New Orleans is a major
U.S.The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
portThe Port of New Orleans is a port located in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the 5th largest port in the United States based on volume of cargo handled, second-largest in the state after the Port of South Louisiana, and 12th largest in the U.S. based on value of cargo...
and the largest city in the state of
LouisianaThe State of Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state divided into parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
. New Orleans is the center of the
New Orleans Metropolitan AreaNew Orleans–Metairie–Kenner is a metropolitan area designated by the US Census encompassing seven parishes in the state of Louisiana, centering on the city of New Orleans...
, the largest metro area in the state.
New Orleans is located in southeastern Louisiana, straddling the
Mississippi RiverThe Mississippi River is the second longest river in the United States, with a length of from its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota to its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico....
. The boundaries of the city and Orleans Parish are the same. It is bounded by the parishes of
St. TammanySt. Tammany Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana, in the New Orleans–Metairie–Kenner Metropolitan Statistical Area. The parish seat is Covington. As of 2000, the population was 191,268. In 2004, the population was estimated to have grown to 212,000, and after the...
(north),
St. BernardSt. Bernard Parish is a parish located southeast of New Orleans in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Chalmette, the largest city in the parish. As of 2000, its population was 67,229. It has been ranked the fastest-growing county in the United States from 2007 to 2008 by the U.S....
(east),
PlaqueminesPlaquemines Parish is the parish with the most combined land and water area in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Pointe à la Hache...
(south) and
JeffersonJefferson Parish is a parish in Louisiana, United States that includes most of the suburbs of New Orleans. The seat of parish government is Gretna....
(south and west).
Lake PontchartrainLake Pontchartrain is a brackish estuary located in southeastern Louisiana. It is the second-largest saltwater lake in the United States, after the Great Salt Lake in Utah, and the largest lake in Louisiana....
, part of which is included in the city limits, lies to the north and
Lake BorgneLake Borgne is a lagoon in eastern Louisiana of the Gulf of Mexico. Due to coastal erosion, it is no longer actually a lake but rather an arm of the Gulf of Mexico. Its name comes from the French word borgne, which means "one-eyed".-Geography:...
lies to the east.
The city is named after
Philippe II, Duc d'OrléansPhilippe Charles d'Orléans, petit-fils de France, Duke of Orléans , was a member of the royal family of France and served as Regent of the Kingdom from 1715 to 1723. Born at his father's palace at Saint-Cloud, he was known from birth under the title of Duke of Chartres...
, Regent of France, and is well known for its
multiculturalMulticulturalism is the acceptance of multiple ethnic cultures, for practical reasons and/or for the sake of diversity and applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g. schools, businesses, neighborhoods, cities or nations...
and multilingual heritage, cuisine, architecture, music (particularly as the birthplace of
jazzJazz is a musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
), and its annual celebrations and festivals, particularly
Mardi GrasMardi Gras in New Orleans, Louisiana, is one of the most famous Carnival celebrations in the world.The New Orleans Carnival season, with roots in preparing for the start of the Christian season of Lent, starts on Epiphany or Twelfth Night . It is a season of parades, balls , and king cake parties...
. The city is often referred to as the "most unique" city in America.
Beginnings through the 19th century
La Nouvelle-Orléans (New Orleans) was founded May 7, 1718, by the
French Mississippi CompanyThe Mississippi Company became the Company of the West and expanded as the Company of the Indies .The French names for the company were: in 1684, Compagnie du Mississippi; in 1717 Compagnie d'Occident; and in 1719, Compagnie des Indes .-History:A factor in the history of French trade, the...
, under the direction of
Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de BienvilleJean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville[
pronounce] was a colonizer, born in Montreal, Quebec and an early, repeated governor of French Louisiana, appointed 4 separate times during 1701-1743. He was a younger brother of explorer Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville...
, on land inhabited by the
ChitimachaThe Chitimacha are a Native American group that lives in the U.S. state of Louisiana, mainly in St. Mary Parish. They currently number about 720 people...
. It was named for
Philippe II, Duke of OrléansPhilippe Charles d'Orléans, petit-fils de France, Duke of Orléans , was a member of the royal family of France and served as Regent of the Kingdom from 1715 to 1723. Born at his father's palace at Saint-Cloud, he was known from birth under the title of Duke of Chartres...
, who was Regent of France at the time. His title came from the French city of
OrléansOrléans is a commune in north-central France, about southwest of Paris. It is the capital of the Loiret department and of the Centre region.The commune is located on the Loire River where the river curves south towards the Massif Central....
. The French colony was ceded to the
Spanish EmpireThe Spanish colonization of the Americas was the settlement and political rule over much of the western hemisphere which was initiated by the Spanish conquistadors and fought mostly by their native allies...
in the
Treaty of Paris (1763)The Treaty of Paris, often called the Peace of Paris, or the Treaty of 1763, was signed on February 10, 1763, by the kingdoms of Great Britain, France and Spain, with Portugal in agreement. It ended the Seven Years' War. The treaty marked the beginning of an extensive period of British dominance...
and remained under Spanish control until 1801, when it reverted to French control. All of the surviving 18th century architecture of the Vieux Carré (
French QuarterThe French Quarter, also known as Vieux Carré, is the oldest and most famous neighborhood in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. When La Nouvelle Orléans was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city was originally centered on the French Quarter, or the Vieux Carré as it...
) dates from this Spanish period.
NapoleonNapoleon Bonaparte later known as Napoleon I, and previously Napoleone di Buonaparte, was a military and political leader of France whose actions shaped European politics in the early 19th century.Born in Corsica and trained as an artillery officer in mainland France, Bonaparte rose to prominence...
sold the territory to the United States in the
Louisiana PurchaseThe Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition by the United States of America of of the French territory Louisiana in 1803. The U.S...
in 1803. Thereafter, the city grew rapidly with influxes of Americans, French,
CreolesLouisiana Creole refers to people of various racial backgrounds who are descended from the colonial French settlers, African-Americans, and Native Americans from the time before the Louisiana territory became a possession of the United States through the Louisiana Purchase .Historically, the term...
, Irish, Germans and Africans. Major commodity crops of sugar and cotton were cultivated with slave labor on large plantations outside the city.
The
Haitian RevolutionThe Haitian Revolution is, as historian C.L.R. James affirms, "the only successful slave revolt in history." It established Haiti as the first republic ruled by blacks. At the time of the revolution, Haiti was known as Saint-Domingue and was a colony of France...
of 1804 established the second republic in the Western Hemisphere and the first led by blacks. Haitian refugees, both white and free people of color (
affranchis or
gens de couleur libres), arrived in New Orleans, often bringing slaves with them. While Governor Claiborne and other officials wanted to keep out more free black men, French Creoles wanted to increase the French-speaking population. As more refugees were allowed in Louisiana, Haitian émigrés who had gone to
CubaThe Republic of Cuba is an island country in the Caribbean. It consists of the island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city. Cuba is home to over 11 million people and is...
also arrived. Nearly 90 percent of the new immigrants settled in New Orleans. The 1809 migration brought 2,731 whites; 3,102 free persons of African descent; and 3,226 enslaved refugees to the city, doubling its French-speaking population.
During the last campaign of the
War of 1812The War of 1812, between the United States of America and the British Empire , lasted from 1812 to 1815. It was fought chiefly on the Atlantic Ocean and on the land, coasts and waterways of North America.There were several immediate stated causes for the U.S...
, the
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
sent their best forces to conquer New Orleans. Despite great challenges, the young
Andrew JacksonAndrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . He was military governor of Florida , commander of the American forces at the Battle of New Orleans , and eponym of the era of Jacksonian democracy...
successfully cobbled together a motley crew of local militia, free persons of color, United States regulars, Kentucky riflemen and area
piratesJean Lafitte was a pirate and privateer in the Gulf of Mexico in the early 19th century. He often spelled his name Jean Laffite....
to decisively defeat the British troops, led by
Sir Edward PakenhamSir Edward Michael Pakenham GCB , styled The Honourable from his birth until 1813, was a British politician and major general who was killed at the Battle of New Orleans....
, in the
Battle of New OrleansThe Battle of New Orleans took place on January 8, 1815, and was the final major battle of the War of 1812. American forces, commanded by General Andrew Jackson, defeated an invading British Army intent on seizing New Orleans and the vast territory America had acquired with the Louisiana Purchase...
on January 8 1815.
As a principal port, New Orleans played a major role during the antebellum era in the
Atlantic slave tradeThe Atlantic slave trade, also known as the transatlantic slave trade, was the trading, primarily of African people, to the colonies of the New World that occurred in and around the Atlantic Ocean. It lasted from the 16th to the 19th centuries...
. Its port handled huge quantities of commodities for export from the interior and imported goods from other countries, which were warehoused and then transferred in New Orleans to smaller vessels and distributed the length and breadth of the vast
Mississippi RiverThe Mississippi River is the second longest river in the United States, with a length of from its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota to its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico....
watershed. The river in front of the city was filled with steamboats, flatboats, and sailing ships. Despite its dealings with the slave trade, New Orleans at the same time had the largest and most prosperous community of free persons of color in the nation, who were often educated and middle-class property owners.
The population of the city doubled in the 1830s and by 1840, New Orleans had become the wealthiest and third-most populous city in the nation. Dwarfing in population the other cities in the
antebellum SouthThe history of the Southern United States reaches back thousands of years and includes the Mississippian peoples, well known for their mound building. European history in the region began in the very earliest days of the exploration and colonization of North America...
, New Orleans had, consequently, the largest slave market. Two-thirds of the more than one million slaves brought to the Deep South arrived via the forced migration of the internal slave trade. The money generated by sales of slaves in the Upper South has been estimated at fifteen percent of the value of the staple crop economy. The slaves represented half a billion dollars in property, and an ancillary economy grew up around the trade in slaves for transportation, housing and clothing, fees, etc., estimated at 13.5 percent of the price per person. All of this amounted to tens of billions of dollars during the antebellum period, with New Orleans as a prime beneficiary.
The
UnionDuring the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty-three states which were not part of the secession attempt by the 11 states that tried to form the Confederacy...
captured New Orleans early in the
American Civil WarThe American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several other names, was a civil war in the United States of America. Eleven Southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America...
, sparing the city the destruction suffered by many other cities of the
American SouthThe Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, Down South, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive region in the southeastern and south-central United States...
.
During Reconstruction New Orleans was within the
Fifth Military DistrictThe 5th Military District was a temporary administrative unit of the United States set up during the Reconstruction period following the American Civil War. It included Texas and Louisiana. General Philip Sheridan served as military governor, until removed by U.S...
of the United States. Louisiana was readmitted to the Union in 1868, and its Constitution of 1868 granted universal manhood suffrage. Due to the state's large
African AmericanAfrican Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa. In the United States, the terms are generally used for Americans with at least partial Sub-Saharan African ancestry...
population, many blacks held public office. In 1872, then-lieutenant governor P.B.S. Pinchback succeeded Henry Clay Warmouth as governor of
LouisianaThe State of Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state divided into parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, becoming the first non-white governor of a
U.S. stateA U.S. state is any one of 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government . Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile...
, and the last African American to lead a U.S. state until
Douglas Wilder'sLawrence Douglas Wilder is an American politician, the first African American to be elected as governor of a U.S. state, and the second to serve as governor. Wilder served as Governor of Virginia from 1990 to 1994. When earlier elected as Lieutenant Governor, he was the first African American...
election in Virginia, 117 years later. In New Orleans, Reconstruction was marked by the horrible Mechanics Institute race riot (1866) but also by the successful operation of a fully racially-integrated
public school systemNew Orleans Public Schools is a public school district that serves all of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Schools within the district are governed by a multitude of entities, including the Orleans Parish School Board , which directly administers 7 schools and has granted charters to another...
. Meanwhile, the city's economy struggled to right itself after practically grinding to a halt upon the declaration of war in 1861, the nationwide
Panic of 1873The Panic of 1873 was the start of the Long Depression, a severe nationwide economic depression in the United States that lasted until 1879. It was precipitated by the bankruptcy of the Philadelphia banking firm Jay Cooke & Company on September 18, 1873...
conspiring to severely retard economic recovery.
Reconstruction ended in Louisiana in 1877, and white southern
DemocratsThe Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. It is the oldest political party in continuous operation in the United States and it is one of the oldest parties in the world. In the U.S...
, the so-called
RedeemersThe "Redeemers" were a political coalition in the Southern United States during the Reconstruction era, who sought to oust the Republican coalition of freedmen, carpetbaggers and scalawags...
, succeeded in stripping power from the
Republican PartyThe Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the Grand Old Party or the GOP, despite being the younger of the two major parties. In the U.S...
and gradually circumscribing the only recently-acquired civil rights of African Americans. In New Orleans, the public schools were resegregated and remained so until 1960.
New Orleans' large community of well-educated, often French-speaking free persons of color (
gens de couleur libres), who had not been enslaved prior to the Civil War, sought to fight back against the incipient forces of
Jim CrowThe Jim Crow laws were state and local laws in the United States enacted between 1876 and 1965. They mandated de jure segregation in all public facilities, with a supposedly "separate but equal" status for black Americans...
. As part of their ongoing campaign, they recruited one of their own,
Homer PlessyHomer Plessy was the American plaintiff in the United States Supreme Court decision in Plessy v. Ferguson. Arrested, tried and convicted of a violation of one of Louisiana's racial segregation laws, he appealed to the Supreme Court, and lost...
to test whether Louisiana's newly-enacted Separate Car Act was constitutional. Plessy duly boarded a commuter train departing New Orleans for
Covington, LouisianaCovington is a city in and the parish seat of St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 8,483 at the 2000 census. It is located at a fork of the Bogue Falaya and the Tchefuncte River....
, sat in the car reserved for whites only and was arrested. The case spawned by this incident,
Plessy v. FergusonPlessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 , is a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in the jurisprudence of the United States, upholding the constitutionality of racial segregation even in public accommodations , under the doctrine of "separate but equal".The decision was handed down by a vote of 7 to 1...
, was heard by the
U.S. Supreme CourtThe Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States, and leads the federal judiciary. It consists of the Chief Justice of the United States and eight Associate Justices, who are nominated by the President and confirmed with the "advice and consent" of the Senate...
in 1896. The court, in finding that "separate but equal" accommodations were constitutional, strengthened by effectively consecrating the already-underway Jim Crow movement. The ruling was a key development in the
nadir of race relations reached during this periodThe "nadir of American race relations" is a phrase referring to the period in United States history from the end of Reconstruction to the beginning of the 20th Century, when racism was deemed to be worse than in any other post-bellum period. During this period, African Americans lost many civil...
.
Twentieth century
New Orleans reached its most consequential position as an economic and population center in relation to other American cities in the decades prior to 1860; as late as that year it was the nation's fifth-largest city and by far the largest in the
American SouthThe Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, Down South, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive region in the southeastern and south-central United States...
. Though New Orleans continued to grow in size, from the mid-19th century onwards, first the emerging industrial and railroad hubs of the Midwest overtook the city in population, then the rapidly growing metropolises of the Pacific Coast in the decades before and after the turn of the 20th century, then other
Sun BeltThe Sun Belt is a region of the United States generally considered to stretch across the South and Southwest . Another rough boundary of the region is the area south of the 37th or 38th parallels, north latitude. The main defining feature of the Sun Belt is its warm-temperate climate with extended...
cities in the South and West in the post-World War II period surpassed New Orleans in population. Consequently, New Orleans has periodically mounted attempts to regain its economic vigor and pre-eminence over the past 150 years, with varying degrees of success.
