not sure about anywhere else but...
 

Mardi Gras is getting some positive buzz on the news up here in Dallas, which is good. May not help this year (I haven't heard anything, so I don't know), but once people see that it's business as usual, they'll be back.

RE: not sure about anywhere else but...
 

They're going to broadcast Mardi Gras day on CNN and other news networks. I can;t see anything negative about that. I have to admit, New Orleans has the sympathy of the press, and this guy Anderson Cooper and others are all over the governor, and government in general. What's happening is this, people knew Katrina was big, yeah, and everything was all messed up, yeah, but it would come back and get fixed. Now everyone is seeing that 7 MONTHS later and the City of New Orleans and Gulf Coast of MS are still a mess and a lot of people have been left out in the cold with insurance and by the government. People are asking themselves, "what if that happened to me?" All it takes is a huge earthquake in California, or a catagory 3 hurricane to make a direct hit on Manhatten and WHAM that's it and forget about your insurance you've been paying into for years, you're only going to see pennies on the dollar.

People are already heading back and New Orleans is alive. Fortunately the highest ground are the historic areas and the feel and culture has survived.

RE: not sure about anywhere else but...
 

I'm all the way up here in Buffalo and all I hear about on the radio stations are about Mardi Gras. It definately has not lost it's hype... it's only a matter of time tourist will be flocking down there again.

As I said a few weeks ago, I was in New Orleans just a few weeks ago for Pardi Gras. Thirty-five hundred of us had fun for 4 days. Yea there was still damage and yea some,if not most of the people hadn't returned yet. However the ones that were there were just great to us. The service was very good, even with so many people still not back at work. Some of the businesses weren't open yet but the ones that were did great. We had a great time. I'm just glad we could help the city that means so much to me.

Here's to you New Orleans and the people who are back! :cheers: