ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the controversies which surround a minority's efforts to confront development pressures in an historic area – the French Quarter in New Orleans. The French Quarter and its denizens symbolize both exclusion and inclusion. There is great potential, constructed on the tolerance of denizens, for making the Quarter inclusive. In contrast to the more equivocal attitudes toward the values of the black minority/majority, it is interesting to compare them with attitudes toward another minority: the gay community. However, the aims of this minority have to be seen in the context of the values of other minorities even when such generally accepted issues as historic preservation are involved. In the treatment of certain issues, close to the hearts of Quarterites, such as noise and crime, more racial tensions are generated. To continue with the racial aspects, historic preservation is often associated with processes of urban renovation, described variously as gentrification, the back-to the-city movement, or urban revitalization.
