Make it Right & The Pink Project
A few days ago I travelled down to the Lower 9th for the first time in a long, looong time, but I wanted to see these pink blocks, and the holidays seemed an appropriate time to look back and reflect.
Our friend Anthony lived here, in these streets right by the levees. He and his family are gone now, to El Paso. They’re happy, but miss home. They’ve held onto their lot, and hope, in a few years, when the boys are older, to come back and rebuild. But they worry about the safety of the levees, and they know that this terrible homesickness isn’t exactly rational.
They’re fairly typical of the area-these were primarily middle class, owner-occupied homes which took a double hit- the force of the water breeching and then the flood itself. The area was a mix of urban and suburban, but houses stood shoulder to shoulder- now it’s primarily field, with houses dotted here and there.
It’s almost as eerie as it was right after the levee break, only then it seemed the bodies were still lying about in plain site. Now it’s haunted by what used to be.
And if Brad Pitt and his group have their way, what will be again. They’re trying to fund 150 eco-friendly houses here. As they get the donations to cover each one, they assemble the pink blocks into a house.
They mean well, and I hope they’re right. I hope this bet they’re making- that the levees will hold, that people will be safe, that the middle class will return- I hope that bet pays off.
Mostly I look at the concrete walls so close to those blocks and hope that the families each pink pile represents will be safe.
A slideshow after the jump-
Hit pause if it’s going to fast to read the captions, but I can’t seem to adjust the speed. Click the photo for larger versions.
Similar Posts:
- Deja vu all over again…
- Everything in bloom!
- K+5
- Saving us from ourselves on Bourbon Street
- Rio Grande Buds