By the mid-20th century, New Orleanians were observing with concern that the city was even ceding its traditional ranking as the leading urban area in the
SouthThe Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, Down South, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive region in the southeastern and south-central United States...
. By 1950, Houston, Dallas and Atlanta (along with Seattle, outside of the South) had surpassed New Orleans in size, and 1960 witnessed Miami's eclipse of New Orleans, even as New Orleans' population was recorded as reaching its historic peak by the 1960 Census. Like most older American cities in this period, New Orleans' center city commenced losing inhabitants, though the
New Orleans metropolitan areaNew Orleans–Metairie–Kenner is a metropolitan area designated by the US Census encompassing seven parishes in the state of Louisiana, centering on the city of New Orleans...
continued expanding in population - just never as rapidly as its metropolitan peers in the Sun Belt. While the
portThe Port of New Orleans is a port located in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the 5th largest port in the United States based on volume of cargo handled, second-largest in the state after the Port of South Louisiana, and 12th largest in the U.S. based on value of cargo...
remained one of the largest in the nation, automation and containerization resulted in significant job losses. The city's relative fall in stature meant that its former role as banker and financial services provider to the South was inexorably supplanted by competing companies in its now-larger peer cities. New Orleans' economy was always more of a trade-based, commercial entrepot than manufacturing powerhouse, but the city's smallish manufacturing sector also shrank in the post-World War II period. Despite some economic development successes under the administrations of DeLesseps "Chep" Morrison (1946-1961) and
Vic SchiroVictor Hugo "Vic" Schiro , was an American New Orleans, Louisiana, politician who served on the City Council and as Mayor from 1961 - 1970.- Early life and political career :...
(1961-1970), metropolitan New Orleans' growth rate consistently lagged behind the more vigorous
Sun BeltThe Sun Belt is a region of the United States generally considered to stretch across the South and Southwest . Another rough boundary of the region is the area south of the 37th or 38th parallels, north latitude. The main defining feature of the Sun Belt is its warm-temperate climate with extended...
cities.
During the later years of Morrison's administration, and for the entirety of Schiro's, the city struggled to digest the ramifications of the legal enfranchisement of its sizable African-American population. New Orleans was very much at the center of the
Civil Rights struggleThe African-American Civil Rights Movement refers to the reform movements in the United States aimed at outlawing racial discrimination against African Americans and restoring Suffrage in Southern states. This article covers the phase of the movement between 1954 and 1968, particularly in the South...
. The
SCLCThe Southern Christian Leadership Conference is an American civil rights organization. SCLC was closely associated with its first president, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr...
was founded in the city, lunch counter sit-ins were held in
Canal StreetCanal Street is a major thoroughfare in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana.Forming the up-river boundary of the city's oldest neighborhood, the French Quarter , it formed the dividing line between the older French/Spanish Colonial era city and the newer American sector, the Central Business...
stores, and a very prominent and ugly series of confrontations occurred when the city attempted school desegregation, in 1960. That episode witnessed the first occasion of a black child attending an all-white school in the South, when six year-old
Ruby BridgesRuby Bridges Hall moved with her parents to New Orleans, Louisiana at the age of 4. In 1960, when she was 6 years old, her parents responded to a call from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and volunteered her to participate in the integration of the New Orleans...
integrated William Frantz Elementary School in the city's
Ninth WardThe Ninth Ward or 9th Ward is a distinctive region of New Orleans, Louisiana that is located in the easternmost downriver portion of the city. It is geographically the largest of the 17 Wards of New Orleans....
. The Civil Rights movement's success in realizing the desegregation of public facilities and schools, and the enfranchisement of the black voter, constituted the most significant event in New Orleans' 20th century history. Though legal equality was established by the end of the 1960s, a yawning gap in income levels and educational attainment persisted between the city's white and black communities. The effects of this gap were amplified by accelerating
white flightWhite flight is the sociologic and demographic term denoting the trend wherein white people flee desegregated urban communities, and move to other places like commuter towns; although an American coinage, “white flight” denotes like behavior in other countries. In the U.S. the Brown v...
, as the city's population grew poorer and blacker. New Orleans' political leadership, from 1980 onwards firmly in the hands of its African-American majority, struggled to narrow this gap by creating conditions conducive to the economic uplift of the black community.
New Orleans became increasingly dependent on tourism as an economic mainstay, arguably fatally so by the administrations of
Sidney BarthelemySidney John Barthelemy was a Democratic mayor of New Orleans from 1986 to 1994. The second African American to hold that office, he was previously a member of the Louisiana State Senate from 1974 to 1978 and a member at-large of the New Orleans City Council from 1978 to 1986.- Early life and...
(1986-1994) and
Marc MorialMarc Haydel Morial is an American political and civic leader and former mayor of New Orleans. Morial served as mayor from 1994 to 2002.- Early life and career :...
(1994-2002). Unimpressive levels of educational attainment, high rates of household poverty and rising crime became increasingly problematic in the later decades of the century, with the negative effects of these socioeconomic conditions newly amplified as the United States economy increasingly rested upon a post-industrial, knowledge-based paradigm where brains were far more important than brawn.
The turn of the 20th century witnessed one of the earlier episodes in the ongoing series of energetic recommitments to jump-starting economic growth on the part of New Orleans' government and business leaders. The most portentous development during this period was a drainage plan devised by engineer and inventor
A. Baldwin WoodAlbert Baldwin Wood was an inventor and engineer from New Orleans, Louisiana. He graduated from Tulane University with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering in 1899....
and designed to break the surrounding swamp's stranglehold on the city's geographic expansion. Until then, urban development in New Orleans was largely limited to higher ground along the natural river levees and
bayouA bayou is a body of water typically found in flat, low-lying areas, and can either refer to an extremely slow-moving stream or river , or to a marshy lake or wetland. Bayous are commonly found in the Gulf Coast region of the southern United States, particularly the Mississippi River region, with...
s. Wood's pump system allowed the city to drain huge tracts of swamp and marshland and expand into low-lying areas. Over the 20th century, rapid
subsidenceSubsidence is the motion of a surface as it shifts downward relative to a datum such as sea-level. The opposite of subsidence is uplift, which results in an increase in elevation...
, both natural and human-induced, left these newly-populated areas several feet below sea level.
New Orleans was vulnerable to flooding even before the city's footprint departed from the natural high ground near the Mississippi River. In the late 20th century, however, scientists and New Orleans residents gradually became aware of the city's increased vulnerability. In 1965,
Hurricane BetsyHurricane Betsy was a powerful hurricane of the 1965 Atlantic hurricane season which caused enormous damage in the Bahamas, Florida, and Louisiana. Betsy made its most intense landfall near the mouth of the Mississippi River, causing significant flooding of the waters of Lake Pontchartrain into...
killed dozens of residents, even though the majority of the city remained dry. The rain-induced
flood of May 8, 1995The May 8th and 9th 1995 New Orleans Flood struck the New Orleans metropolitan area, shutting down the city for two days. It was a two-event phenomenon. Areas south of the lake began receiving tremendous amounts of rain at approximately 5:30 p.m. on May 7th, continuing into the early morning...
demonstrated the weakness of the pumping system. After that event, measures were undertaken to dramatically upgrade pumping capacity. By the 1980s and 90s, it was worrisomely clear that extensive, rapid and ongoing
erosion of the marshlands and swamp surrounding New OrleansCoastal erosion is the wearing away of land or the removal of beach or dune sediments by wave action, tidal currents, wave currents, or drainage...
had left the city far more exposed to hurricane-induced catastrophic storm surges than it had ever before been in its history.
Geography
New Orleans is located at (29.964722, −90.070556) on the banks of the
Mississippi RiverThe Mississippi River is the second longest river in the United States, with a length of from its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota to its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico....
, approximately upriver from the
Gulf of MexicoThe Gulf of Mexico is the ninth largest body of water in the world. Considered a smaller part of the Atlantic Ocean, it is an ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United...
. According to the
United States Census BureauThe United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data. As part of the United States Department of Commerce, the Census Bureau serves as the leading source of quality data about...
, the city has a total area of , of which , or 51.55%, is land.
The city is located in the
Mississippi River DeltaThe Mississippi River Delta is the modern area of land built up by alluvium deposited by the Mississippi River as it slows down and enters the Gulf of Mexico...
on the east and west banks of the Mississippi River and south of
Lake PontchartrainLake Pontchartrain is a brackish estuary located in southeastern Louisiana. It is the second-largest saltwater lake in the United States, after the Great Salt Lake in Utah, and the largest lake in Louisiana....
. The area along the river is characterized by ridges and hollows.
New Orleans was originally settled on the natural
leveeA levee, levée, dike , embankment, floodbank or stopbank is a natural or artificial slope or wall to regulate water levels...
s or high ground, along the Mississippi River. In fact, when the capital of French Louisiana was moved from
Mobile, AlabamaMobile is the third most populous city in the Southern U.S. state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 198,915 during the 2000 census...
to New Orleans, the French colonial government cited New Orleans' inland location as one of the reasons for the move, as it would be less vulnerable to hurricanes. After the
Flood Control Act of 1965The Flood Control Act of 1965, Title II of , was enacted on October 27, 1965, by the 89th Congress and authorized the United States Army Corps of Engineers to design and construct numerous flood control projects....
, the
United States Army Corps of EngineersThe United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 34,600 civilian and 650 military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...
built floodwalls and man-made
leveeA levee, levée, dike , embankment, floodbank or stopbank is a natural or artificial slope or wall to regulate water levels...
s around a much larger geographic footprint that included previous marshland and swamp. Whether or not this human interference has caused
subsidenceSubsidence is the motion of a surface as it shifts downward relative to a datum such as sea-level. The opposite of subsidence is uplift, which results in an increase in elevation...
is a topic of debate. A study by an associate professor at
Tulane UniversityTulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
claims:
On the other hand, a report by the
American Society of Civil EngineersThe American Society of Civil Engineers is a professional body founded in 1852 to represent members of the civil engineering profession worldwide. It is the oldest national engineering society in the United States. ASCE's vision is to have engineers positioned as global leaders who strive toward...
claims that "New Orleans is subsiding (sinking)":
A recent study by
TulaneTulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
and
Xavier UniversityXavier University of Louisiana is a private, coeducational, liberal arts historically Black Roman Catholic university located in New Orleans, Louisiana. Xavier has the distinction of being the only historically black university in the United States that is Roman Catholic...
notes that 51% of New Orleans is at or above sea level, with the more densely populated areas generally on higher ground. The average elevation of the city is currently between one and two feet (0.5 m) below sea level, with some portions of the city as high as at the base of the river levee in
UptownUptown is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the Uptown/Carrollton Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: LaSalle Street to the north, Napoleon Avenue to the east, Magazine Street to the south and Jefferson Avenue to the west.-Geography:Uptown...
and others as low as below sea level in the farthest reaches of
Eastern New OrleansEastern New Orleans is a large section of the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. Developed extensively from the 1960s onwards, it was originally marketed as "suburban-style living within the city limits", and has much in common with the Algiers neighborhood of New Orleans...
.
In 2005, storm surge from Hurricane Katrina caused catastrophic failure of the
federally designed and builtThe Flood Control Act of 1965, Title II of , was enacted on October 27, 1965, by the 89th Congress and authorized the United States Army Corps of Engineers to design and construct numerous flood control projects....
levees, flooding 80% of the city. A report by the American Society of Civil Engineers says that "had the levees and floodwalls not failed and had the pump stations operated, nearly two-thirds of the deaths would not have occurred".
New Orleans has always had to consider the risk of hurricanes, but the risks are dramatically greater today due to coastal erosion from human interference. Since the beginning of the 20th century, it has been estimated that Louisiana has lost of coast (including many of its barrier islands), which once protected New Orleans against storm surge. Following Hurricane Katrina, the
United States Army Corps of EngineersThe United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 34,600 civilian and 650 military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...
has instituted massive levee repair and hurricane protection measures to protect the city.
In 2006, Louisiana voters overwhelmingly adopted an amendment to the state's constitution to dedicate all revenues from off-shore drilling to restore Louisiana's eroding coast line. Congress has allocated $7 billion to bolster New Orleans' flood protection.
National protected areas
- Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge
Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge is a region of fresh and brackish marshes located within the city limits of New Orleans. It is the largest urban wildlife refuge in the United States.-Location:Bayou Sauvage is only 15 minutes from the French Quarter...
- Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve
Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve protects significant examples of the rich natural and cultural resources of Louisiana's Mississippi River Delta region. The park, named after Jean Lafitte, seeks to illustrate the influence of environment and history on the development of a unique...
(part)
- New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park
New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park is a U.S. National Historical Parkin the Treme neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana, near the French Quarter. It was created in 1994 to celebrate the origins and evolution of jazz, America’s most widely-recognized indigenous music.The park consists of ...
Climate
The climate of New Orleans is
humid subtropicalHumid subtropical climate is a climate zone characterized by hot, humid summers and cool winters. This climate type covers a broad category of climates, and the term "subtropical" may be a misnomer for the winter climate....
(
Cfa), with short, generally mild winters and hot, humid summers. In January, morning lows average around , and daily highs around . In July, lows average , and highs average . The lowest recorded temperature was on February 13, 1899. The highest recorded temperature was on August 22, 1980. The average precipitation is annually; the summer months are the wettest, while October is the driest month. Precipitation in winter usually accompanies the passing of a cold front.
HurricanesA tropical cyclone is a storm system characterized by a large low-pressure center and numerous thunderstorms that produce strong winds and heavy rain. Tropical cyclones feed on heat released when moist air rises, resulting in condensation of water vapor contained in the moist air...
pose a severe threat to the area, and the city is particularly at risk because of its low elevation, and because it is surrounded by water from the north, east, and south, and Louisiana's sinking coast. According to the
Federal Emergency Management AgencyThe Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security, initially created by Presidential Order on April 1, 1979....
, New Orleans is the nation's most vulnerable city to hurricanes. Since 1965, portions of New Orleans have been flooded by four different storms:
Hurricane BetsyHurricane Betsy was a powerful hurricane of the 1965 Atlantic hurricane season which caused enormous damage in the Bahamas, Florida, and Louisiana. Betsy made its most intense landfall near the mouth of the Mississippi River, causing significant flooding of the waters of Lake Pontchartrain into...
,
Hurricane GeorgesHurricane Georges was the seventh tropical storm, fourth hurricane, and second major hurricane of the 1998 Atlantic hurricane season. The tropical cyclone made seven landfalls on its long track through the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico during September, becoming the second most destructive...
,
Hurricane KatrinaHurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the costliest hurricane, as well as one of the five deadliest, in the history of the United States...
, and
Hurricane RitaHurricane Rita was the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded and the most intense tropical cyclone ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico. Rita caused $11.3 billion in damage on the U.S. Gulf Coast in September 2005...
.
New Orleans experiences snowfall only on rare occasions. A small amount of
snowSnow is a type of precipitation in the form of crystalline water ice, consisting of a multitude of snowflakes that fall from clouds. Since snow is composed of small ice particles, it is a granular material. It has an open and therefore soft structure, unless packed by external pressure. Snowflakes...
fell during the
2004 Christmas Eve SnowstormThe 2004 Christmas Eve Snowstorm was a rare weather event that took place in Louisiana and Texas in the United States on December 24, 2004 before the storm moved northeast to affect the coastal sections of the Mid-Atlantic states and New England in the succeeding few days...
