Hard Living In The Big Easy: Housing Costs Push Musicians Out Of New Orleans

Jazz vocalist John Boutté feels he can no longer afford to live in his hometown of New Orleans. He's not alone. Rising housing costs are pushing many musicians and service workers — the backbone of New Orleans' tourism economy — further and further outside the city limits. This suburbanization of the working class poses more than an inconvenience: It's fraying the culture of New Orleans and splintering the very neighborhoods that have nurtured the city's music for decades.

CREDITS

Producers: Nick Michael, Alex Ariff, Josie Holtzman, Colin Marshall; Editors: Nick Michael, Morgan Noelle Smith; Supervising Sound Editor: Suraya Mohamed; Sound Effects: Bronson Arcuri; Motion Graphics: CJ Riculan; Videographers: Colin Marshall, Nick Michael, Kathleen Flynn; Doc Audio: Alex Ariff, Josie Holtzman, Nick Michael; Production Assistants: Nikki Boliaux, Claire Hannah Collins; Host: Christian McBride; Project Manager: Suraya Mohamed; Senior Producer, Radio: Katie Simon; Executive Producers: Gabrielle Armand, Anya Grundmann, Amy Niles; Funded in party by: The Argus Fund, Doris Duke Foundation, The National Endowment for the Arts, The Wyncote Foundation.

Copyright 2017 WBGO and Jazz At Lincoln Center. To see more, visit WBGO and Jazz At Lincoln Center.