ABSTRACT
Place often is seen as narrowing the reach and applicability of the discussion. Place inserts specificity and boundaries into conversations that are seeking generalities. As a general matter, the degree to which we underplay and undermine the significance of place in law and policy is quite remarkable. Place did receive some attention in the context of Hurricane Katrina, because place mattered during Katrina and its aftermath. To some degree, law and policy’s tendency to seek universality and commonality is understandable and practical. The nation’s focus was and continues to be on urban areas, especially New Orleans. Rural areas, in contrast, attracted far less notice—a phenomenon that is true more generally as well as in the specific context of Hurricane Katrina. As a political columnist observed, until Hurricane Katrina, the issue of poverty had largely fallen off the public’s radar screen.