. On December 25, a combination of rain, sleet, and snow fell on the city, leaving some bridges icy. Before that, the last
white ChristmasA white Christmas, to most people in the Northern Hemisphere, refers to a Christmas Morning with snow on the ground. This phenomenon is far more common in some countries than in others...
was in 1954 and brought . The last significant snowfall in New Orleans fell on December 22, 1989, when most of the city received of
snowSnow is a type of precipitation in the form of crystalline water ice, consisting of a multitude of snowflakes that fall from clouds. Since snow is composed of small ice particles, it is a granular material. It has an open and therefore soft structure, unless packed by external pressure. Snowflakes...
. Also in the morning of December 11, 2008, snow fell, followed by sleet.
Cityscape
The
Central Business DistrictThe Central Business District is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the French Quarter/CBD Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: Iberville, Decatur and Canal Streets to the north, the Mississippi River to the east, the New Orleans Morial...
of New Orleans is located immediately north and west of the Mississippi River, and was historically called the "American Quarter" or "American Sector," and it includes
Lafayette SquareLafayette Square is the second oldest park in New Orleans, Louisiana and was founded in 1788. The Square was named after Gilbert du Motier, marquis de La Fayette, a French aristocrat and general who fought on the American side in the American Revolutionary War.The park has a bronze statue of Henry...
. Most streets in this area fan out from a central point in the city. Major streets of the area include
Canal StreetCanal Street is a major thoroughfare in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana.Forming the up-river boundary of the city's oldest neighborhood, the French Quarter , it formed the dividing line between the older French/Spanish Colonial era city and the newer American sector, the Central Business...
, Poydras Street, Tulane Avenue and Loyola Avenue. Canal Street functions as the street which divides the traditional "
downtownIn New Orleans, Louisiana, "downtown" refers to areas along the Mississippi River down-river from Canal Street, including the French Quarter, Treme, Faubourg Marigny, the Bywater, the 9th Ward, and other neighborhoods....
" area from the "
uptownUptown is a section of New Orleans, Louisiana on the East Bank of the Mississippi River encompassing a number of neighborhoods between the French Quarter and the Jefferson Parish line. It remains an area of mixed residential and small commercial properties, with a wealth of 19th century architecture...
" area.
Every street crossing Canal Street between the Mississippi River and
Rampart StreetRampart Street is a historic avenue located in New Orleans, Louisiana.The upper end of the street is in the New Orleans Central Business District...
, which is the northern edge of the French Quarter, has a different name for the "uptown" and "downtown" portions. For example,
St. Charles AvenueSt. Charles Avenue is a thoroughfare in New Orleans, Louisiana and the home of the world famous St. Charles Streetcar Line. It is also famous for the hundreds of mansions that adorn the tree-lined boulevard for much of the Uptown section of the route. The southern live oak trees, particularly...
, known for its street car line, is called
Royal StreetRoyal Street is a street in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is one of the oldest streets in the city, dating from the French Colonial era, and is most well-known for the antique shops, art galleries, and stately hotels that line its sides as it runs through New Orleans' French Quarter and tourist...
below Canal Street. Elsewhere in the city, Canal Street serves as the dividing point between the "South" and "North" portions of various streets. In the local parlance
downtown means "downriver from Canal Street", while
uptown means "upriver from Canal Street". Downtown neighborhoods include the
French QuarterThe French Quarter, also known as Vieux Carré, is the oldest and most famous neighborhood in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. When La Nouvelle Orléans was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city was originally centered on the French Quarter, or the Vieux Carré as it...
,
TreméTreme is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the Mid-City District Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: Esplanade Avenue to the north, North Rampart Street to the east, St...
, the
7th WardThe 7th Ward is a section of New Orleans, Louisiana. It is geographically the second largest of the 17 Wards of New Orleans, after the 9th Ward.-Boundaries and geography:...
,
Faubourg MarignyThe Marigny is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the Bywater District Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: North Rampart Street and St...
,
BywaterBywater is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the Bywater District Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: Florida Avenue to the north, the Industrial Canal to the east, the Mississippi River to the south and Franklin Avenue, St. Claude Avenue...
(the Upper Ninth Ward), and the Lower
Ninth WardThe Ninth Ward or 9th Ward is a distinctive region of New Orleans, Louisiana that is located in the easternmost downriver portion of the city. It is geographically the largest of the 17 Wards of New Orleans....
.
UptownUptown is a section of New Orleans, Louisiana on the East Bank of the Mississippi River encompassing a number of neighborhoods between the French Quarter and the Jefferson Parish line. It remains an area of mixed residential and small commercial properties, with a wealth of 19th century architecture...
neighborhoods include the Warehouse District, the
Lower Garden DistrictLower Garden District is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the Central City/Garden District Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: St...
, the
Garden DistrictGarden District is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the Central City/Garden District Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: St. Charles Avenue to the north, 1st Street to the east, Magazine Street to the south and Toledano Street to the...
, the
Irish ChannelIrish Channel is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the Central City/Garden District Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: Magazine Street to the north, 1st Street to the east, the Mississippi River to the south and Toledano to the...
, the University District,
CarrolltonCarrollton is a neighborhood of uptown New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, which includes the Carrollton Historic District. It is the part of Uptown New Orleans farthest up river from the French Quarter...
,
Gert TownGert Town is right across the BLVD of another neighborhood called Zion City is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans...
,
FontainebleauFontainebleau and Marlyville are jointly designated as a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the Uptown/Carrollton Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: Colapissa and Broadway Streets and MLK Boulevard to the north, South Jefferson Davis...
, and
BroadmoorBroadmoor is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the Uptown/Carrolton Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: Eve Street to the north, Washington Avenue and Toledano Street to the east, South Claiborne Avenue to the south, and Jefferson Avenue,...
. However, the Warehouse and the
Central Business DistrictThe Central Business District is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the French Quarter/CBD Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: Iberville, Decatur and Canal Streets to the north, the Mississippi River to the east, the New Orleans Morial...
, despite being above Canal Street, are frequently called "Downtown" as a specific region, as in the Downtown Development District.
Other major districts within the city include
Bayou St. JohnBayou St. John is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the Mid-City District Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: Esplanade Avenue to the north, North Broad Street to the east, St. Louis Street to the south and Bayou St. John to the...
,
Mid-CityMid-City is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the Mid-City District Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: City Park Avenue, Toulouse Street, North Carrollton and Orleans Avenues, Bayou St. John and St. Louis Street to the north, North Broad...
,
GentillyGentilly is a broad, predominantly middle-class and racially diverse section of New Orleans, Louisiana. The first part of Gentilly to be developed was along the Gentilly Ridge, a long stretch of high ground along the former banks of Bayou Gentilly...
,
LakeviewLakeview is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the Lakeview District Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: Robert E. Lee Boulevard to the north, Orleans Avenue to the east, Florida Boulevard, Canal Boulevard and I-610 to the south and...
, Lakefront,
New Orleans EastEastern New Orleans is a large section of the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. Developed extensively from the 1960s onwards, it was originally marketed as "suburban-style living within the city limits", and has much in common with the Algiers neighborhood of New Orleans...
, and Algiers.
Architecture
New Orleans is world-famous for its abundance of unique architectural styles which reflect the city's historical roots and multicultural heritage. Though New Orleans possesses numerous structures of national architectural significance, it is equally, if not more, revered for its enormous, largely-intact (even post-Katrina) historic built environment. Twenty National Register Historic Districts have been established, and fourteen local historic districts aid in the preservation of this
tout ensemble. Thirteen of the local historic districts are administered by the New Orleans Historic District Landmarks Commission (HDLC), while one - the French Quarter - is administered by the Vieux Carre Commission (VCC). Additionally, both the National Park Service, via the National Register of Historic Places, and the HDLC have landmarked individual buildings, many of which lie outside the boundaries of existing historic districts.
Many styles of housing exist in the city, including the
shotgun houseThe shotgun house is a narrow rectangular domestic residence, usually no more than 12 feet wide, with doors at each end. It was the most popular style of house in the Southern United States from the end of the American Civil War , through to the 1920s. Alternate names include shotgun shack,...
(originating from New Orleans) and the bungalow style. Creole townhouses, notable for their large courtyards and intricate iron balconies, line the streets of the
French QuarterThe French Quarter, also known as Vieux Carré, is the oldest and most famous neighborhood in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. When La Nouvelle Orléans was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city was originally centered on the French Quarter, or the Vieux Carré as it...
. Throughout the city, there are many other historic housing styles: Creole cottages, American townhouses, double-gallery houses, and Raised Center-Hall Cottages.
St. Charles AvenueSt. Charles Avenue is a thoroughfare in New Orleans, Louisiana and the home of the world famous St. Charles Streetcar Line. It is also famous for the hundreds of mansions that adorn the tree-lined boulevard for much of the Uptown section of the route. The southern live oak trees, particularly...
is famed for its large antebellum homes. Its mansions are in various styles, such as
Greek RevivalThe Greek Revival was an architectural movement of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States. A product of Hellenism, it may be looked upon as the last phase in the development of Neoclassical architecture...
, American Colonial and the
VictorianThe term Victorian architecture can refer to one of a number of architectural styles predominantly employed during the Victorian era. As with the latter, the period of building that it covers may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria after whom it is...
styles of
Queen AnneThe Queen Anne Style is a furniture and decoration style that reached its greatest popularity in the last quarter of the 19th century, manifesting itself in a number of different ways in different countries...
and
Italianate architectureThe Italianate style of architecture was a distinct nineteenth-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. In the Italianate style, the models and architectural vocabulary of sixteenth-century Italian architecture, which had served as inspiration for both Palladianism and...
. New Orleans is also noted for its large, European-style Catholic cemeteries, which can be found throughout the city.
For much of its history, New Orleans' skyline consisted of only low- and mid-rise structures. The soft soils of New Orleans are susceptible to subsidence, and there was doubt about the feasibility of constructing large high rises in such an environment. The 1960s brought the
World Trade Center New OrleansWorld Trade Center New Orleans, located at 2 Canal Street in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana, is a 33-story, -tall skyscraper....
and
Plaza TowerCrescent City Towers is a 45-story, -tall skyscraper in New Orleans, Louisiana, designed in the modern style by Leonard R Spangenberg, Jr. & Associates...
, which demonstrated that high rises could stand firm on New Orleans' soil.
One Shell SquareOne Shell Square, located at 701 Poydras Street in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana, is a 51-story, -tall skyscraper designed in the international style by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. It is the tallest building in both the city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana...
took its place as the city's tallest building in 1972. The oil boom of the early 1980s redefined New Orleans' skyline again with the development of the Poydras Street corridor. Today, New Orleans' high rises are clustered along
Canal StreetCanal Street is a major thoroughfare in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana.Forming the up-river boundary of the city's oldest neighborhood, the French Quarter , it formed the dividing line between the older French/Spanish Colonial era city and the newer American sector, the Central Business...
and Poydras Street in the
Central Business DistrictThe Central Business District is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the French Quarter/CBD Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: Iberville, Decatur and Canal Streets to the north, the Mississippi River to the east, the New Orleans Morial...
.
Tourism
New Orleans has many major attractions, from the world-renowned
French QuarterThe French Quarter, also known as Vieux Carré, is the oldest and most famous neighborhood in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. When La Nouvelle Orléans was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city was originally centered on the French Quarter, or the Vieux Carré as it...
and
Bourbon StreetBourbon Street is a famous and historic street that runs the length of the French Quarter in New Orleans, Louisiana. When founded in 1718, the city was originally centered around the French Quarter...
's notorious nightlife to
St. Charles AvenueSt. Charles Avenue is a thoroughfare in New Orleans, Louisiana and the home of the world famous St. Charles Streetcar Line. It is also famous for the hundreds of mansions that adorn the tree-lined boulevard for much of the Uptown section of the route. The southern live oak trees, particularly...
(home of
TulaneTulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
and
LoyolaLoyola University New Orleans is a private, co-educational and Jesuit university located in New Orleans, Louisiana. Originally established as Loyola College in 1904, the institution was later chartered as a university in 1912. It bears the name of the Jesuit patron, Saint Ignatius of Loyola...
Universities, the historic
Pontchartrain HotelThe Pontchartrain Hotel is a historic hotel building on St. Charles Avenue in Uptown New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. Named after Count de Pontchartrain of the court of Louis XVI, the Pontchartrain Hotel commenced operations in March, 1927...
, and many 19th century mansions), to
Magazine StreetMagazine Street is a major thoroughfare in New Orleans, Louisiana. Like Tchoupitoulas Street, St. Charles Avenue, and Claiborne Avenue, it reflects the curving course of the Mississippi River...
, with its many boutique stores and antique shops.
According to current travel guides, New Orleans is one of the top ten most visited cities in the United States; 10.1 million visitors came to New Orleans in 2004, and the city was on pace to break that level of visitation in 2005. Prior to Katrina, there were 265 hotels with 38,338 rooms in the Greater New Orleans Area. In May 2007, there were over 140 hotels and motels in operation with over 31,000 rooms.
A
CNNCable News Network, almost always referred to by its initialism CNN, is an U.S. cable news network founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first network to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television network in the United States...
poll released in October 2007 ranked New Orleans first in eight categories, behind only
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
, which ranked first in 15. According to the poll, New Orleans is the best U.S. city for live music, cocktail hours, flea markets, antique shopping, nightlife, "wild weekends", "girlfriend getaways" and cheap food. The city also ranked second for gay friendliness, overall food and dining, friendliness of residents, and people-watching, behind San Francisco,
CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
,
ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois, and with more than 2.8 million people, the 3rd largest city in the United States...
,
IllinoisIllinois , the 21st state admitted to the United States of America, is the most populous and demographically diverse Midwestern state and the fifth most populous state in the nation...
,
Charleston, South CarolinaCharleston is a city in Charleston County, South Carolina in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It is the largest city and county seat of Charleston County. The city was founded as Charlestown or Charles Towne, Carolina in 1670, and moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of...
, and New York City, respectively. However, among the top 25 U.S. travel destinations as established by the poll, the city was voted last in terms of safety and cleanliness and near the bottom as a family vacation destination.
The French Quarter (known locally as "the Quarter" or Vieux Carré), which dates from the French and Spanish eras and is bounded by the Mississippi River, Rampart Street, Canal Street, and Esplanade Avenue, contains many popular hotels, bars, and nightclubs. Notable tourist attractions in the Quarter include Bourbon Street,
Jackson SquareJackson Square, also known as Place d'Armes, is a historic park in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1960.-Design:...
,
St. Louis CathedralSaint Louis Cathedral , also known as the Basilica of St. Louis, King of France, has the distinction of being the oldest continuously operating cathedral in the United States. The first church on the site was built in 1718. The third church, built in 1789, was raised to cathedral rank in 1793...
, the French Market (including
Café du MondeCafé du Monde is a coffee shop on Decatur Street in the French Quarter in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is best known for its café au lait and its French-style beignets. In the New Orleans style, the coffee is blended with chicory....
, famous for
café au laitCafé au lait is a French coffee drink.In Europe, "café au lait" stems from the same continental tradition as "caffè latte" in Italy, "café con leche" in Spain, "kawa biała" in Poland, "Milchkaffee" in Germany, "koffie verkeerd" in Netherlands, and "café com leite" in Portugal, simply "coffee...
and
beignetA beignet , in American English, refers to a pastry made from deep-fried dough and sprinkled with confectioner's sugar, is a kind of French doughnut...
s) and
Preservation HallPreservation Hall is a noted jazz performance hall located at 726 St. Peter Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. It hosts nightly concerts featuring a rotating roster of bands. The bands of Preservation Hall typically perform jazz in the New Orleans style.Despite the fame of the...
