ABSTRACT
As the federally funded housing reconstruction programs for the Katrina disaster come to a close, it is apparent that New Orleans’ housing stock has been reconstructed on the tenets of an “ownership society.” At the time of the storm, New Orleans’ population was comprised predominantly of renters and the uneven disaster destroyed a disproportionate amount of rental housing, particularly those of low-income workers. Yet the vast majority of reconstruction funding earmarked for housing has been funneled directly to homeowners. At the same time, tax incentives have gone disproportionately towards high-end rentals and condos, the planning process has empowered the propertied class at the expense of communities dominated by renters, and nearly all of New Orleans’ public housing has been razed to make way for mixed-income communities. Far from the pervasive narratives of New Orleans’ market-led recovery, the housing question of New Orleans has largely been settled through the state flooding a city of renters with homeowner subsidies and granting exclusive rights to the propertied class.
