She can definitely commute here (New Orleans). There are plenty other bike commuters here....especially by the french quarter, because parking is so bad around there.

The infrastructure seems to actually be changing to favor cyclists. We have new bike lanes popping up everywhere, and there was this initiative recently to install these fleur-de-lis bike racks all over the place. We have a new police chief, and there are police all over the place now too. I have a short commute (3-4 miles) to work, but I don't have a problem riding around the city otherwise.

The streets are pretty bad here though. That's the biggest problem she'll face. I would suggest NOT getting skinny 23mm tires if that's her only form of transportation. A friend and I were recently discussing how perfect it would be to have cyclocross bikes because those thin knobby tires would be perfect down here. Durable but still fast.

I have a road bike, but it has 25mm tires, and I put one of those heavy slow-rolling kevlar tires on my back wheel because of too many flats. No problems since then. And I ride my MTN bike around without any problems. Those freakin' tires can go over anything (and there's lots of stuff to test them with too).

I'd also like to remind her that Katrina was like 5 years ago. Most everyone has rebuilt or moved on by now. Whoever she ends up doing work for will not be the most upstanding citizens with the best work ethic. Just felt like I should throw that out there. She's going to be dealing with the people who have been waiting for 6 years for someone to come fix their house FOR them. Well, I guess that's what Amiricorps does, so maybe she's already aware of this. Actually, she probably signed on just to help people in need, which is cool. I actually hate to say negative stuff like this, but seeing it every day kinda lowers my tolerance for it, I guess. Sorry.

Anyway, yeah, she can totally live here without a car, but I just suggest she get a bike that can handle some bad roads.