Displaced residents prefer to stay that way

People who were displaced from New Orleans by hurricane Katrina don't seem all that eager to return.

Despite oft-heard protests about the dearth of public housing in New Orleans, the Housing Authority of New Orleans said Monday that it has at least 283 apartments repaired, cleaned and ready for former public housing tenants.

Problem is, it can't seem to entice former residents to return.

"I'm just being honest: A lot of residents are saying, 'Not at this time. We're happy where we are,' " said HANO's government affairs liaison Darren Martin at a special meeting of the New Orleans City Council's housing committee in Baton Rouge.

There are people who would blame FEMA for this ongoing displacement, but it seems related to problems that predate Katrina.

The reasons for residents' delayed returns are complex, from the city's struggling public school system and lack of health care to the long-standing turf wars that make the idea of transplanting families from one end of New Orleans to the other a realistic risk of running into violence.