. To tour the port, one can ride the
NatchezNatchez has been the name of several steamboats, and four naval vessels, each named after the city of Natchez, Mississippi or the Natchez people. The current one has been in operation since 1975. The previous Natchez were all operated in the Nineteenth century, most by Captain Thomas P. Leathers...
, an authentic
steamboatA steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels....
with a
calliopeA calliope is a musical instrument that produces sound by sending a gas, originally steam or more recently compressed air, through large whistles, originally locomotive whistles....
, which cruises the Mississippi the length of the city twice daily. The city's many beautiful cemeteries and their distinct above-ground
tombA tomb is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes...
s are often attractions in themselves, the oldest and most famous of which,
Saint Louis CemeterySaint Louis Cemetery is the name of three Roman Catholic cemeteries in New Orleans, Louisiana.All of these graves are above ground vaults; most were constructed in the 18th century and 19th century...
, greatly resembles
Père Lachaise CemeteryPère Lachaise Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the city of Paris, France at , though there are larger cemeteries in the city's suburbs....
in
ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
Also located in the French Quarter is the old
New Orleans MintThe New Orleans Mint operated in New Orleans, Louisiana, as a branch mint of the United States Mint from 1838 to 1861 and from 1879 to 1909. During its years of operation, it produced over 427 million gold and silver coins of nearly every American denomination, with a total face value of over...
, a former branch of the
United States MintThe United States Mint primarily produces circulating coinage for the United States to conduct its trade and commerce. The main Mint facility is located in Washington, D.C., and branch facilities are located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Denver, Colorado; San Francisco, California; and West...
, which now operates as a museum, and
The Historic New Orleans CollectionThe Historic New Orleans Collection is a museum, research center, and publisher dedicated to the study and preservation of the history and culture of New Orleans and the Gulf South region of the United States. It is located in New Orleans' French Quarter. The institution was established in 1966...
, a museum and research center housing art and artifacts relating to the history of New Orleans and the Gulf South. The
National World War II MuseumThe National World War II Museum, formerly known as the National D-Day Museum, is a museum located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana, at the corner of Andrew Higgins and Magazine Street. It focuses on the United States contribution to victory in World War II, and the...
, opened in the Warehouse District in 2000 as the "National D-Day Museum", is dedicated to providing information and materials related to the Invasion of Normandy. Nearby,
Confederate Memorial HallConfederate Memorial Hall is a museum located in New Orleans, Louisiana containing historical artifacts related to the Confederate States of America and the American Civil War. It houses the second largest collection of Confederate Civil War items in the world, behind the Museum of the Confederacy...
, the oldest continually operating museum in Louisiana (although under renovation since Katrina), contains the second-largest collection of Confederate memorabilia in the world. Art museums in the city include the
Contemporary Arts CenterThe Contemporary Arts Center is a pioneering contemporary art museum located in Cincinnati, Ohio. The CAC is a non-collecting museum that focuses on new developments in painting, sculpture, photography, architecture, performance art and new media...
, the
New Orleans Museum of ArtThe New Orleans Museum of Art in New Orleans, Louisiana, was established in 1911 as the Delgado Museum of Art with a bequest from Isaac Delgado...
(NOMA) in City Park, and the
Ogden Museum of Southern ArtThe Ogden Museum of Southern Art is located in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, within the Central Business District. It is associated with the University of New Orleans....
.
New Orleans also boasts a decidedly natural side. It is home to the
Audubon Nature InstituteThe Audubon Nature Institute is family of museums and parks dedicated to nature based in New Orleans, Louisiana. It consists of the Audubon Zoo, Aquarium of the Americas, Audubon Louisiana Nature Center, Audubon Park, Woldenberg Riverfront Park, Freeport-McMoRan Audubon Species Survival Center,...
(which consists of Audubon Park, the
Audubon ZooThe Audubon Zoo is a zoo located in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is part of the Audubon Nature Institute which also manages the Aquarium of the Americas. The zoo covers 58 acres and is home to 2,000 animals. The zoo is located in a section of Audubon Park in Uptown New Orleans, on the Mississippi...
, the
Aquarium of the AmericasThe Audubon Aquarium of the Americas is a renowned aquarium in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.Recognized as one of the leading aquariums in the United States, the Aquarium of the Americas is run by the Audubon Institute, which also supervises the Audubon Zoo and Audubon Park...
, and the
Audubon InsectariumThe Audubon Insectarium is an entomology museum in New Orleans, Louisiana. With more than 50 live exhibits and numerous multimedia elements, the 23,000-square-foot facility is the largest free-standing American museum dedicated to insects....
), as well as gardens that include
Longue Vue House and GardensLongue Vue House and Gardens, also known as Longue Vue, is a Classical Revival mansion and garden located at 7 Bamboo Road, New Orleans, Louisiana, in the United States. It is open daily; an admission fee is charged....
and the
New Orleans Botanical GardenThe New Orleans Botanical Garden is a botanical garden located in City Park, New Orleans, Louisiana.-1930s: Planning and construction:The Botanical Gardens in New Orleans City Park was unveiled in 1936 as a part of the massive restructuring and development project of City Park that took place in...
. City Park, one of the country's most expansive and visited
urban parkAn urban park, also known as a municipal park or a public park or open space , is a park in cities and other incorporated places to offer recreation and green space to residents of and visitors to the municipality...
s, has one of the largest (if not
the largest) stands of oak trees in the world.
There are also various points of interest in the surrounding areas. Many wetlands are in close proximity to the city, including
Honey Island SwampThe Honey Island Swamp is a marshland located in the eastern portion of the U.S. state of Louisiana in St. Tammany Parish.The swamp is bordered on the north by U.S. 90, on the south by Lake Borgne, on the east by the Pearl River and the west by the West Pearl RiverIt is one of the least-altered...
.
Chalmette Battlefield and National CemeteryChalmette National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located within Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve in Chalmette, Louisiana. The cemetery is a plot adjacent to the site that once was the battleground of the Battle of New Orleans...
, located just south of the city, is the site of the 1815
Battle of New OrleansThe Battle of New Orleans took place on January 8, 1815, and was the final major battle of the War of 1812. American forces, commanded by General Andrew Jackson, defeated an invading British Army intent on seizing New Orleans and the vast territory America had acquired with the Louisiana Purchase...
.
Entertainment and performing arts
The New Orleans area is home to numerous celebrations, the most popular of which is
CarnivalCarnival is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during January and February...
, often referred to as
Mardi GrasMardi Gras in New Orleans, Louisiana, is one of the most famous Carnival celebrations in the world.The New Orleans Carnival season, with roots in preparing for the start of the Christian season of Lent, starts on Epiphany or Twelfth Night . It is a season of parades, balls , and king cake parties...
. Carnival officially begins on the Feast of the Epiphany, also known as the "
Twelfth NightTwelfth Night or Epiphany Eve is a festival in some branches of Christianity marking the coming of the Epiphany, and concluding the Twelve Days of Christmas...
." Mardi Gras (
FrenchFrench is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
for "Fat Tuesday"), the final and grandest day of festivities, is the last Tuesday before the
CatholicThe word Catholic is derived from the Greek adjective , meaning "universal". In the context of Christian ecclesiology, it has a rich history and several usages. For some, the term "Catholic Church" refers to the church in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, made up of the Latin Rite and the 22...
liturgical season of
LentLent, in Christian tradition, is the period of the liturgical year leading up to Easter.The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer — through prayer, penitence, almsgiving and self-denial — for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus,...
, which commences on
Ash WednesdayIn the Western Christian calendar, Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent and occurs forty-six days before Easter. It is a moveable feast, falling on a different date each year because it is dependent on the date of Easter...
.
The largest of the city's many music festivals is the
New Orleans Jazz & Heritage FestivalThe New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, often known as Jazz Fest, is an annual celebration of the music and culture of New Orleans and Louisiana...
. Commonly referred to simply as "Jazz Fest", it is one of the largest music festivals in the nation, featuring crowds of people from all over the world, coming to experience music, food, arts, and crafts. Despite the name, it features not only jazz but a large variety of music, including both native Louisiana music and international artists. Along with Jazz Fest, New Orleans'
Voodoo ExperienceVoodoo Experience or Voodoo Music Experience is a multi-day music festival in New Orleans, Louisiana that was originally held on Halloween weekend in 1999, it has since moved between the weekend before Halloween and Halloween weekend throughout the years. The festival will be returning to...
("Voodoo Fest") and the
Essence Music FestivalEssence Music Festival is an annual music festival celebrating contemporary African American music and culture. It is the largest event celebrating African American culture and music in the United States. It has been held in New Orleans, Louisiana every year since 1995 except for 2006, where it...
are both large music festivals featuring local and international artists.
Other major festivals held in the city include
Southern DecadenceSouthern Decadence is a week-long, predominantly gay-male event held in New Orleans, Louisiana and its environs by the gay and lesbian community during Labor Day Weekend, climaxing with a parade through the French Quarter on the Sunday before Labor Day...
, the French Quarter Festival, and the
Tennessee Williams/ New Orleans Literary FestivalThe Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival honors the creative genius of Tennessee Williams by celebrating the diverse literary and cultural heritage of the city that Tennessee called his “spiritual home”. It takes place every March in the world-famous French Quarter in New Orleans, and...
.
In 2002, Louisiana began offering tax incentives for film and television production. This led to a substantial increase in the number of films shot in the New Orleans area and brought the nickname "Hollywood South." Films which have been filmed or produced in and around New Orleans include:
RayRay is a 2004 biographical film focusing on thirty years of the life of rhythm and blues musician Ray Charles. The independently produced film was directed by Taylor Hackford and starred Jamie Foxx in the title role; Foxx received an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance.Charles was set...
,
Runaway JuryRunaway Jury is an American drama/thriller film directed by Gary Fleder and starring John Cusack, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman and Rachel Weisz...
,
The Pelican BriefThe Pelican Brief is a 1993 legal crime thriller film based on the novel of the same name by John Grisham. Directed by Alan J. Pakula, the film stars Julia Roberts in the role of young law student Darby Shaw and Denzel Washington as Washington Herald reporter Gray Grantham.-Plot:Two Supreme Court...
,
Glory RoadGlory Road is an American film directed by James Gartner, released on January 13, 2006. The film is based on a true story dealing with the events leading to the 1966 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship, in which the late Don Haskins , head coach of the Texas Western College led a team...
,
All the King's MenAll the King's Men is a 2006 film adaptation of the 1946 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren. It was directed by Steven Zaillian, who also produced and scripted the film...
,
Déjà Vu,
Last Holiday,
The Curious Case of Benjamin ButtonThe Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a 2008 American fantasy drama film directed by David Fincher. The screenplay by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord is loosely based on the 1921 short story of the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The film stars Brad Pitt as a man who ages in reverse and Cate...
, and numerous others. In 2006, work began on the Louisiana Film & Television studio complex, based in the
TremeTreme is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the Mid-City District Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: Esplanade Avenue to the north, North Rampart Street to the east, St...
neighborhood. Louisiana began to offer similar tax incentives for music and theater productions in 2007, leading many to begin referring to New Orleans as "Broadway South."
New Orleans has always been a significant center for
musicMusic is an art form whose medium is sound. Common elements of music are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
, showcasing its intertwined European, Latin American, and African cultures. New Orleans' unique musical heritage was born in its pre-American and early American days from a unique blending of European instruments with African rhythms. As the only North American city to allow slaves to gather in public and play their native music (largely in
Congo SquareCongo Square is an open space within Louis Armstrong Park, which is located in the Tremé neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana, just across Rampart Street north of the French Quarter. The Tremé neighborhood is famous for its history of African American music....
, now located within
Louis Armstrong ParkLouis Armstrong Park is a park located in the Treme neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana, just across Rampart Street from the French Quarter. The park contains the New Orleans Municipal Auditorium, the Mahalia Jackson Theater of the Performing Arts, Congo Square, and part of the New Orleans Jazz...
), New Orleans gave birth to an indigenous music:
jazzJazz is a musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
. Soon,
brass bandA brass band is a musical group generally consisting entirely of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles which include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands , but are usually more correctly termed military bands, concert...
s formed, gaining popular attraction that still holds today. The city's music was later significantly influenced by Acadiana, home of
CajunCajun music, an emblematic music of Louisiana, is rooted in the ballads of the French-speaking Acadians of Canada. Cajun music is often mentioned in tandem with the Creole-based, Cajun-influenced zydeco form, both of Acadiana origin...
and
ZydecoZydeco is a form of American roots or folk music. It evolved in southwest Louisiana in the early 19th century from forms of Louisiana Creole music...
music, and
Delta bluesBlues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre created within the African-American communities in the Deep South of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
.
New Orleans' unique musical culture is further evident in its funerals. A spin on the tradition of military brass band funerals, traditional New Orleans funerals feature sad music (mostly dirges and hymns) on the way to the cemetery and happier music (hot jazz) on the way back. Such traditional musical funerals still take place when a local musician, a member of a club,
kreweA Krewe is an organization that puts on a parade and or a ball for the Carnival season. The term is best known for its association with New Orleans Mardi Gras, but is also used in other Carnival celebrations around the Gulf of Mexico, such as the Gasparilla Pirate Festival in Tampa, Florida, and...
, or benevolent society, or a noted dignitary has passed. Until the 1990s, most locals preferred to call these "funerals with music", but visitors to the city have long dubbed them "
jazz funeralJazz funeral is a common name for a funeral tradition with music which developed in New Orleans, Louisiana.The term "jazz funeral" was long in use by observers from elsewhere, but was generally disdained as inappropriate by most New Orleans musicians and practitioners of the tradition...
s".
Much later in its musical development, New Orleans was home to a distinctive brand of
rhythm and bluesRhythm and blues is the name given to a wide-ranging genre of popular music created by African Americans in the late 1940s and early 1950s...
that contributed greatly to the growth of
rock and rollRock and roll is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States after World War II in the late 1940s, from a combination of the rhythms of the blues, from the African American culture, and from America's country music and gospel music scenes...
. An example of the New Orleans' sound in the 1960s is the #1 US hit "
Chapel of Love"Chapel of Love" is a song written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich and Phil Spector, and made famous by The Dixie Cups in 1964, spending three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. There have also been many other versions of this song...
" by
the Dixie CupsThe Dixie Cups are an American pop music girl group of the 1960s.-Career:The group hit the top of the charts in 1964 with "Chapel of Love," a song that Phil Spector, Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich had originally written for The Ronettes...
, a song which knocked
The BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960 who became one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands in the history of popular music...
out of the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100. New Orleans became a hotbed for
funkFunk is an American music genre that originated in the late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, soul jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
music in the 1960s and 1970s, and by the late 1980s, it had developed its own localized variant of
hip hopHip hop music is a musical genre which developed alongside hip hop culture, and is commonly based on concepts of loop, rapping, freestyle, DJing, scratching, sampling and beatboxing. The music is used to express concerns of political, social, and personal issues...
, called
bounce musicBounce music is an energetic style of New Orleans hip hop music which is said to have originated as early as the late 1980s, but is typically believed to have begun with the 1991 single "Where Dey At" by MC T.Tucker and DJ Irv...
. While never commercially successful outside of the
Deep SouthThe Deep South is a descriptive category of the cultural and geographic subregions in the American South. Historically, it is differentiated from the "Upper South" as being the states which were most dependent on plantation type agriculture during the antebellum period...
