Down and Out in New Orleans

I have been wondering how a lot of people afford rent in New Orleans. I frequently see clients that either are not working, working part-time, or working full-time, but making around $8 to $12 per hour. I realize that that lots of people in the city may live with relatives or friends, but even then it still must be highly difficult to pay all your bills when rent for a one-bedroom averages $1,200 per month.

And it puzzles me that the city offers so little to mitigate this situation. Admittingly, the things that are needed to better the situation costs money. Yet, so does the things that are presently being used--police officers, homeless shelters, food kitchens, drug-treatment centers.

As the saying goes, you either pay on the front end or the back end. The powers that be in the city usually go for the latter.

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