Forever New Orleans

I’m going to drop my usual irreverent tone for a minute and talk about something I really care about.

The first summer I spent in New Orleans, there were five of us. Me and my four friends saw a lot of each other that summer, dining together almost every night and rarely separated on weekends. Of the five of us I am the only one still living in the New Orleans.
Some people are drawn to the west coast; some say it's ingrained in our nature to go west. Some people are drawn to New York; they say one out every three Americans is related to someone who lives in Brooklyn. Others, understandably, leave the country. Inexplicably, some set up shop in the Midwest. While people do come back, most don't.
I'd say of the five people I hang out with most, I'd say I'd be lucky if four of them still live here in a year and three of them in two years. Outside of that, I can count at least four others off the top of my head that are leaving in the next year and two more that as far as I can tell have no intention of staying in New Orleans for the long run. I can’t begin to tell you how sad this makes me. I can't see myself living anywhere else; New Orleans is a part of who I am. I’ve lived here long enough that it’s all I really know; it’s all I really care to know.

As I see it there are two legitimate reasons to leave excluding bankruptcy and other family emergencies and other life shattering events. If you happen to want a career in an industry that doesn’t really exist in New Orleans such as architecture, manufacturing, politics, engineering, finance … I really can’t think of anything we don’t have down here, and if there’s something missing than start your own business in this niche market and your all set (I’m looking at you Burrito Delivery guy.) So I guess there’s only one reason to leave that I’m ok with, and that is Master’s/Doc’s at really, really good schools. If you want to get an advanced degree, it’s my belief that you should do so from a top 10 school, otherwise your better off working and gaining experience in whatever you’d be “learning” at school. If you want to move to Boston to get your Ph.D. at MIT or at UT Austin, or U Cal Berkeley, rock the fuck on and best of luck to you, if you want to move to Baltimore and go to med school at Johns Hopkins, I’ll give you a ride. But if you want to get a masters in Engineering and you don’t get in to Ga Tech, UTA, or A&M, just go to UNO at night after work, you’ll be a much better person for it than if you spent all your free time teaching or lab ratting it up at BU or Vanderbilt (both of which have excellent top 50 engineering schools that I’m using to make a point, not berate, which only reminds me how off topic I’ve gotten.)

As a young urban professional in New Orleans I have no shortage of resources except my friends. I have a long history of forgetting and eventually losing friends I do not see on a regular basis. Some blame it on my short attention span, some call it “out of sight out of mind,” some call me a huge asshole. My point is only that every time someone leaves New Orleans it’s one less reason fro me to stay, and I don’t want to go; I love it here. I have a career here. I can see myself raising a family here, assuming I get around to that. I live here, New Orleans is my home.

A college friend sent me this video recently looking for some free pub:


If you’re not Youtube capable, it’s a promotional video from the visitor’s bureau featuring Kermit Ruffins (co-founded Rebirth in 1983 and is probably the most energetic and charismatic trumpet player working in New Orleans) singing about New Orleans while the video highlights various attractions including a trip through the Jacque-Imo’s kitchen, pounds from a server at Camellia, and various other restaurants and attractions from around town.

I agreed to shill the video for two reasons, (and I promise I’ll keep both of these this time) I support the video’s message, which is: you’ve been to the zoo, you’ve been to Columns, you had a great time, come back. The other reason is that I’ve been meaning to write this piece about people leaving for some time, and a little motivation goes a long way.

So, next time you get the chance, come to New Orleans, I’ll be here, you’ll have a great time, I promise.

Of course that is all assuming that Al Gore doesn't drown us all in the meantime.