, it remained immensely popular in the poorer neighborhoods of the city throughout the 1990s.
A cousin of bounce, New Orleans hip hop has seen commercial success locally and internationally, producing
Lil WayneDwayne Michael Carter, Jr. , better known by his stage name Lil Wayne, is an American Grammy Award-winning rapper. Formerly a member of the rap group the Hot Boys, he joined the Cash Money Records collective as a teenager...
,
Master PPercy Miller , also known as Master P, is an American entertainer and entrepreneur. He is the founder and CEO of P. Miller Enterprises, an entertainment and financial conglomerate and Better Black TV.-Biography:...
, Birdman,
JuvenileTerius Gray, better known by his stage name Juvenile, is an American rapper. At the age of 19, he began recording raps, releasing his debut album Being Myself in 1994. The album gave name to the southern rap style known as "bounce". The album was followed by Solja Rags in 1997; its underground...
,
Cash Money RecordsCash Money Records is an American hip hop record label founded in 1989 by brothers Bryan "Birdman" Williams and Ronald "Slim" Williams in New Orleans, Louisiana.- History :...
, and
No Limit RecordsNo Limit Records was a record label that began in 1990 as the No Limit Record Shop in Richmond, California. It was founded by Master P, and was active from 1994 to 2003.-Early years:...
. Additionally, the wave of popularity of
cowpunkCowpunk or Country punk is a subgenre of punk rock that began in Southern California in the 1980s, especially Los Angeles. It combines punk rock with country music, folk music, and blues in sound, subject matter, attitude, and style. It grew directly out of the city's strong roots in both country...
, a fast form of
southern rockSouthern rock is a subgenre of rock music, and genre of country music. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country music, and blues, and is focused generally on electric guitar and vocals.-1950s and 1960s – origins:...
, originated with the help of several local bands, such as
The RadiatorsThe Radiators, also known as The New Orleans Radiators, are a rock band from New Orleans, Louisiana, who have combined the traditional musical styles of their native city with more mainstream rock and R&B influences to form a bouncy, funky variety of swamp-rock they call fish-head music...
,
Better Than EzraBetter Than Ezra is an American alternative rock trio based in New Orleans, Louisiana.-Current members:In addition to vocalist, chief songwriter and guitarist Kevin Griffin from Monroe, Louisiana, the other current members of Better Than Ezra as of February 2009 are bassist and background vocalist ...
,
Cowboy MouthCowboy Mouth is a rock band based in New Orleans, Louisiana. Their name was taken from the title of a play co-written by Sam Shepard and Patti Smith, although the phrase was used five years prior to the play by Bob Dylan in the song "Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands"...
, and
Dash Rip RockDash Rip Rock is a New Orleans based rock group which was formed as a three-piece rockabilly band in Baton Rouge, Louisiana during the summer of 1984. According to Green Frog Music, the band took their name from "The Beverly Hillbillies." Dash Riprock was Ellie May's wanna be beau...
. Throughout the 1990s, many
sludge metalSludge metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music that fuses doom metal and hardcore punk. In addition, it sometimes takes inspiration from sources as disparate as industrial music and Southern rock. Sludge metal is typically aggressive and abrasive; often featuring shouted vocals, heavily distorted...
bands started in the area. New Orleans' heavy metal bands like
EyehategodEyehategod is an American sludge metal band from New Orleans who formed in 1988. They have become one of the most important bands to emerge from the NOLA metal scene...
,
Soilent GreenSoilent Green is a grindcore and sludge metal band that hails from Metairie, Louisiana, a suburb of New Orleans.-Overview:Soilent Green was founded in 1988. Their debut album wasn't released until 1995, when Pussysoul came out on Dwell Records...
, Crowbar, and
DownDown is an American heavy metal supergroup formed in 1991 in New Orleans, Louisiana. In 2009, the band consists of vocalist Phil Anselmo, guitarists Pepper Keenan and Kirk Windstein, bassist Rex Brown, and drummer Jimmy Bower....
have incorporated styles such as
hardcore punkHardcore punk, often just called hardcore, is a subgenre of punk rock that originated primarily in North America in the late 1970s. The new sound was generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock...
,
doom metalDoom metal is a form of heavy metal music that typically uses very slow tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much 'thicker' or 'heavier' sound than other metal genres...
, and southern rock to create an original and heady brew of swampy and aggravated metal that has largely avoided standardization.
New Orleans is the southern terminus of the famed Highway 61.
Media
The major daily newspaper is the
The Times-Picayune, publishing since 1837. Weekly publications include
The Louisiana WeeklyThe Louisiana Weekly is a weekly newspaper published in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. It covers topics of interest to the African American community, especially in the New Orleans area and south Louisiana. It has a circulation of 5,854....
and
Gambit WeeklyGambit is a New Orleans, Louisiana-based free alternative weekly newspaper that was established in 1981 as Gambit Weekly. Gambit features reporting about local politics, news, food and drink, arts, music, film, events, environmental issues and other topics, as well as listings...
. Also in wide circulation is the
Clarion HeraldThe Clarion Herald is the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of New Orleans.The stated mission of the Clarion Herald is to chronicle the activities and events of local church parishes around the Archdiocese. However, the newspaper also functions as an outlet for editorials by the Archbishop of...
, the newspaper of the
Archdiocese of New OrleansThe Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans, officially in Latin Archidioecesis Novae Aureliae, is an ecclesiastical division of the Roman Catholic Church administered from New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the second-oldest diocese in the present-day United States, having been elevated to the rank...
.
Greater New Orleans is the 54th largest
Designated Market AreaA media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area , Television Market Area or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same television and radio station offerings, and may also include other types of media including newspapers and Internet content...
(DMA) in the U.S., serving 566,960 homes. Major television network affiliates serving the area include:
- 4 WWL
WWL-TV is the CBS affiliate serving New Orleans, Louisiana, southeast Louisiana and parts of southern and coastal Mississippi, and is the primary CBS station for South and Coastal Mississippi. It broadcasts on virtual channel 4...
(CBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is an American television network, one of television's original "big three", which also include NBC and ABC. Like NBC, CBS started out as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System...
)
- 6 WDSU
WDSU is the NBC affiliate for the New Orleans, Louisiana television market. It is owned by Hearst Television, which in turn is wholly owned by the Hearst Corporation. It broadcasts on virtual channel 6. Its transmitter is located in Chalmette, Louisiana; while its studios are located in downtown...
(NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank,California...
)
- 8 WVUE
WVUE, broadcasting on virtual channel 8, is a TV station in New Orleans, Louisiana, affiliated with the Fox Broadcasting Company. WVUE is owned by Louisiana Media Company, with studios in the Gert Town section of New Orleans and transmitter in Chalmette, Louisiana.-History:WVUE began broadcasting...
(FoxThe Fox Broadcasting Company , commonly referred to as Fox , is an American television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, from 2004 to 2009 Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the 18–49 demographic...
)
- 12 WYES
WYES-TV is the flagship PBS member station in New Orleans, Louisiana, owned by the Greater New Orleans Educational Television Foundation. It broadcasts on virtual channel 12.- History :...
(PBSThe Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television service with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. However, its operations are largely funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting...
)
- 20 WHNO
WHNO is a television station in New Orleans, Louisiana, broadcasting locally on virtual channel 20 as a LeSEA owned-and-operated station. As an affiliate of LeSEA, the station airs mostly Christian programming along with a small amount of secular family programming.-History:The channel 20...
(LeSEALeSEA Broadcasting , also known as World Harvest Television, is an American Christian television network with over 40 affiliate stations in a number of U.S...
)
- 26 WGNO
WGNO is the ABC affiliate for the greater New Orleans, Louisiana area, as well parts of southern and coastal Mississippi. It broadcasts on channel 26, and is owned by Tribune Broadcasting. The station offers ABC programming along with syndicated programming and local news...
(ABCThe American Broadcasting Company is an American television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. It first broadcast on television in 1948...
)
- 32 WLAE
WLAE-TV is a PBS member station in New Orleans, Louisiana, broadcasting locally on virtual channel 32. The station is one of two PBS stations serving the market; WYES-TV is the other...
(PBSThe Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television service with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. However, its operations are largely funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting...
)
- 38 WNOL
WNOL-TV, broadcasting on virtual channel 38, is a CW Television Network affiliate in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is owned by Tribune Broadcasting, and is a sister station to ABC affiliate WGNO.-History:...
(The CWThe CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB...
)
- 42 KGLA
KGLA-DT is a digital-only television station that began broadcasting on June 5, 2007 under the callsign WHMM-DT. Locally owned by Mayavision, Inc., it is the Telemundo affiliate for the New Orleans DMA. It is licensed to Hammond, Louisiana, and broadcasts SD 480i on UHF channel 42...
(TelemundoTelemundo is a Spanish-language American television network. Angel Ramos launched the brand with a TV station in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1954 -- and it evolved into the second-largest Spanish-language content producer in the world...
)
- 49 WPXL
WPXL-TV is the local Ion Television affiliate in New Orleans, Louisiana, owned by Ion Media Networks. It broadcasts on virtual channel 49....
(ION)
- 54 WUPL
WUPL, My54, is the My Network TV affiliate for the Greater New Orleans, Louisiana area. It is licensed to the New Orleans suburb of Slidell. It is currently owned by the Belo Corporation along with sister station WWL-TV. It broadcasts on virtual channel 54.-History:The station signed on in June...
(MyNetworkTVMyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...
)
.
Two radio stations that were influential in promoting New Orleans-based bands and singers were 50,000-watt WNOE-AM (1060) and 10,000-watt
WTIX-AMWIST is an all talk station based in New Orleans, Louisiana. The locally owned & operated station is an affiliate of Fox News Radio and broadcasts at 690 kHz with a power level of 10,000 watts daytime and 5,000 watts nighttime.The facilities of the station, previously called WTIX, were severely...
(690). These two stations competed head-to-head from the late 1950s to the late 1970s.
WWOZ, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Station, broadcasts, 24 hours per day, modern and traditional jazz, blues, rhythm and blues, brass band, gospel, cajun, zydeco, Caribbean, Latin, Brazilian, African, bluegrass, and Irish at 90.7 FM and at www.wwoz.org.
WTUL, a local college radio station (Tulane University), broadcasts a wide array of programming, including twentieth-century classical, reggae, jazz, showtunes, indie rock, electronic music, soul/funk, goth, punk, hip hop, New Orleans music, opera, folk, hardcore,
AmericanaAmericana is an amalgam of roots music formed by the confluence of the shared and varied traditions that make up the American musical ethos; specifically those sounds that are merged from folk, country, rhythm & blues, rock & roll and other external influential styles...
, country, blues, Latin, cheese, techno, local, world, ska, swing and big band, kids shows, and even news programming from DemocracyNow. WTUL is listener supported and non-commercial. The disc jockeys are volunteers, many of them college students.
Louisiana's film and television tax credits have spurred some growth in the television industry, although to a lesser degree than in the film industry.
K-VilleK-Ville is an American television drama created and executive produced by Jonathan Lisco, centering on policing New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Deran Sarafian directed the pilot....
, a
cop dramaThe police procedural is a sub-genre of the mystery story which attempts to convincingly depict the activities of a police force as they investigate crimes. While traditional detective novels usually concentrate on a single crime, police procedurals frequently depict investigations into several...
series set in post-Katrina New Orleans, aired on the
Fox NetworkThe Fox Broadcasting Company , commonly referred to as Fox , is an American television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, from 2004 to 2009 Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the 18–49 demographic...
in 2007. Filming of the
X-Men Origins: WolverineX-Men Origins: Wolverine is a 2009 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics' fictional character Wolverine. It was released worldwide on May 1, 2009. The film is directed by Gavin Hood and stars Hugh Jackman as the title character, along with Liev Schreiber, Danny Huston, will.i.am, Lynn...
took place in the city in early 2008 (although most of the filming took place in
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
and
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous smaller islands, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands. The indigenous Māori named New Zealand Aotearoa, commonly translated as The Land of the Long White Cloud...
).
Food
New Orleans is world-famous for its food. The indigenous cuisine is distinctive and influential. From centuries of amalgamation of the local Creole, haute Creole, and New Orleans French cuisines, New Orleans food has developed. Local ingredients, French, Spanish, Italian, African, Native American, Cajun, and a hint of Cuban traditions combine to produce a truly unique and easily recognizable Louisiana flavor.
Unique specialties include
beignetA beignet , in American English, refers to a pastry made from deep-fried dough and sprinkled with confectioner's sugar, is a kind of French doughnut...
s (locally pronounced like "ben-yays"), square-shaped fried pastries that could be called "French doughnuts" (served with
café au laitCafé au lait is a French coffee drink.In Europe, "café au lait" stems from the same continental tradition as "caffè latte" in Italy, "café con leche" in Spain, "kawa biała" in Poland, "Milchkaffee" in Germany, "koffie verkeerd" in Netherlands, and "café com leite" in Portugal, simply "coffee...
made with a blend of coffee and chicory rather than only coffee);
Po' boyA po' boy is a traditional submarine sandwich from Louisiana. It almost always consists of meat or seafood, usually fried, served on baguette-like Louisiana French bread.-Preparation:...
and Italian
MuffulettaThe muffuletta is a type of Sicilian bread, as well as a sandwich in New Orleans, Louisiana, which is made with that bread. Like many of the foreign-influenced names found in New Orleans, the pronunciation of "muffuletta" has evolved from its phonetic forebear...
sandwiches; Gulf oysters on the half-shell, fried oysters, boiled
crawfishCrayfish, crawfish, or crawdads — members of the superfamilies Astacoidea and Parastacoidea — are freshwater crustaceans resembling small lobsters, to which they are related...
, and other
seafoodSeafood is any sea animal or plant that is served as food and eaten by humans. Seafoods include seawater animals, such as fish and shellfish...
;
étoufféeÉtouffée or etouffee is a Creole and Cajun dish typically served with shellfish or chicken over rice and is similar to gumbo. It is most popular in New Orleans and in the bayou country of the southernmost half of Louisiana.-Etymology:...
,
jambalayaJambalaya is a Louisiana Creole dish of Spanish and French influence. -Jambalaya varieties:Jambalaya is traditionally made in three parts, with meats and vegetables, and is completed by adding stock and rice. It is also a close cousin to the saffron colored paella found in Spanish culture...
,
gumboGumbo is a stew or soup originating in Louisiana which is popular across the Gulf Coast of the United States and into the U.S. South. It consists primarily of a strong stock, meat and/or shellfish, a thickener, and the vegetable "holy trinity" of celery, bell peppers, and onion. The soup is...
, and other Creole dishes; and the Monday favorite of red beans and rice. (
Louis ArmstrongLouis Daniel Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
often signed his letters, "Red beans and ricely yours".) Another New Orleans specialty is the
PralinePraline is a family of confections made from nuts and sugar syrup.-Pralines in America:As originally inspired in France at the Château of Vaux-le-Vicomte by the cook of the 17th-century sugar industrialist Marshal du Plessis-Praslin , early pralines were whole almonds individually coated in...
(locally pronounced as /ˈprɑːliːn/, not /ˈpreliːn/), a candy made with brown sugar, granulated sugar, cream, butter, and pecans.
