Well here's the deal. This is my favorite part of the country. Bar none. I can't imagine living anywhere else. The old saying is after living here, N.O is like OZ, everywhere else is like Kansas. We have the best food in the world, IMHO, great entertainment, access to beaches, casinos, night life, etc. I love the water too much to be landlocked anywhere. This is also one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the US. We took the best from many different cultures and made our own.

As far as the hurricanes go, every part of the country has it's own natural disasters. Northeast, you get ice storms, snowed in, and even the occasional hurricane. North is just too frickin cold. Middle gets tornadoes, dust storms, etc. SW is too frickin hot. West coast gets earthquakes, mudslides, droughts, etc. Hawaii gets hurricanes AND tsunamis. Alasaka, see North, above.

Of all these things, at least we get a 3-5 day warning to get the hell out of the way of a hurricane, and prepare our houses for the impact. Try getting out of the way of an earthquake, tornado, or mudslide.

As someone stated earlier, living below sea level is not really a problem. Our problem in Katrina was a purely man-made one. We survived the hurricane itself with VERY little damage, it wasn't until the levee's broke that there was an issue. Not to mention it took the federal government DAYS to get any type of relief here. Not long after, when the tsunami hit Thailand, we had relief on the ground halfway across the globe in less than 24 hours. Something went horribly, horribly wrong in the federal response to a disaster on it's own soil. That wasn't a location problem, it was a bureaucratic problem.

On a more personal note, my wife's family lives here. My family is 2.5 hours away. My wife (Danna) has been working here at city hall for 23 years. 2 more and she could retire with 75%. 7 more and she gets 100%. I've been working here for 8 years. 2 more and I'm vested (30% retirement at 65 no matter what) +3 more percent every year after, until 25 years. I have no plans of giving up our retirement.

As to the crime problem, that is an issue in EVERY major city. Don't think New Orleans is worse than DC or New York for even a second. Personally, Unless you do something stupid, like park your car next to the projects in a poorly lit area at 2 AM, you will never have a problem with crime here. I rarely even lock my car at night and have often (unintentionally) left the house unlocked while at work. Granted, there are certain areas that you just shouldn't go to, but this is the same as Chicago, LA, New York, DC, Atlanta, or any other large metropolitan area. The vast majority of this crime can be traced directly to the welfare problem and to gang issues, but that's a discussion for another day. I'm too tired right now.

Anyway, an occasional hurricane isn't typically life threatening. It's just inconvenient.

So no, I don't think I'm crazy or stupid, and I'm not leaving my home. Ever.