The Nation Looks At New OrleansA NATIONWIDE ONLINE SURVEY BY THE UNO SURVEY RESEARCH CENTER

Dr. Robert T. Sims, Director

rsims@uno.edu

Alicia N. Jencik, M.A. –Research Associate

Hung-Chung (Joe) Wang, M.A. –Research Associate

December 10, 2007

Methodology

•: Online survey of 775 U.S. residents NOT including Louisiana
•: Margin of error = ±3.6%
•: Sample is representative of U.S. voting age population in terms of median income, gender and ethnicity
•: Interviewing took place between November 29 and December 4, 2007.

How the Nation Views New Orleans

Question: Please rate the City of New Orleans, post-Katrina, on the following criteria . . .

•At this time, the nation’s opinion of New Orleans clearly tends toward the negative.

•The city’s reputation as a high crime area has clearly permeated the nation’s consciousness.

•New Orleans is also thought of as relatively dirty, offering poor quality education, and guided by poor quality elected officials.

•The city’s reputation as a tourist destination is a little better than its general reputation for quality of life.

•However, even on factors such as the quality and availability of hotels, average ratings fall barely over the scale midpoint.

Worst in

The U.S.

Best in

The U.S.

Perception of the Recovery

Question: Would you say things in New Orleans are now completely back to normal, are not yet back to normal, but will eventually be, or will never be back to normal?

Question: How long do you think it will still take before things get back to normal for New Orleans?

n = 410

•Nearly all respondents (94%) indicate a belief that New Orleans is not yet (49%) or will never be (45%) back to normal.

Perception of the Recovery

•An alarmingly high percentage of respondents maintain mistaken beliefs concerning post-Katrina New Orleans.

•For example, over 60% believe that the majority of New Orleans residents still live in temporary housing, while at least one-third believe that . . .

•Only 1 in 10 area restaurants have reopened; •The French Quarter was one of the hardest hit areas; •Most French Quarter businesses remain closed; •New Orleans residents must still drink bottled water because the water supply remains contaminated
•: Parts of New Orleans remain under water

Question: Which of the following items do you believe to be true?

Perception of the Recovery

Question: Which level of government do you believe is or was most to blame for any problems that have been faced by New Orleans as a result of Hurricane Katrina?

Question: Some people say that the devastating problems that New Orleans has faced since Hurricane Katrina are completely the result of an act of nature and could not have been avoided. Others say that, though some damage was inevitable, most of the problems that New Orleans has faced since Katrina are the result of mistakes made by government both before and after the storm. Which comes closer to your opinion?

•About half (48.5%) of respondents who felt that New Orleans’ Katrina problems were caused by government say the Federal government is most to blame.

n = 390

Leader Performance Ratings

Question: Based on everything that you have read, heard or experienced since the time Hurricane Katrina hit, how would you rate the job that [NAME] has done with regard to the recovery of New Orleans?

•Though neither local, state nor Federal leaders rate high in terms of their handling of recovery in New Orleans, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco both rate substantially higher than Michael Brown who served as FEMA director at the time of Katrina and during its immediate aftermath.

•Well over half (60.1%) of respondents familiar with Nagin rated his performance “fair” or “poor.”

•Nearly 70% of Blanco’s ratings fell into these categories, and 92% rated Brown’s performance no better than “fair.”

•These results are consistent with the large percentage attributing blame to the Federal government presented in the previous section.

Leader Performance Ratings:Mayor Ray Nagin

Gulf South –56.0%

Other South –57.1%

Outside South –46.2%

•Among respondents who indicated that they were familiar with Ray Nagin, 95% correctly identified him as Mayor of New Orleans.

Question: Based on everything that you have read, heard or experienced since the time Hurricane Katrina hit, how would you rate the job that Ray Nagin has done with regard to the recovery of New Orleans?

•Forty-one percent (41%) of Gulf South residents rated Nagin’s performance as “poor.”

Leader Performance Ratings:Governor Kathleen Blanco

Gulf South –39.6%

Other South –38.1%

Outside South –28.5%

•Among respondents who indicated that they were familiar with Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, 92% correctly identified her as Governor of Louisiana.

Question: Based on everything that you have read, heard or experienced since the time Hurricane Katrina hit, how would you rate the job that Kathleen Babineaux Blanco has done with regard to the recovery of New Orleans?

•Nearly half (49%) of Gulf South residents rated Blanco’s performance as “poor.”

Leader Performance Ratings:Former FEMA Head Michael Brown

•Among respondents who indicated that they were familiar with Michael Brown, 81% correctly identified him as the Director of FEMA at the time of Katrina.

Question: Based on everything that you have read, heard or experienced since the time Hurricane Katrina hit, how would you rate the job that Michael Brown has done with regard to the recovery of New Orleans?

•Respondents who were affected by Katrina were somewhat more positive in their assessment of Brown than those not affected.

Leader Performance Ratings:Political Corruption

Question: Thinking about both the City of New Orleans and the State of Louisiana, in general, how would you describe the problem of political corruption in the area?

•Respondents who were affected by Katrina were most likely to consider political corruption worse in Louisiana than in other places around the country and to believe that corruption has impeded the recovery effort.

Question: Do you feel that political corruption in the State of Louisiana and City of New Orleans has impeded the post-Katrina recovery effort a great deal, somewhat, a little, not at all?

Following the Money

Question: Would you say that the amount of money and other support that the Federal Government has provided the City of New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina has been too much, too little, or just about right?

Question: Which of the following should be a greater priority in terms of Federal spending?

•The majority of respondents believe that the Federal government has spent too little in support of New Orleans’ recovery.

•Over three-quarters of respondents feel that Katrina recovery should be at least as great a Federal spending priority as the war in Iraq.

Following the Money

Question: Based on what you know or personally believe, how well do you think that the money that has been spent on Katrina recovery, whether by the Federal Government or private charities, has been used?

•Results suggest that corruption is, to some extent, blamed for poor use of resources devoted to Katrina recovery.

Following the Money

Question: Keeping in mind that all Federal aid involves the expenditure of tax dollars, how willing are you to have the Federal Government continue to provide New Orleans with financial aid aimed at post-Katrina recovery?

•The level of government that respondents feel was most to blame for Katrina problems has much to do with their willingness to continue to support recovery with tax dollars.

•Over half of respondents indicate a willingness to continue to support recovery through Federal tax dollars.

Tourism Prospects

Question: Have you ever visited the City of New Orleans?

•About 41% of respondents have previously visited New Orleans, about 11% of these have visited since Katrina.

Question: When was the last time you visited New Orleans?

Tourism Prospects

Question: How likely do you think you will be to travel to New Orleans for either business or pleasure purposes over the next 2 years?

•Even among frequent travelers, less than one-third plan to travel to New Orleans over the next 2 years.

Tourism Prospects

•Respondents’ ratings of New Orleans can materially impact their likelihood of visitation.

Question: How likely do you think you will be to travel to New Orleans for either business or pleasure purposes over the next 2 years?

Question: How likely do you think you will be to travel to New Orleans for either business or pleasure purposes over the next 2 years?