Anniversaries are a time for celebrating how we've grown, acknowledging the distances we've traversed, congratulating each other for the obstacles over which we've prevailed.

But as we mark the third year after Hurricane Katrina made landfall on New Orleans, the words "progress" and "growth" aren't being thrown around too loosely. With good reason. The words scandal and struggle, however, are still in heavy use. And in the midst of all this looking back, the city is busy bracing itself for Gustav. Here's hope against hope that one of the biggest disasters in American history was a learning experience to help it weather yet another storm.

Photo: Garrett Sussman outside his home two months after Katrina, by Alex

UPDATE: In the meantime, to stave off pessimism, which has never solved anything, here's a list of 100 of the good things that have happened in New Orleans since Katrina.