WaPo: Poll reveals New Orleanians still frustrated
Source: Washington Post
Well this is a shock:
More than half of New Orleans residents, 52 percent, are "dissatisfied" or outright "angry" about the amount of progress that has been made. Twenty-three percent say that their lives are "largely back to normal" since the storm hit in August 2005, and nearly a quarter are seriously considering leaving the area.
Few residents think there has been significant progress in dealing with key issues such as crime, access to health care and the public school system. More than seven in 10 are dissatisfied with efforts to increase the availability of affordable housing. Overall, few are very satisfied with their own lives, and nearly six in 10 said it is a bad time for children to be growing up in the city.
"I think it's bad," said Merline Kimble, 59, a music promoter from the Treme neighborhood who recently returned to New Orleans. "For people who want to come home, rent is more expensive, utilities are more expensive, everything's more expensive. Nobody's doing anything to get people home. A lot of people are in bad health because of stress."
One of the starkest changes compared with a similar Kaiser poll two years ago is a sharp rise in the percentage of residents reporting health problems. In part, the increase may stem from greater access to health care and professional diagnoses -- more people are now covered by health insurance, and fewer rely on emergency rooms for primary care -- but the numbers are dramatic.
Can someone tell me if conducting polls like this accomplishes anything? I mean the information is interesting to read but couldn't we just - maybe - spend our time doing something rather than thinking about how people want something done?
