Why do people insist on living in New Orleans and in constant harms way?

Question

Prior to Katrina I could understand, but now with the possibility of Gustav and who knows how many more in the near future, why do people continue on trying to make a living in a city that is beneath the sea level? It simply does not make any sense to me, and I'm not looking to troll - just would like to get an intelligent response.

Answer 1

Like Dorothy said in the Wizard of Oz, there's no place like home.

Answer 2

Because it's their home, it's where their roots are.

Answer 3

People love this area, for some this is the only place that have ever lived with family

Answer 4

Well, my  moms family all live about 30 min. out of New Orleans and have lived there all their lives... ( I was born and raised in California) Louisiana is their home, they wouldn't leave. As crazy as that sounds considering all the storms they get... they'll never leave. They make it through one storm and then prepare for the next. We had an earthquake here a little bit ago and just so happened my Louisiana family was here during it, they came unglued and couldn't understand how we live here...I guess it's kind of the same... we can't understand how they put up with the storms and they can't understand how we put up with the earthquakes... It's their home, their life, its what they know.  

Answer 5

That's like asking why do people still live in Kansas after all the tornadoes they get. or like sasking why people live in California even though they have a threat of earthquakes. Nobody questions them so don't question us!

Answer 6

Many of the residents of New Orleans do not have the money to relocate.  They are living paycheck to paycheck with no way out.  Poverty is a way of life.  

Answer 7

It is their home.It is their roots,it is a culture all of its own,Louisiana has its place in our country,they also just have Strong weather systems.Why don't the people living on Islands in the middle of the ocean live there?It is their home.

Answer 8

Home is where you hang your hat.

Answer 9

you might want to ask that same question to a native of africa. ( any tribe for that matter)  do you still think its safe for them to stay in a war torn country?  its a very deep sense of belonging, that us human stick to our native land no matter how ravaged or how torn or how desolate it is.  i for one would not leave my country even if we suffer 30 typhoons a year or even how corrupt our government is. this is my place of birth! here is where my heritage came from and here is where it will end!

Answer 10

You can say the same thing about numerous States who continually have catastrophic weather conditions.

You would have to eliminated the population in at least 10-15 states.