NEW ORLEANS, April 18 (UPI) -- A recent poll of 608 residents from various Louisiana parishes has found many are pessimistic regarding New Orleans' future and are considering leaving.
The poll conducted for the Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse found that 47 percent of those polled had a dour outlook concerning the city's future and 25 percent of metropolitan respondents said they are going to move away, the New Orleans Times Picayune reported Wednesday.
With the city attempting to recover from Hurricane Katrina, nearly 60 percent of those polled said the Louisiana city became more dangerous after the natural disaster.
Those findings were especially prevalent in the city's St. Bernard parish, where 78 percent of respondents thought danger levels had risen significantly since Katrina.
Another 88 percent of the parish's residents who were polled answered yes when asked "is someone in your family still showing signs of emotional distress due to Katrina and its aftermath?"
The newspaper said other area parishes such as Orleans and Jefferson only featured affirmative responses from 48 percent and 46 percent of respondents, respectively
