This month, I was in New Orleans, analyzing several sites for a large retail client. The last time I was in the Crescent City was five years ago – just a mere four months after Hurricane Katrina hit. I was both excited and anxious to see how the city had changed. I had many questions on my mind as I left Louis Armstrong International Airport in my rental car: at what level were the most impacted neighborhoods coming back? What shape was the infrastructure in? What retail was operating in these areas?

My fieldwork took me to many of the neighborhoods that, five years ago, were completely under water. West of City Park, neighborhoods like Lakeview and Lakeshore showed positive signs of recovery; however, the rebuilding efforts were sporadic and entire blocks remained unoccupied. It was strange to see homes with fresh paint and new roofs next to boarded up homes that still bore the spray-paint markings of post-Katrina rescue teams. The current state of the roads in these neighborhoods was also unexpected. The hurricane and subsequent years of neglect had taken their toll. I was constantly on the lookout for potholes and saw large depressions in the road that were the size of Volkswagen Beetles. While it was clear that, with the help of U.S. federal stimulus dollars, a concerted effort was being made to improve the major thoroughfares, both my rental car and I agree there is still a lot of road work that needs to be done.

The retail landscape was also a mix of redevelopment and vacancy. The retail sector in which I saw the most redevelopment was pharmacies/convenience stores. Walgreens dominated the landscape, with newer/redeveloped units in Lakeview, Mid-City, and Gentilly Terrace. Though not a new development, local and quick-service restaurants also seemed to be making a comeback. Clearly, the winners in the post-Katrina rebuilding efforts are the home-improvement centers. The Home Depot, for example, still operates two smaller, non-prototype units that were opened as a result of the hurricane. In both Chalmette and East New Orleans, Lowe’s and The Home Depot have units within a half mile of one another – in Chalmette, they even have adjacent parking lots. It was in Chalmette – in St. Bernard Parish, that the recovery has been the slowest, evident from the empty parking lots and the lack of other national chains. The return of retail to these areas has been clearly affected by the economy and by the uncertainty of the population return. The latest estimates show that the return of residents is slowing down, with population levels still below pre-Katrina numbers in many neighborhoods.

As I drove through the Lower 9th Ward, I noticed a sign installed by the city that stated the recovery efforts were underway in that area; underneath, in spray paint, someone had scrawled “Five years later!” Its clear things aren’t happening as fast as many had hoped they would, but as those who have visited know, the city’s residents are very proud of their culture, extremely resilient, and determined to rebuild. My trip was right before the Super Bowl, a mayoral race, and Mardi Gras, all three of which dominated the conversations I heard from the French Market to the Garden District. Now that the Saints have won and Fat Tuesday is upon us, there is a lot to celebrate, but a lot of work to still be done.