RUNNING OUT OF PEOPLE*

Boy at Parade, New Orleans LA 2000 from PERILOUS PILGRIMAGE

All reproduction rights reserved Wm. Greiner

Population: 354,850
Population Change 2000-2009: -128,813
Population Percent Change 2000-2009: -26.63%
Home Vacancy: 21.5%

New Orleans is unique in that its presence on this list is not due to industrial decline, but from natural disaster. Hurricane Katrina flooded 80% of the city, caused by some estimates more than $80 billion in damage, and displaced tens of thousands of residents. The period of widespread homelessness, severe crime, and slow recovery has left the city as a shadow of its former self.

While people are trickling back into the city, many will likely never return, and the city has lost more than a quarter of its population in just 10 years.

*American Cities That Are Running Out Of People by Michael B. Sauter