side of the road and buy produce straight from the farmer -- it's not necessarily organic or particularly fancy --- it's just that one realizes that the process that brings produce to cities has already sorted out all of the good stuff. However, I hear that Seattle has great produce, and I am really excited to cook again.

1a. Food, Part 2: Even if I do lapse into eating out again, I hear Seattle has really good food. The New York Times and Chowhound say so, as if they're inciting or inviting me to leave.

2. Bicycling: I rode the subway this morning to get to work. Later, I will have to ride the subway back. I once loved subways. Enough said.

3. Voluntary Simplicity: I've been studying garbage in New York, which is gross.... and also a completely engrossing topic. However, in New York, the city actually hires consultants to produce reports, usually hundreds of pages long, to explain why they can't try new things, like recycle more, why waste prevention can't be quantified, and so on. I've been intrigued by reports that mention Seattle, and King County, are actually engaged in programs to reduce people's consumption, or to do more with less. How great is that?

3a. Voluntary Simplicity, Part 2: I am moving to Seattle with very few things, since I realized that the only things that I have that I like are my computer, a few clothes and my books. I got rid of all my furniture. Purging feels good.

4. The Ocean: OK, I concede that New York is on the ocean, it's just not the cleanest one. Even if I and others are always touting the improving water quality of New York Harbor, I'm curious about the Pacific Ocean and the islands. Also, as much as I advocate for kayaking on the Hudson, I have to admit that it's not the cleanest water or the best kayaking experience, since the kayaks are limited to a small area to avoid being struck by gigantic garbage barges. I'm not kidding.... and I hear that Seattle has great kayaking.

5. Things to Read, and Hopefully, Write: Lots of things that I've been reading lately that I like from Seattle. I mention Grist magazine often here, for grim political news leavened with humor, City Comforts is always looking around there, and some of WorldChanging's writers are also based there. Over vacation I started reading Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle, and started wondering how he became quite so geeky, and.... ambitious. It's great! I'd explain what it's about, but the three books are 944, 816 and 892 pages long, respectively, so you can read reviews here. So, I'm hoping that the writing is in the water in Seattle.

Technorati Tags: cities, New York, Seattle