Find a map of the rivers that drain into the Mississippi. Think about how much shipping still happens on the rivers, despite the highway and train networks. Lots of goods pass through there, which means lots of money flows through (and all too little of it sticks).

New Orleans is the least shitty place to put a port on the Mississippi. Or at least it's been that since its founding. Rising sea levels and "hundred-year storms" becoming "twenty-year storms" may change that.

And also... it's home. I grew up there, left for a while, came back right before Katrina, and leaving after that ripped a chunk of my heart out that I've only started growing back after returning a couple years ago. The place is fucking magical for the 347 days out of the year we're not staring down a hurricane that might be aimed right for us. Most of them see us staring and decide to go elsewhere.