In New Orleans, Katrina recovery continues

Ten years after the levees broke and lower-lying parts of New Orleans were flooded, much of the Lower Ninth Ward is still in a state of complete disrepair. Locals have been working hard to rebuild the community.

"My grandmother told me: 'Honey, your grandfather worked on the riverfront 35 years. He broke almost every bone in his body. He lost a lot and even had his dignity compromised out there - because those men weren't treated fairly all the time. He worked very, very hard for these three lots on Delery Street.' And she said: 'If you don't understand now, one day you will.'"

"Have we made some progress? Yes, we have. Are we where we should be? No we're not. Has the Ninth Ward received its fair share of the federal dollars? No, we did not. Had we received our fair share of the federal dollars, you wouldn't see these vacant lots and overgrown lots. This is a testament to the state government and the city government as to how not to treat American citizens."

"What would it actually mean to have an equitable return for the poor black residents of New Orleans who were pushed out not necessarily by the storm but by the hurricane that happened after the storm? What would it take to give them a just transition back home? I think the uncomfortable truth is that the way New Orleans is now, there actually isn't a place for them."

"Change is going to happen. New Orleans post-Katrina is whiter and more wealthy than it was pre-Katrina. That, in and of itself, isn't problematic. Problematic is the lack of access that working-class families, low-income people and African-Americans have to certain neighborhoods. Many of these folks have traditionally and historically lived in these neighborhoods they are now denied access to."

St Claude Avenue connects the southern part of the Lower Ninth Ward with the rest of the city. It's a short walk, but it feels like a world away.

"The tragedy that we suffered was an opportunity for the city of New Orleans to rid itself of that segment of the population that they viewed as disposable. That is what happened with these neighborhoods that were most damaged and most flooded. It was an opportunity to keep people from coming back home by not doing recovery."

"We have a tough history to overcome. And the irony is the very thing we need is the thing we don't want. We need gentrification. We need it, we need it. We're beginning to see a trickling of young white people coming in, and we are going panic! We are panicking. Because they're going to take over."

The historic neighborhood of Bywater, just to the West of the Lower Ninth, has been become a magnet for hipsters from across the United States. Lower Niners wonder if it is a taste of things to come.

"The idea now in the Lower Ninth Ward is to go after young couples to come down here, buy a lot, build a house and raise a family. We have an indoor pool, an outdoor pool. We have two indoor basketball courts with seating. We have tennis courts, we have a soccer field. We have a lot of stuff!"

"I've been here a long time. I'm not going nowhere. When I leave, God's going to come and get me. You could bring 10 Katrinas: I'm here. I'm going to rebuild, rebuild, rebuild, rebuild until the man upstairs says: 'No more rebuilding! You're going to come with me.'"

A new levee is meant to protect the Lower Ninth Ward. More than $14 billlion have been spent on New Orleans' flood defenses. But rapid coastal erosion is a major long-term threat.