New Orleans' troubled renaissance

If urban planners re-create New Orleans as a smaller, more compact city without the Lower Ninth Ward or Treme, for instance, they will be creating "a kind of Disneyland, a gentrified historical-preservation mall with the French Quarter serving as its anchor store," says Professor Kelman.

Richard Russell is one artist who has already decided he's not returning. He managed to save his art, but lost his home in the flooding.

"I have 99 percent assurance that New Orleans will be back stronger and better than before," he says. "The big question is, 'When will the tourists feel comfortable coming back in?' Business in the French Quarter depends on foot traffic." His art gallery there cost him $10,000 a month. "So you are really under pressure to make a lot of money just to pay your rent. And that isn't going to happen for a long time."

"I love New Orleans," adds Mr. Russell, now permanently settled with his family in Cullman, Ala. "But I'm ready for the country life."

Other cities can also expect displaced New Orleans artists to stay on.

Take Kermit Ruffins. A well-known New Orleans trumpeter on the Basin Street Records label, he has been doing nightly gigs in Houston since he arrived after the storm. While he's sure New Orleans will "swing again," he says the response here "has been real pleasant and so lovable. It makes me feel good."

So good, he says, he is planning to keep his apartment here and travel between Houston and New Orleans as much as possible. "I will be swinging in both cities, to the best of my ability."

New Orleans still retains advantages for artists.

"The atmosphere encourages them," says Sharon McBroom, visual-artist manager for the Bayou City Art Festival. "It has its own culture that is separate from the rest of the United States. Yes, business goes on, but New Orleanians are always in pursuit of pleasure. Food, drink, dancing, enjoying art, it's the driving force."

And because the medium home price is $85,000, it's a city where artists can live relatively economically.

"It's cheap, which is important for artists," says Ms. McBroom. "Other cities appreciate the bohemian, but you can't rent an apartment for $425 [a month] in San Francisco, Santa Fe, or New York."

It's far from clear what the new New Orleans will be like. But Mr. Samuels, who has relocated his family to Austin, Texas, feels a responsibility to be one of the first to return.

So does Tory McPhail, executive chef at the famous Commander's Palace in New Orleans. He has been working with a handful of his sous-chefs and cooks at Brennan's of Houston temporarily, but says his restaurant will reopen as soon as potable water is restored.

"The New Orleans cooking community is tighter than ever," he says. "And when we return, I think the creative push will be stronger than ever."

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