Dialect
New Orleans has developed a distinctive local dialect of
American EnglishAmerican English is a set of dialects of the English language used mostly in the United States. Approximately two thirds of native speakers of English live in the United States.English is the most common language in the United States...
over the years that is neither
CajunCajuns are an ethnic group mainly living in Louisiana, consisting of the descendants of Acadian exiles...
nor the stereotypical
SouthernSouthern American English is a group of dialects of the English language spoken throughout the Southern region of the United States, from Southern and Eastern Maryland, West Virginia and Kentucky to the Gulf Coast, and from the Atlantic coast to throughout most of Texas and Oklahoma.The Southern...
accent, so often misportrayed by film and television actors. It does, like earlier Southern Englishes, feature frequent
deletion of the post-vocalic "r"English pronunciation can be divided into two main accent groups: A rhotic speaker pronounces the letter R in hard and water. A non-rhotic speaker does not pronounce it in hard, and may not in water, or may only pronounce it in water if the following word begins with a vowel...
. This dialect is quite similar to
New YorkNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
"Brooklynese", to people unfamiliar with either. There are many theories to how it came to be, but it likely resulted from New Orleans' geographic isolation by water and the fact that the city was a major immigration port throughout the 19th century. As a result, many of the ethnic groups who reside in Brooklyn also reside in New Orleans, such as the
IrishIrish Americans are citizens of the United States who trace their ancestry to Ireland. A total of 36,495,800 Americans reported Irish ancestry in the 2006 American Community Survey. The only self-reported ancestral group larger than Irish Americans are German Americans...
,
ItalianAn Italian American is an American of Italian ancestry, and/or may also refer to someone possessing Italian/American dual citizenship. Italian Americans are the fourth largest European ethnic group in the United States.-History:...
s (especially Sicilians), and
GermanGerman Americans are Americans of German descent. They form the largest self-reported ancestry group in the United States, outnumbering the Irish and English. They account for 50 million people, or 17% of the U.S. population...
s, among others, as well as a very sizable
JewThe Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
ish community.
One of the strongest varieties of the New Orleans accent is sometimes identified as the Yat dialect, from the greeting "Where y'at?" This distinctive accent is dying out generation by generation in the city itself, but remains very strong in the surrounding parishes.
Less visibly, various ethnic groups throughout the area have retained their distinctive language traditions to this day. Although rare,
Kreyol LwiziyenLouisiana Creole is a French Creole language spoken by the mixed Louisiana Creole people of the state of Louisiana. The language consists of elements of French, Native American, Spanish, and West African roots.-Geography:...
is still spoken by the
CreolesLouisiana Creole refers to people of various racial backgrounds who are descended from the colonial French settlers, African-Americans, and Native Americans from the time before the Louisiana territory became a possession of the United States through the Louisiana Purchase .Historically, the term...
. Also rare, an archaic Louisiana-Canarian Spanish dialect is spoken by the Isleño people, but it can usually only be heard by older members of the population.
Sports
New Orleans' professional sports teams include the
New Orleans SaintsThe New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Saints play in the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League ....
(
NFLThe National Football League is the largest professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing its name to the National Football League in 1922. The league currently consists of...
), the New Orleans Hornets (
NBAThe National Basketball Association is a professional basketball league, composed of thirty teams in North America . It is an active member of USA Basketball , which is recognized by the International Basketball Federation as the National Governing Body for basketball in the United States...
), and the
New Orleans ZephyrsThe New Orleans Zephyrs are a minor league baseball team based in Metairie, Louisiana, a suburb of New Orleans. The Zephyrs play in the Pacific Coast League and are the Triple-A affiliate of the Florida Marlins. The Zephyrs play their home games at Zephyr Field.The Zephyrs joined the PCL after the...
(
PCLThe Pacific Coast League is a minor league baseball league operating in the West, Midwest, and Southeast of the United States. Along with the International League and the Mexican League, it is one of three leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one step below Major League...
). It is also home to the
Big Easy RollergirlsBig Easy Rollergirls or BERG is the only all-female, flat-track roller derby league in New Orleans. BERG is an LLC, owned and operated by its members, and a member league of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association ....
, an all-female
flat track roller derbyFounded in April 2004 as the United Leagues Coalition and renamed in November 2005, the Women's Flat Track Derby Association is an association of women's flat track roller derby leagues in the United States. The organization is registered in Raleigh, North Carolina as a 501 business league...
team, and the
New Orleans BlazeThe New Orleans Blaze is a women's American football team in the Women's Football Alliance. Formerly a member of the National Women's Football Association, they play at City Park, splitting their time between Pan American Stadium and Tad Gormley Stadium....
, a
women's footballThe National Women's Football Association is a full-contact American football league for women headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. The league was founded by Catherine Masters in 2000, as the two benchmark teams, the Alabama Renegades and the Nashville Dream played each other six times in...
team. A local group of investors began conducting a study in 2007 to see if the city could support a
Major League SoccerMajor League Soccer is a professional soccer league based in the United States and sanctioned by United States Soccer Federation . The league comprises 15 teams, 14 in the U.S. and one in Canada...
team.
The
Louisiana SuperdomeThe Louisiana Superdome, often informally referred to simply as the Superdome, The Dome or the New Orleans Superdome is a large, multi-purpose sports and exhibition facility located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana...
is the home of the Saints, the Sugar Bowl, and other prominent events. It has hosted the
Super BowlThe Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League, the premier association of professional American football. In most years, the Super Bowl is the most-watched American television broadcast. Many popular singers and musicians have performed during the event’s pre-game and...
a record six times (
1978Super Bowl XII was an American football game played on January 15, 1978 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana to decide the National Football League champion following the 1977 regular season...
,
1981Super Bowl XV was an American football game played on January 25, 1981 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana to decide the National Football League champion following the 1980 regular season...
,
1986Super Bowl XX was an American football game played on January 26, 1986 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana to decide the National Football League champion following the 1985 regular season...
,
1990Super Bowl XXIV was an American football game played on January 28, 1990 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana to decide the National Football League champion following the 1989 regular season...
,
1997Super Bowl XXXI was an American football game played on January 26, 1997 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana to decide the National Football League champion following the 1996 regular season. The National Football Conference champion Green Bay Packers defeated the American...
,
2002Super Bowl XXXVI was an American football game played on February 3, 2002 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana to decide the National Football League champion following the 2001 regular season. The American Football Conference champion New England Patriots win their first Super...
) and will host again in
2013Super Bowl XLVII, the 47th edition of the Super Bowl and the 43rd modern era National Football League championship game, is scheduled to be played in 2013 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana...
. The
New Orleans ArenaThe New Orleans Arena is an indoor arena in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is located in the city's Central Business District, adjacent to the Louisiana Superdome....
is the home of the Hornets and many events that aren't large enough to need the Superdome. New Orleans is also home to the
Fair Grounds Race CourseFair Grounds Race Course, often known as New Orleans Fair Grounds, is a thoroughbred racetrack and racino in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is operated by Churchill Downs Louisiana Horseracing Company, LLC....
, the nation's third-oldest thoroughbred track. The city's
Lakefront ArenaSenator Nat G. Kiefer University of New Orleans Lakefront Arena is a 10,000-seat multi-purpose arena in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Arena was built in 1983 and hosts an array of events including concerts, family shows, and graduations...
has also been home to sporting events.
Each year New Orleans plays host to the
Sugar BowlThe Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Sugar Bowl has been played annually since December 2, 1934, and celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2009...
, the
New Orleans BowlThe New Orleans Bowl is a post-season college football bowl game certified by the NCAA that has been played annually at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana since 2001. The game was sponsored by Wyndham Hotels & Resorts from 2002 to 2004 and was officially called the Wyndham New...
and the
Zurich ClassicThe Zurich Classic of New Orleans is a regular golf tournament on the PGA Tour. It is played annually in New Orleans, Louisiana; its historic date has been in April, but was moved to March in 2008. Zurich Financial Services is the main sponsor of the tournament...
, a golf tournament on the
PGA TourThe PGA Tour is an organization that operates the main professional golf tours in the United States. It is headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, a suburb of Jacksonville...
. In addition, it has often hosted major sporting events that have no permanent home, such as the
Super BowlThe Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League, the premier association of professional American football. In most years, the Super Bowl is the most-watched American television broadcast. Many popular singers and musicians have performed during the event’s pre-game and...
,
ArenaBowlThe ArenaBowl is the Arena Football League's championship game. From 1987 to 2004, the ArenaBowl was hosted by either the team with the better regular-season record or the higher seeding in the playoffs. From ArenaBowl XIX in 2005 until ArenaBowl XXII in 2008, the game was played at a neutral site...
, NBA All-Star Game,
BCS National Championship GameThe BCS National Championship Game is the final bowl game of the annual Bowl Championship Series and is intended by the organizers of the BCS to determine the national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision...
, and the
NCAA Final FourThe NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is a single elimination tournament held each spring featuring 65 college basketball teams. college basketball teams in the United States...
.
Economy
New Orleans is home to
one of the largest and busiest ports in the worldThe Port of New Orleans is a port located in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the 5th largest port in the United States based on volume of cargo handled, second-largest in the state after the Port of South Louisiana, and 12th largest in the U.S. based on value of cargo...
, and
metropolitan New OrleansNew Orleans–Metairie–Kenner is a metropolitan area designated by the US Census encompassing seven parishes in the state of Louisiana, centering on the city of New Orleans...
is a center of maritime industry. The New Orleans region also accounts for a significant portion of the nation's
oil refiningAn oil refinery is an industrial process plant where crude oil is processed and refined into more useful petroleum products, such as gasoline, diesel fuel, asphalt base, heating oil, kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas...
and
petrochemical productionPetrochemicals are chemical products made from raw materials of petroleum or other hydrocarbon origin. Although some of the chemical compounds that originate from petroleum may also be derived from coal and natural gas, petroleum is the major source...
, and serves as a white collar corporate base for onshore and offshore
petroleumThe extraction of petroleum is the process by which usable petroleum is extracted and removed from the earth.-Locating the oil field:Nowadays, the geologists use seismic surveys to search for geological structures that may form oil reservoirs...
and
natural gasNatural gas is a gas consisting primarily of methane. It is found associated with fossil fuels, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is created by methanogenic organisms in marshes, bogs, and landfills...
production. New Orleans is a center for higher learning, with over 50,000 students enrolled in the region's eleven two- and four-year degree granting institutions. A top 50 research university,
Tulane UniversityTulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
, is located in New Orleans'
UptownUptown is a section of New Orleans, Louisiana on the East Bank of the Mississippi River encompassing a number of neighborhoods between the French Quarter and the Jefferson Parish line. It remains an area of mixed residential and small commercial properties, with a wealth of 19th century architecture...
neighborhood. Metropolitan New Orleans is a major regional hub for the health care industry and boasts a small, globally-competitive manufacturing sector. The center city possesses a rapidly growing, entrepreneurial
creative industriesThe phrase creative industries refers to a set of interlocking industry sectors that focus on creating unique property, content or design that previously did not exist. Economic contributions from creative industries have been increasing, particularly as manufacturing industries have become...
sector, and is, of course, renowned for its
cultural tourismCultural tourism is the subset of tourism concerned with a country or region's culture, specifically the lifestyle of the people in those geographical areas, the history of those peoples, their art, architecture, religion, and other elements that helped shape their way of life...
. Greater New Orleans, Inc. (GNO, Inc.)
http://www.gnoinc.org/ acts as the first point-of-contact for regional economic development and is slotted between Louisiana's Department of Economic Development and the various parochial business development agencies.
New Orleans came into being to act as a strategically-located trading entrepot, and it remains, above all, a crucial transportation hub and distribution center for waterborne commerce. The
Port of New OrleansThe Port of New Orleans is a port located in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the 5th largest port in the United States based on volume of cargo handled, second-largest in the state after the Port of South Louisiana, and 12th largest in the U.S. based on value of cargo...
is the 5th-largest port in the United States based on volume of cargo handled, second-largest in the state after the
Port of South LouisianaThe Port of South Louisiana is the largest volume shipping port in the Western Hemisphere and 9th largest in the world.
, and 12th-largest in the U.S., based on value of cargo. The Port of South Louisiana, also based in the New Orleans area, is the world's busiest in terms of bulk tonnage and, when combined with the Port of New Orleans, it forms the 4th-largest port system in volume handled. Many shipbuilding, shipping, logistics, freight forwarding and commodity brokerage firms either call metropolitan New Orleans home or maintain a large local presence. Examples include Intermarine, Bisso Towboat,
Northrop Grumman Ship SystemsNorthrop Grumman Ship Systems is a former sector or division of Northrop Grumman Corporation which was responsible for building small and medium shipping products...
, Trinity Yachts,
Expeditors InternationalExpeditors International of Washington, Inc. is an American global logistics and freight forwarding company. The headquarters are on the 12th floor of 1015 Third Avenue in Seattle, Washington....
, Bollinger Shipyards, IMTT, International Coffee Corp, Boasso America, Transoceanic Shipping, and Silocaf. The largest coffee-roasting plant in the world, operated by Folgers, is located in
New Orleans EastEastern New Orleans is a large section of the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. Developed extensively from the 1960s onwards, it was originally marketed as "suburban-style living within the city limits", and has much in common with the Algiers neighborhood of New Orleans...
.
Like Houston, New Orleans is located in proximity to the
Gulf of MexicoThe Gulf of Mexico is the ninth largest body of water in the world. Considered a smaller part of the Atlantic Ocean, it is an ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United...
and the many oil rigs that lie just offshore. Louisiana ranks fifth in oil production and eighth in
reservesOil reserves are the estimated quantities of crude oil that are claimed to be recoverable under existing economic and operating conditions.The total estimated amount of oil in an oil reservoir, including both producible and non-producible oil, is called oil in place...
in the United States. It is also home to two of the four
Strategic Petroleum ReserveThe Strategic Petroleum Reserve is an emergency fuel store of oil maintained by the United States Department of Energy.The US SPR is the largest emergency supply in the world with the current capacity to hold up to . The second largest emergency supply of oil is Japan's with a 2003 reported...
(SPR) storage facilities: West Hackberry in
Cameron ParishCameron Parish is the parish with the most land area in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Cameron and as of 2000, the population was 9,991...
and Bayou Choctaw in
Iberville ParishIberville Parish is a parish located south of Baton Rouge in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Its seat is Plaquemine. In 2000, the population of the parish was 33,320....
. Other infrastructure includes 17 petroleum refineries with a combined crude oil distillation capacity of nearly , the second highest in the nation after Texas. Louisiana's numerous ports include the
Louisiana Offshore Oil PortThe Louisiana Offshore Oil Port is a deepwater port in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana near the town of Port Fourchon. LOOP provides tanker offloading and temporary storage services for crude oil transported on some of the largest tankers in the world. Most tankers offloading at LOOP...
(LOOP), which is capable of receiving ultra large oil tankers. Given the quantity of oil importing, Louisiana is home to many major pipelines supplying the nation:
Crude OilPetroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid found in rock formations in the Earth consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights, plus other organic compounds.The term "petroleum" was first used in the treatise De Natura Fossilium, published in...
(
ExxonExxon is a brand of motor fuel and related products sold by ExxonMobil. From 1972 to 1999, Exxon was the corporate name of the company previously known as Standard Oil Company of New Jersey or Jersey Standard.- History :...
,
ChevronChevron Corporation is an energy company. Headquartered in San Ramon, California, USA, and active in more than 180 countries, it is engaged in every aspect of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production; refining, marketing and transport; chemicals manufacturing and sales; and...
,
BPBP plc is the third largest global energy company, the 5th largest company in the world, the UK's largest company, a multinational oil company with headquarters in St James's, City of Westminster, London...
