The article by Nicole Gelinas on Houston's Noble Experiment with Katrina evacuees begs the question of how the government of New Orleans became so dysfunctional as to permit the development of this intractable underclass. Unlike Houston, cities in Louisiana do not have power of annexation, especially across parish lines. As middle class residents fled crime and non-performing public schools, the majority of voters in Orleans Parish came to be those for whom the stalled criminal justice system and failed educational system were just fine. Efforts to elect judges who were hard on criminals and school board officials who would require student achievement tests to be promoted were met with cries of unfairness and racism.

Perhaps if, as my husband and I did, other middle class families had determined to stay in the city to solve its problems instead of fleeing them, much misery could have been avoided. Instead local politics allowed economically and socially functioning families to believe that they could flee the problems of the city by moving across the parish line. They (and we) have paid the price of that parochialism over the last three decades as first our friends, and now our children, fled the intransigent poverty of the city which spilled over to the entire metropolitan area.

What the national news media tragically does not understand is that Ray Nagin was elected mayor two years ago by a coalition of black and white middle class New Orleanians. As promised, he filled potholes and created online access to many city forms and services. Under his term of office, New Orleans had been poised to become a functional city and an economic resurgeance was within grasp. He was coasting to re-election when the disaster of Katrina created the ultimate no-win situation.

As a temporary evacuee housed by cousins in Houston, I sincerely thank Houstonians for all of the kindness and goodwill extended to us. Perhaps the sheer size of Houston's population will guarantee its success in assimilating the remaining evacuees and in changing the self-defeating lifestyle so deftly described in Gelinas's article.

As a New Orleanian of some twenty-five years, I removed myself in 1985 in a move to Houston, Texas. Since I have family and friends in New Orleans, I have read numerous articles on the current state of affairs. As a Houstonian today who resides in the uptown district, I have concerns for the surrounding region, knowing the influx of New Orleanians and their history.

Your recent writing was so well thought out, researched and articulated. Thank you for being forthright with your audience as to the statistical differences of two cities and how a government and it's welfare policies have held back generations of New Orleanians. My friends have discussed these subjects at length and I have yet to see an honest assessment of the realities of poor New Orleanians. Having been raised in New Orleans and now a Houstonian for many years, I have seen the rise and fall of these two cities. Your accounts are accurate and I hope that they educate the American public as to the disservice which New Orleans, the State of Louisiana, and Federal governments have paid to its citizens.

Many folks who have not lived in Houston do not have a clue as to the reason that Houston is such a special city. You have done a marvelous job of detailing the steps that our former hometown has taken to achieve the unbelievable in relocating the Katrina evacuees. It truly is a city where its can-do attitude and the ability to use common sense instead of government whining makes a real difference in people's lives. Thanks to you for using your skill to truly detail the steps that Houston has taken to face this unbelievable challenge. What a city! The people of Houston have a heart as big as it is, as is demonstrated by your story. Thanks for the update for those of us who don't live there any more. I don't miss the traffic but I sure miss the energy and enthusiasm that Houston offers to those who live there.