Andy's Rant Pages
(New Orleans)

I'm not putting down the New Orleans metropolitan area, but these are the things that bothers me and should be changed to make the area a better place to live.
The lack of a center turning lane on just about ALL major streets:
You will really know what I am talking about when you travel on Tulane Avenue (US 61). The street is divided by a small median (the locals here call it neutral ground) that is wide enough to fit a center turning lane. Instead, the median is filled with nothing but "no left turn" signs. I feel that traffic in New Orleans would be a lot smoother if we would just tear down these medians and build center turning lanes that every other major cities have. Take for instance Lafayette, Louisiana (130 miles or 210 km west of New Orleans on I-10). Virtually every major street there has a center turning lane from extensive street widening projects since 1980.
No water park:
Why doesn't New Orleans have a water park like Six Flags AstroWorld in Houston? Believe it or not, the nearest water parks from New Orleans are in smaller cities and towns. There is Blue Bayou in Baton Rouge and one in Houma.
I would have also ranted about the lack of a major amusement park since Pontchartrain Beach was closed in 1983. The 1984 World's Fair temporarily filled the gap but I think they should have convert it to an amusement park after the end of the fair so maybe the Gondola crossing the Mississippi River would still be running today. I am not ranting because we finally got a Six Flags New Orleans in Eastern New Orleans formerly called Jazzland which opened on May 20, 2000. Six Flags is considering about building a water park next to its newly acquired theme park in the future.
The Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport:
NOTE: On July 11, 2001 the New Orleans International Airport was officially renamed the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport.
When I was a kid living in Lafayette I used to think that the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport was huge compared to Lafayette Regional Airport. In the early 1990's I realized that I very rarely ever see any jumbo jets (DC-10, MD-11, 747, 777, etc.) land at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (maybe except when Air Force One lands here) and that the airport is small compared to airports of other major cities like Memphis. Also no airline will set up a hub at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport and many of the airlines such as Northwest only fly to their hub cities from Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. Did you know that there are no airlines that offer nonstop flights between New Orleans and Seattle? That is sad when you would think that all major cities in the Continental U.S. have nonstop flights between each other.
On June 14, 2001 at around 6:15 AM, I dropped off my sister at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport to catch a flight to New York LaGuardia International Airport. As I was driving on the airport access road, I was surprised to see in the distance a Boeing 747 at one of the gates. I couldn't figure out what airline it was so I looked up the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport flight information when I came back home. I see that it was an Air Atlanta Icelandic Boeing 747 flight from Cancun, Mexico. It looked similar to this one.

Here are some rare pictures of jumbo jets at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport!:

  • Lufthansa Boeing 747-400
  • KLM Boeing 747-400 (diverted to New Orleans due to bad weather in Houston)
  • British Airways Boeing 747-400 (diverted to New Orleans due to bad weather in Houston)
  • LTU International Airways MD-11
  • Swissair MD-11

  • National Airlines DC-10s (No wonder why I used to think that New Orleans International Airport was huge back in the late '70s. There are three DC-10s in this picture! I would be lucky to see two 767s today parked next to each other.)
    The incompetent city council (of the 1990s):
    They are the ones who drew up the Mardi Gras ordinance where the Krewes (organizations) have to let minorities join in order to receive a parade permit. I am not racist, but this ordinance has caused the city to lose four Krewes (one for financial reasons) and added just three. Originally the ordinance was to also allow opposite genders membership but that would make it really awkward. They said it's a change for modern times. Okay, then how about allowing some Krewes to be sponsored by corporations like in neighboring Jefferson Parish (County) so the parade would be bigger and better? But NOOOO! They want tradition to stay for that!
    They have also drew up the police residency requirement which states that New Orleans police officers must live in the city of New Orleans to be promoted, etc. This is partly to blame for the city to be short of two hundred police officers in 1996.
    NOTE: This topic has been partially retired because Mayor Ray Nagin is seriously considering repealing (or has repealed) the residency requirement.
    The New Orleans Saints:
    NOTE: This topic has been officially retired because the Saints (after over 33 years of heartache) finally won their first ever playoff game by defeating the St. Louis Rams on December 30, 2000!
    The two expansion NFL franchises (Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars) have made it to the playoffs, won a playoff game, and made it to their conference championship games during their second year of existence in the 1996 season. It took the Saints 21 years to make it to the playoffs and 25 years to win its division (NFC West) while the Panthers does both in its second year. The Panthers had a bye week going into the playoffs, won a playoff game, and making into the NFC Championship Game which the Saints have yet to accomplish let alone win their first playoff game. This make the Saints a big fool. Saints owner Tom Benson has got to get the Saints back on track or they will once again be the laughingstock of the NFL. If the Atlanta Falcons can go to the Super Bowl, why can't the Saints? It goes to show that any team can go to the Super Bowl. All you need is to have are the right players and personnel.
    (There's more to come so don't forget to stop by often!)
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    Last modified on Thursday, March 13, 2003.