,
TexacoTexaco is the name of an American oil retail brand. Its flagship product is its fuel,"Texaco with Techron". It also owns the Havoline motor oil brand....
,
ShellShell Oil Company is the United States-based affiliate of Royal Dutch Shell, a multinational oil company of Anglo Dutch origins, which is amongst the largest oil companies in the world. Approximately 22,000 Shell employees are based in the U.S. The head office in the U.S. is in Houston, Texas...
, Scurloch-Permian, Mid-Valley, Calumet,
ConocoConoco Inc. was an American oil company founded in 1875 as the Continental Oil and Transportation Company. It is now a brand of gasoline and service station in the United States which belongs to the ConocoPhillips Company....
,
Koch IndustriesKoch Industries, Inc. is a private corporation based in Wichita, Kansas with subsidiaries involved in manufacturing, trading and investments...
,
UnocalUnion Oil Company of California, dba Unocal is a defunct company that was a major petroleum explorer and marketer in the late 19th century, through the 20th century, and into the early 21st century. It was headquartered in El Segundo, California, United States.On August 10, 2005, Unocal merged with...
,
U.S. Dept. of EnergyThe United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...
, Locap); Product (
TEPPCO PartnersTEPPCO Partners LP is a Fortune 300 company based in Houston, Texas. This company operates petroleum pipelines.-History:During the second quarter of 2007, it was acquired by another Fortune 500 company, Houston-based Enterprise GP Holdings along with 35 percent of Dallas-based Energy Transfer...
, Colonial, Plantation, Explorer, Texaco, Collins); and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (Dixie, TEPPCO, Black Lake, Koch, Chevron,
DynegyDynegy Inc. , based in Houston, Texas, United States, is a large owner and operator of power plants and a player in the natural gas liquids and coal business...
, Kinder Morgan Energy Partners,
Dow Chemical CompanyThe Dow Chemical Company is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan. As of 2007, it is the second largest chemical manufacturer in the world by revenue and as of February 2009, the third-largest chemical company in the world by market capitalization .Dow Chemical...
, Bridgeline, FMP, Tejas, Texaco, UTP). Several major energy companies have regional headquarters in the city or its suburbs, including
Royal Dutch ShellRoyal Dutch Shell plc, commonly known simply as Shell, is a multinational petroleum company of Dutch and British origins. One of the six "supermajors" , Shell was listed as the world's largest corporation for 2009 by Fortune...
,
EniEni S.p.A. is an Italian multinational oil and gas company, present in 70 countries, and currently Italy's largest industrial company with a market capitalization of € 87.7 billion euros , as of July 24, 2008...
and
ChevronChevron Corporation is an energy company. Headquartered in San Ramon, California, USA, and active in more than 180 countries, it is engaged in every aspect of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production; refining, marketing and transport; chemicals manufacturing and sales; and...
. Numerous other energy producers and oilfield services companies are also headquartered in the city or region, and the sector supports a large professional services base of specialized engineering and design firms, as well as an office for the federal government's
Minerals Management ServiceThe purpose of the Minerals Management Service , as part of the United States Department of the Interior, is to manage the mineral resources on federal and Indian lands as well as the subsea-surface lands of the Outer Continental Shelf in an environmentally sound and safe manner, and to collect,...
.
The city is the home to a single
Fortune 500The Fortune 500 is an annual list compiled and published by Fortune magazine that ranks the top 500 U.S. closely held and public corporations as ranked by their gross revenue after adjustments made by Fortune to exclude the impact of excise taxes companies collect. The list includes publicly and...
company:
EntergyEntergy Corporation , based in New Orleans, Louisiana is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations...
, a power generation utility and nuclear powerplant operations specialist. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the city lost its other Fortune 500 company,
Freeport-McMoRanFreeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc., often called simply Freeport, is the world's lowest-cost copper producer and one of the world's largest producers of gold. It was formerly based in New Orleans, Louisiana but recently moved its headquarters to Phoenix, Arizona, after acquiring copper producer...
, when it merged its copper and gold exploration unit with an Arizona company and relocated that division to
Phoenix, ArizonaPhoenix is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the fifth most populous city in the United States...
. Its McMoRan Exploration affiliate remains headquartered in New Orleans. Other companies either headquartered or with significant operations in New Orleans include: Pan American Life Insurance, Pool Corp,
Rolls-RoyceRolls-Royce plc is a British aircraft engine maker, and the second-largest in the world, behind GE Aviation. The company has related businesses in the defence aerospace, marine and energy markets....
, Newpark Resources,
AT&TAT&T Inc. is the largest provider of local, long distance telephone services in the United States, and also serves digital subscriber line Internet access. AT&T is the second largest provider of wireless service in the United States, with over 77 million wireless customers, and more than 150...
, TurboSquid, iSeatz,
IBMInternational Business Machines Corporation, abbreviated IBM, is a multinational computer technology and IT consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, Town of North Castle, New York, United States. The company is one of the few information technology companies with a continuous history dating...
, Navtech, Superior Energy Services, Textron Marine & Land Systems, McDermott International, Pellerin Milnor,
Lockheed MartinLockheed Martin is a multinational aerospace manufacturer, global security and advanced technology company formed in 1995 by the merger of Lockheed with Martin Marietta. It is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, in the Washington Metropolitan Area. Lockheed Martin employs 146,000 people...
, Imperial Trading, Laitram,
Harrah's EntertainmentHarrah's Entertainment, Inc. is a private gaming corporation that owns and operates casinos, hotels, and six golf courses under several brands. The company, based in Las Vegas, Nevada, is the largest gaming company in the world, with yearly revenues around $10.8 billion. Harrah’s is owned by...
, Stewart Enterprises, Edison Chouest Offshore,
Zatarain'sZatarain's is a food and spice company. It was started in the New Orleans suburb of Gretna by Emile A. Zatarain, Sr., who took out a trademark and began to market root beer in 1889. He expanded his product range to include mustard, pickled vegetables, and extracts.Then he moved into the spice...
,
Whitney National BankWhitney National Bank is a regional community banking institution headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded in 1883, it is the oldest continuously operating bank in Louisiana and a major player in the Gulf South banking industry. Whitney branches are distinguished by a characteristic clock,...
,
Capital OneCOF, or Capital One Financial Corp. is a U.S. based bank holding company specializing in credit cards, home loans, auto loans, banking, and savings products...
, Tidewater Marine,
Popeyes Chicken & BiscuitsPopeyes Chicken & Biscuits is a chain of fried chicken fast food restaurants, owned since 1993 by the Atlanta-based AFC Enterprises...
,
Parsons BrinckerhoffParsons Brinckerhoff is a planning, engineering, program and construction management organization. The company has been involved in planning and designing some of the world's largest public works projects, such as Boston's Big Dig, Britain's rail system Network Rail, the Sabiya power plant in...
,
MWH GlobalMWH Global is an energy and environmental engineering, construction, and water resource management firm that offers design, construction, finance, and operations and maintenance services in around 30 countries. Projects include wetlands restoration along the Danube in Bulgaria, effluent treatment...
,
CH2M HILLCH2M HILL is a global provider of engineering, construction, and operations services for corporations, nonprofits, and federal, state, and local governments. The firm is headquartered in Meridian, an unincorporated area of Douglas County, Colorado in the Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Area...
and Energy Partners Ltd.
Tourism is another staple of the city's economy. Perhaps more visible than any other sector, New Orleans' tourist and convention industry is a $5.5 billion juggernaut that accounts for 40 percent of New Orleans' tax revenues. In 2004, the hospitality industry employed 85,000 people, making it New Orleans' top economic sector as measured by employment totals. The city also hosts the World Cultural Economic Forum (WCEF). The forum, held annually at the New Orleans Morial Convention Center, is directed toward promoting cultural and economic development opportunities through the strategic convening of cultural ambassadors and leaders from around the world. The first WCEF took place in October 2008.
The
federal governmentThe federal government of the United States is the central government entity established by the United States Constitution, which shares sovereignty over the United States with the governments of the individual U.S. states. The federal government has three branches: the legislative, executive, and...
has a significant presence in the area.
NASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nation's public space program. NASA was established by the National Aeronautics and Space Act on July 29, 1958, replacing its predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for...
's
Michoud Assembly FacilityThe Michoud Assembly Facility is an 832-acre site owned by the United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration and located in New Orleans East, a large district within the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. It is used for the construction of the Space Shuttle's External...
is located in
New Orleans EastEastern New Orleans is a large section of the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. Developed extensively from the 1960s onwards, it was originally marketed as "suburban-style living within the city limits", and has much in common with the Algiers neighborhood of New Orleans...
and is operated by
Lockheed MartinLockheed Martin is a multinational aerospace manufacturer, global security and advanced technology company formed in 1995 by the merger of Lockheed with Martin Marietta. It is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, in the Washington Metropolitan Area. Lockheed Martin employs 146,000 people...
. It is a large manufacturing facility where the external fuel tanks for the space shuttles are produced. The Michoud facility lies within the enormous New Orleans Regional Business Park, also home to the
National Finance CenterThe National Finance Center provides human resources, financial and administrative services for agencies of the United States federal government...
, operated by the
United States Department of AgricultureThe United States Department of Agriculture is the United States federal executive department responsible for developing and executing U.S. federal government policy on farming, agriculture, and food...
(USDA), and the Crescent Crown distribution center. Other large governmental installations include the U.S. Navy's Space and Naval Warfare (SPAWAR) Systems Command, located within the University of New Orleans Research and Technology Park in
GentillyGentilly is a broad, predominantly middle-class and racially diverse section of New Orleans, Louisiana. The first part of Gentilly to be developed was along the Gentilly Ridge, a long stretch of high ground along the former banks of Bayou Gentilly...
,
NAS New OrleansNaval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans is a base of the United State military located in Belle Chasse, Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, United States. NAS JRB New Orleans is home to the 159th Fighter Wing as well as other naval activities...
, the future headquarters for the Marine Force Reserves, slated for Federal City in Algiers and the
U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of AppealsThe United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* Eastern District of Louisiana* Middle District of Louisiana...
.
Demographics
As of the
censusA "census" is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population.In other words every 10 years...next one would be in 2010 The term is used mostly in connection with...
of 2000, there were 484,674 people, 188,251 households, and 112,950 families residing in the city. The
population densityPopulation density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans. It is a key term used in geography....
was . There were 215,091 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 67.25% African American, 28.05% White, 0.20% Native American, 2.26% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.93% from other races, and 1.28% from two or more races. 3.06% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
The last population estimate before Hurricane Katrina was 454,865, as of July 1, 2005. A population analysis released in August 2007 estimated the population to be 273,000, 60% of the pre-Katrina population and an increase of about 50,000 since July 2006. A September 2007 report by The Greater New Orleans Community Data Center, which tracks population based on U.S. Postal Service figures, found that in August 2007, just over 137,000 households received mail. That compares with about 198,000 households in July 2005, representing about 70% of pre-Katrina population.
A 2006 study by researchers at
Tulane UniversityTulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
and the
University of California, BerkeleyThe University of California, Berkeley is a public research university located in Berkeley, California, United States. The oldest of the ten major campuses affiliated with the University of California, Berkeley offers some 300 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in a wide range of disciplines...
determined that there are as many as 10,000 to 14,000
illegal immigrantsIllegal immigration is immigration across national borders in a way that violates the immigration laws of the destination country. Illegal immigrants are also known as illegal aliens to differentiate them from legal aliens...
, many from
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, currently residing in New Orleans.
Janet MurguíaJanet Murguia is a prominent civil rights leader. She grew up in Kansas City, Kansas but now lives in Washington, DC and works as a renowned advocate for the Latino community.-NCLR President and CEO:...
, president and chief executive officer of the
National Council of La RazaThe National Council of La Raza is a non-profit and non-partisan advocacy group in the United States. It is not to be confused with La Raza Unida. Its stated focus is on reducing poverty and discrimination, and improving opportunities for Hispanics...
, stated that there could be up to 120,000 Hispanic workers in New Orleans. In June 2007, one study stated that the Hispanic population had risen from 15,000, pre-Katrina, to over 50,000.
A recent article released by The Times-Picayune indicated that the metropolitan area had undergone a recent influx of 5,300 households in the later half of 2008, bringing the population to around 469,605 households or 88.1% of its pre-Katrina levels. While the area's population has been on an upward trajectory since the storm, much of that growth was attributed to residents returning after Katrina. Many observers predicted that growth would taper off, but the data center's analysis suggests that New Orleans and the surrounding parishes are benefiting from an economic migration resulting from the global financial crisis of 2008–2009.
Religion
New Orleans is notably absent from the
ProtestantProtestantism is a branch within Christianity, containing many denominations with some differing practices and doctrines, that principally originated in the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation. It is considered to be one of the major divisions within Christianity, together with the Roman...
Bible BeltBible Belt is an informal term for an area of the United States in which socially conservative evangelical Protestantism is a dominant part of the culture and Christian church attendance across the denominations is extremely high....
that dominates religion in the
Southern United StatesThe Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, Down South, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive region in the southeastern and south-central United States...
. In New Orleans and the surrounding Gulf Coast area, the predominant religion is
CatholicismCatholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole...
. Within the
Archdiocese of New OrleansThe Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans, officially in Latin Archidioecesis Novae Aureliae, is an ecclesiastical division of the Roman Catholic Church administered from New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the second-oldest diocese in the present-day United States, having been elevated to the rank...
(which includes not only the city but the surrounding Parishes as well), 35.9% percent of the population is Roman Catholic. The influence of Catholicism is reflected in many of the city's French and Spanish cultural traditions, including its many parochial schools, street names, architecture, and festivals, including
Mardi GrasMardi Gras in New Orleans, Louisiana, is one of the most famous Carnival celebrations in the world.The New Orleans Carnival season, with roots in preparing for the start of the Christian season of Lent, starts on Epiphany or Twelfth Night . It is a season of parades, balls , and king cake parties...
.
New Orleans also famously has a presence of its distinctive variety of
Louisiana VoodooLouisiana Voodoo, also known as New Orleans Voodoo, originated from the traditions of the African diaspora. It is a cultural form of the Voodoo religions which historically developed within the French, Spanish, and Creole speaking African-American population of the U.S. state of Louisiana...
, due in part to
syncretismSyncretism is the attempt to reconcile disparate or contrary beliefs, often while melding practices of various schools of thought. This may involve attempts to merge and analogise several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, and thus assert an...
with Roman Catholic beliefs, the fame of voodoo practitioner
Marie LaveauMarie Laveau was a Louisiana Creole practitioner of Voudou renowned in New Orleans. She was born free in New Orleans....
, and New Orleans' distinctly Caribbean cultural influences. Although the exotic image of Voodoo within the city has been highly promoted by the tourism industry, there are only a small number of serious adherents to the religion.
New Orleans' pre-Katrina population of 10,000
JewThe Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
s has now dropped to 7,000. In the wake of Katrina, all New Orleans synagogues lost members, but were able to re-open in their original locations, except for
Congregation Beth IsraelCongregation Beth Israel is a Modern Orthodox synagogue located in Louisiana. Founded in 1904, it is the oldest Orthodox congregation in the New Orleans region....
