I guess descriptions of New Orleans will probably always be BK and AK or Before Katrina and After Katrina. I visited New Orleans long before Katrina and found it to be an incredible place dripping with something very difficult to explain.
It was a paradox of friendly and forboding. Like you never wanted to run out of bread crumbs, just to be on the safe side.
I'm not sure how much of what I remember is still there, but I hope that the lessons and injustices of Katrina are not soon forgotten.