Many evacuees are moving up to a better neighborhood

NY Times:

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The New York Times analyzed relocation patterns in 17 counties in and around Atlanta and Houston, two leading destinations for Katrina evacuees. Like the Marcells, the average evacuee has landed in a neighborhood with nearly twice the income as the one left behind, less than half as much poverty, and significantly higher levels of education, employment and home ownership.

Still, it is unclear whether a better environment will bring success, for the Marcells or for others like them.

The Marcells say Atlanta has plenty of jobs, but seven months after the storm they are still jobless. They praise the school their 10-year-old attends but put much of their energy into his nascent rap career, as his reading scores lag. By the time George Jefferson was "Moving on Up," he had seven dry-cleaning stores and a "de-luxe apartment in the sky"—not, as the Marcells do, unemployment checks and subsidized housing.

Some Katrina families may be too traumatized to benefit from the moves. Others may drift back to poor areas when government aid decreases. Even if they stay, the new neighborhoods might make little difference. Other forces — like family structure, cultural heritage and personal motivation — may do more to shape success.

Nonetheless, the relocation of tens of thousands of low-income families creates a grand experiment in class mixing. While the full effects will not be known for years, Ms. Marcell is among those who think it will succeed. She was furious with Barbara Bush last fall when the former first lady, seeming to ignore the pain the storm had caused, said the evacuation was "working very well" because most displaced families "were underprivileged anyway." Yet in calling Atlanta a "land of opportunity," Ms. Marcell, from the other end of the class spectrum, is making a parallel point.

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It is a long story with much more. The real question will be whether the people who moved will continue doing the things that made them poor to begin with, or will they adapt to the new culture they are living in.