Bitt is absolutely correct on both counts. Some are not returning. Some don't have the money. Like I have said before, I lost close to $40k due to being bent over by the insurance companies. I am, however, in a position to be able to take that kind of hit and it's all good. Many people don't make enough to do that. They are having to save up in order to get repairs made. Other houses have been snapped up by real estate companies, and they aren't in as much of a hurry to rebuild as someone who had to live in a trailer in their front yard. Others are just lazy slobs that don't care. Most likely not in the quarter though. Those were bought up pretty fast. Some were bought back by the government. You can imagine how long it will take THOSE to be rebuilt. Some are awaiting demolition. Some are waiting for the neighborhoods to start coming back before they invest good money in a neighborhood that might get razed. Some are STILL waiting on insurance proceeds to continue working on their home (think lawsuit.)

All that being said, things are actually going pretty well. Home depot is back to normal, instead of being more popular than the mall. Macy's is not only reopening in the Esplanade Mall, but they built a brand new store at Clearview Mall. Both will open next month. The really odd thing is that even though we suffered all this damage, and the rest of the country is starting to slide into a recession, we are still have an economic boom. If I had any complaint, it would be that there are entirely too many mexican restaurants opening up. This is, of course, due to the illegal migrant workforce that has moved in.

But things are getting back to normal. Better, actually, if you ask me.