Brennan Eppinger Blog 2

New Orleans is very different from how it is portrayed in the media. For the general public, it is a city of night parties, drinking, and other festivities. For people that think back to Katrina, New Orleans is shown as a wasteland with specific areas dedicated to tourism to cover up the problems. As I have come to observe, both viewpoints are not necessarily false, as there is both a nightlife and devastation, but we hardly see the average resident. From what I have come to learn from locals of New Orleans, the community still needs work, but they have come a long way thus far. The areas that have been previously listed as “unsafe” in the city are far better now as the communities have banded together to help their neighbors. Honestly, meeting residents of the city on my morning jogs have been the most eye opening experiences of the trip, as they share true and unfiltered stories. I’d love to hear more of these, as they truly represent New Orleans’ resilience to disparity.

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