Breaking rent: after Katrina.NEW ORLEANS New Orleans (ôr`lēənz –lənz, ôrlēnz`), city (2006 pop. 187,525), coextensive with Orleans parish, SE La., between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain, 107 mi (172 km) by water from the river mouth; founded City Council President Oliver Thomas Oliver M. Thomas, Jr. (born February 10, 1957) is a Democratic politician from New Orleans. He served on the New Orleans City Council from 1994 to 2007. On August 13, 2007, Thomas resigned his council seat after pleading guilty to bribery charges. apparently wants to finish the job begun by Hurricane Katrina  Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism. . New Orleans, not
surprisingly, is short of places to put people; nearly 142,000 houses
and apartments were damaged or destroyed when the city flooded.
Thomas' plan? Impose rent controls on the rental houses and
apartments that remain.
As any Econ 101 student--or any longtime long·time adj. Having existed or persisted for a long time: a longtime friend; a longtime resident of Detroit. longtime Adjective resident of certain parts of New York--could tell you, landlords abandon their buildings when they can no longer make enough money to repair them. New Orleans isn't immune to this phenomenon: In November rental unit owner Edward Young told National Public Radio that, with controls, it wouldn't make financial sense for him to spend the $40,000-$60,000 required to repair his building. "There would probably never be enough apartments available for people who need them," added Young. "Some people could just take the insurance and walk, and we considered it." There is, however, a silver lining silver lining n. A hopeful or comforting prospect in the midst of difficulty. [From the proverb "Every cloud has a silver lining". : Rent control is one way to make sure that the wetlands New Orleans once occupied are restored. |
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