We spent five years on the outskirts of New Orleans, where we taught ourselves ... on Japan's Ōmishima Island and own two formerly abandoned homes that we restored back to life.

The city of New Orleans is still rebuilding ... quarter of the city's housing stock was abandoned. "As people started to come back in and redevelop, property values shot up like crazy," said ...

A friend joked to me that New Orleans is “either the best-run city in the Caribbean, or the worst-run city in America.” There are graffiti and potholes, and blue tarps on lots of houses.