Support for NPR comes from NPR member stations and Eric and Wendy Schmidt

through the Schmidt Family Foundation working toward a healthy,

resilient, secure world for all. On the web at the Schmidt.org. In most places in the US if you see a pothole or a broken street light you can call

the city ask for a repair but according to recent reporting from New Orleans Times,

Picayune, response times vary dramatically.

In Memphis, Tennessee, it takes an average of five days

for the city to fill a pothole after you call it in.

In Louisville, Kentucky, and Miami, Florida, they complete the task within a couple of weeks. But get this, in New Orleans, Louisiana,

citizens wait an average of 355 days, which is basically a year, for a pothole to be filled after they've called

it in.

And you're familiar with what that's like.

This is Johnny calling from Wilmington, North Carolina. We have a

stretch of road near our downtown called Fifth Avenue and in the five years

that I have been living here I have never seen them do any repairs on this piece of street.

It's so bad, my late girlfriend had a pothole with her Fiat, and it actually blew out her tire. We had to make an emergency. her

tired. We had to make an emergency run to buy her a new tire and it just the longer I lived here the

more I'm in disbelief that the city just seems to be fine to leave it the way that it is.

This is the latest installment in our local spotlight series.

It's our chance to highlight the meaningful investigative journalism happening in your communities.

This time we're headed to Louisiana, talking about the recent series from The Times-Picayune

called Broken City Inside New Orleans' Chronic Dysfunction.

The reporter behind that series joins us after the break to the to the one-a podcast where we get to the heart of the story. We'll be back with more in just a moment.

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