, the oldest and most prominent
OrthodoxOrthodox Judaism is a formulation of Judaism that adheres to a relatively strict interpretation and application of the laws and ethics first canonized in the Talmudic texts and as subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and Acharonim.Orthodox...
synagogue in the New Orleans region. Beth Israel's building in Lakeview was destroyed by flooding, and it is currently in temporary quarters in
MetairieMetairie is a census-designated place in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 146,136 at the 2000 census, making it the largest census-designated place that is not a consolidated city-county government. Adjacent to New Orleans, Metairie is the largest community in...
.
Hurricane Katrina
By the time
Hurricane KatrinaHurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the costliest hurricane, as well as one of the five deadliest, in the history of the United States...
approached the city at the end of August 2005, most residents had evacuated. As the hurricane passed through the
Gulf Coast regionThe Gulf Coast region of the United States, sometimes called the Gulf South, South Coast, or Third Coast, comprises the coasts of states which border the Gulf of Mexico. The states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida are known as the Gulf States...
, the city's
federal flood protectionThe Flood Control Act of 1965, Title II of , was enacted on October 27, 1965, by the 89th Congress and authorized the United States Army Corps of Engineers to design and construct numerous flood control projects....
system failed, resulting in the worst
civil engineeringCivil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works such as bridges, roads, canals, dams and buildings...
disaster in American history. Floodwalls and
leveeA levee, levée, dike , embankment, floodbank or stopbank is a natural or artificial slope or wall to regulate water levels...
s constructed by the
United States Army Corps of EngineersThe United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 34,600 civilian and 650 military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...
failed below design specifications and 80% of the city flooded. Tens of thousands of residents who had remained in the city were rescued or otherwise made their way to shelters of last resort at the
Louisiana SuperdomeThe Louisiana Superdome, often informally referred to simply as the Superdome, The Dome or the New Orleans Superdome is a large, multi-purpose sports and exhibition facility located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana...
or the New Orleans Morial Convention Center. Over 1,500 people died in Louisiana and some are still unaccounted for. Hurricane Katrina called for the first mandatory evacuation in the city's history, the second of which came 3 years later with
Hurricane GustavThe name Gustav has been used for five tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Ocean:* 1984's Tropical Storm Gustav - Spent most of its existence as a tropical depression hovering over Bermuda, no major damage...
.
Hurricane Rita
The city was declared off-limits to residents while efforts to clean up after
Hurricane KatrinaHurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the costliest hurricane, as well as one of the five deadliest, in the history of the United States...
began. The approach of
Hurricane RitaHurricane Rita was the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded and the most intense tropical cyclone ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico. Rita caused $11.3 billion in damage on the U.S. Gulf Coast in September 2005...
in September 2005 caused repopulation efforts to be postponed, and the
Lower Ninth WardLower Ninth Ward is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. As the name implies, it is part of the Ninth Ward of New Orleans. The Lower Ninth Ward is often thought of as the entire area within New Orleans downriver of the Industrial Canal, however the City Planning Commission divides this area...
was reflooded by Rita's storm surge.
Post-disaster recovery
The Census Bureau in July 2006 estimated the population of New Orleans to be 223,000; a subsequent study estimated that 32,000 additional residents had moved to the city as of March 2007, bringing the estimated population to 255,000, approximately 56% of the pre-Katrina population level. Another estimate, based on data on utility usage from July 2007, estimated the population to be approximately 274,000 or 60% of the pre-Katrina population. These estimates are somewhat smaller than a third estimate, based on mail delivery records, from the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center in June 2007, which indicated that the city had regained approximately two-thirds of its pre-Katrina population.
Several major tourist events and other forms of revenue for the city have returned. Large conventions are being held again, such as those held by the
American Library AssociationThe American Library Association is a non-profit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 65,000 members....
and
American College of CardiologyThe American College of Cardiology is a nonprofit medical association established in 1949 to advocate for quality cardiovascular care through education, research promotion, development and application of standards and guidelines, and to influence health care policy...
. College football events such as the
Bayou ClassicThe State Farm Bayou Classic is the annual college football game between the Grambling State University Tigers and the Southern University Jaguars, first held in 1974 at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana. Since 1978 the game has been held the final Saturday in November at the Louisiana...
,
New Orleans BowlThe New Orleans Bowl is a post-season college football bowl game certified by the NCAA that has been played annually at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana since 2001. The game was sponsored by Wyndham Hotels & Resorts from 2002 to 2004 and was officially called the Wyndham New...
, and
Sugar BowlThe Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Sugar Bowl has been played annually since December 2, 1934, and celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2009...
returned for the 2006–2007 season. The
New Orleans SaintsThe New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Saints play in the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League ....
returned that season as well, following speculation of a move. The New Orleans Hornets returned to the city fully for the 2007–2008 season, having partially spent the 2006–2007 season in
Oklahoma CityOklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma.Oklahoma City may also refer to:*Oklahoma City metropolitan area*Downtown Oklahoma City*Uptown Oklahoma City*Oklahoma City bombing*Oklahoma City National Memorial...
. New Orleans successfully hosted the
2008 NBA All-Star GameThe 2008 NBA All-Star Game took place on February 17, 2008 at the New Orleans Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana, home of the New Orleans Hornets. The game was the 57th edition of the All-Star Game, the first in New Orleans and the first major professional sporting event to take place in the New...
and the
2008 BCS National Championship GameThe 2008 Allstate BCS National Championship Game was played at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, on Monday, January 7, 2008, and featured the #1 and #2 college football teams in the United States as determined by the BCS Poll to decide the BCS National Championship for the 2007...
. The city hosted the first and second rounds of the
2007 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 2007 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 65 NCAA schools playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball as a culmination of the 2006–07 basketball season...
. New Orleans and Tulane University will be hosting the
Final Four ChampionshipThe NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is a single elimination tournament held each spring featuring 65 college basketball teams. college basketball teams in the United States...
in 2012.
Major events such as
Mardi GrasMardi Gras in New Orleans, Louisiana, is one of the most famous Carnival celebrations in the world.The New Orleans Carnival season, with roots in preparing for the start of the Christian season of Lent, starts on Epiphany or Twelfth Night . It is a season of parades, balls , and king cake parties...
and the
Jazz & Heritage FestivalThe New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, often known as Jazz Fest, is an annual celebration of the music and culture of New Orleans and Louisiana...
were never displaced or cancelled.
Government
New Orleans has a
mayor-council governmentThe Mayor-Council government system, sometimes called the Mayor-Commission government system, is one of two variations of government used for the most part in modern representative municipal governments in the United States. It is also used in some other countries...
. The city council consists of five council members, who are elected by district and two at-large councilmembers. Mayor
Ray NaginClarence Ray Nagin, Jr. is the mayor of New Orleans. He was first elected on March 2, 2002, to succeed his fellow Democrat, Marc Morial...
was elected in May 2002 and was reelected in the
mayoral election of May 20, 2006The first round of the New Orleans mayoral election of 2006 took place on April 22, 2006; a runoff between incumbent Mayor Ray Nagin and Louisiana Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu took place on May 20, resulting in reelection for Mayor Nagin...
.
The Orleans Parish Civil Sheriff's Office
servesService of process is the procedure employed to give legal notice to a person of a court or administrative body's exercise of its jurisdiction over that person so as to enable that person to respond to the proceeding before the court, body or other tribunal...
papers involving lawsuits and provides security for the Civil District Court and Juvenile Courts. The
Criminal Sheriff, Marlin Gusman, maintains the parish prison system, provides security for the Criminal District Court, and provides backup for the
New Orleans Police DepartmentThe New Orleans Police Department or NOPD has primary responsibility for law enforcement in New Orleans, Louisiana. The department's jurisdiction covers all of Orleans Parish. The city is divided into eight police districts....
on an as-needed basis.
The city of New Orleans and the
parish of Orleans operate as a merged city-parish government. Before the city of New Orleans became co-extensive with Orleans Parish, Orleans Parish was home to numerous smaller communities. The original city of New Orleans was composed of what are now the 1st through 9th wards. The city of Lafayette (including the Garden District) was added in 1852 as the 10th and 11th wards. In 1870, Jefferson City, including Faubourg Bouligny and much of the Audubon and University areas, was annexed as the 12th, 13th, and 14th wards. Algiers, on the west bank of the Mississippi, was also annexed in 1870, becoming the 15th ward. Four years later, Orleans Parish became coextensive with the city of New Orleans, when the city of
CarrolltonCarrollton is a neighborhood of uptown New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, which includes the Carrollton Historic District. It is the part of Uptown New Orleans farthest up river from the French Quarter...
was annexed as the 16th and 17th wards.
New Orleans' government is now largely centralized in the city council and mayor's office, but it maintains a number of relics from earlier systems when various sections of the city ran much of their affairs separately. For example, New Orleans has seven elected tax assessors, each with their own staff, representing various districts of the city, rather than one centralized office. A constitutional amendment passed on November 7, 2006, will consolidate the seven assessors into one by 2010.
Federal representation
The
United States Postal ServiceThe United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States. It is one of the few government agencies explicitly authorized by the United States Constitution. Within the United States, it is commonly...
operates post offices in New Orleans. The New Orleans Main Post Office is at 701 Loyola Avenue in the
Central Business DistrictThe Central Business District is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the French Quarter/CBD Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: Iberville, Decatur and Canal Streets to the north, the Mississippi River to the east, the New Orleans Morial...
.
Crime
New Orleans' violent crime rate is high compared with other cities in the United States. Homicides peaked at 421 in 1994, a rate of 86 per 100,000 residents. The homicide rate rose and fell year to year throughout the late 1990s, but the overall trend from 1994 to 1999 was a steady reduction in homicides. From 1999 to 2004, the homicide rate increased. New Orleans had the highest homicide rate of any major American city in 2002 (53.3 per 100,000 people) and again in 2003 (275 homicides).
Violent crime is a serious problem for New Orleans residents, but far less of a problem for tourists. As in other U.S. cities of comparable size, the incidence of homicide and other violent crimes is highly concentrated in certain low-income neighborhoods, such as housing projects, that are sites of open-air drug trade. The homicide rate for the entire
New Orleans metropolitan areaNew Orleans–Metairie–Kenner is a metropolitan area designated by the US Census encompassing seven parishes in the state of Louisiana, centering on the city of New Orleans...
was 24.4 per 100,000 in 2002.
After Hurricane Katrina, media attention focused on the reduced violent crime rate following the exodus of many New Orleanians. Conversely, a number of cities that took in Katrina evacuees had a significant increase in their murder rate. Houston, for example, had a 25% increase in murders from the previous year. Captain Dwayne Ready stated, "We also recognize that Katrina evacuees continue to have an impact on the murder rate." Police have not kept records of how evacuees have affected crime rates other than homicide. As more residents return to New Orleans, the trend is starting to reverse itself, although calculating the homicide rate remains difficult given that no authoritative source can cite a total population figure.
There were 22 homicides in July 2006, the same as the monthly average for the city from 2002 until Hurricane Katrina. There were 161 homicides in 2006.
On Thursday, January 11, 2007, several thousand New Orleans residents marched through city streets and gathered at City Hall for a rally demanding police and city leaders tackle the crime problem. Mayor
Ray NaginClarence Ray Nagin, Jr. is the mayor of New Orleans. He was first elected on March 2, 2002, to succeed his fellow Democrat, Marc Morial...
said he was "totally and solely focused" on addressing the problem. The city of New Orleans implemented checkpoints starting in early January 2007 from the hours of 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. in high-crime areas and, as of January 20, 2007, they had made over 60 arrests and issued more than 100 citations.
Although the city has lost more than 40% of its pre-Katrina population, it has recaptured an infamous unwanted title, as the nation's "murder capital", according to the
FBIThe Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency. The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
. By November 2007, local media reports claimed homicides had already eclipsed the previous year's numbers. The city recorded a total of 209 homicides in 2007.
New Orleans was once again the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
murderMurder, as defined in common law countries, is the unlawful killing of another human being with intent , and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
capital, and 3rd leading city in the world, in 2008. Its murder rate is estimated as 67 per 100,000 by its police department and 95 per 100,000 by the FBI.
Schools
New Orleans Public SchoolsNew Orleans Public Schools is a public school district that serves all of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Schools within the district are governed by a multitude of entities, including the Orleans Parish School Board , which directly administers 7 schools and has granted charters to another...
(NOPS) is the name given to the city's public school system. Pre-Katrina, NOPS was one of the area's largest systems (along with the
Jefferson Parish public school systemJefferson Parish Public Schools is a school district based in unincorporated Marrero in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States. The district operates all public schools in Jefferson Parish.-K-12 schools:* Grand Isle School -7-12 schools:...
). In the years leading up to Hurricane Katrina, the New Orleans public school system was widely recognized as the lowest performing school district in Louisiana. According to researchers
Carl L. BankstonCarl L. Bankston III is an American sociologist and author. He is best known for his work on immigration to the United States, particularly on the adaptation of Vietnamese American immigrants, and for his work on ethnicity, social capital, sociology of religion and the sociology of...
and Stephen J. Caldas, only 12 of the 103 public schools within the city limits of New Orleans showed reasonably good performance at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Following Hurricane Katrina, the state of Louisiana took over most of the schools within the system (all schools that fell into a nominal "worst-performing" metric); many new charter schools have been started since the storm, educating 15,000. Presently, the majority of public school students in the NOPS system attend charter schools, the highest percentage in the nation. The last couple years have witnessed massive gains in student achievement, as outside operators like KIPP, the Algiers Charter School Network, and the Capital One - University of New Orleans Charter School Network have assumed control of dozens of schools.
In addition to a number of nationally-respected private secular schools, the
Greater New OrleansNew Orleans–Metairie–Kenner is a metropolitan area designated by the US Census encompassing seven parishes in the state of Louisiana, centering on the city of New Orleans...
area has approximately 200 parochial schools, the vast majority run by the
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New OrleansThe Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans, officially in Latin Archidioecesis Novae Aureliae, is an ecclesiastical division of the Roman Catholic Church administered from New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the second-oldest diocese in the present-day United States, having been elevated to the rank...
. The longstanding prevalence of decent-quality, affordable parochial school education has historically been both a cause and a consequence of metropolitan New Orleans' comparatively mediocre public school systems. Because so many middle class students have been enrolled in Catholic schools, middle class support for public education has been relatively weak. At the same time, the historically middling-to-poor quality of the region's public school systems, especially NOPS, often prompts middle class families to educate their children in private or parochial schools.
Nonetheless, metropolitan New Orleans, and the NOPS system in particular, is currently engaged in the most promising and far-reaching public school reforms in the nation, reforms aimed at decentralizing power away from the pre-Katrina school board central bureaucracy to individual school principals and charter school boards, monitoring charter school performance by granting renewable, five-year operating contracts permitting the closure of those not succeeding, and vesting choice in parents of public schools students, allowing them to enroll their children in any school in the district.
Colleges and universities
A large number of institutions of higher education exist within the city, including
Tulane UniversityTulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
and
Loyola University New OrleansLoyola University New Orleans is a private, co-educational and Jesuit university located in New Orleans, Louisiana. Originally established as Loyola College in 1904, the institution was later chartered as a university in 1912. It bears the name of the Jesuit patron, Saint Ignatius of Loyola...
, the city's major private universities. These universities also administrate the city's three professional schools,
Tulane University School of MedicineThe Tulane University School of Medicine is located in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA and is a part of Tulane University. The school is located in the Medical District of the New Orleans Central Business District.-History:...
,
Tulane University Law SchoolTulane University Law School is the law school of Tulane University. It is located on Tulane's Uptown campus in New Orleans, Louisiana. Established in 1847, it is the 12th oldest law school in the United States....
and
Loyola University New Orleans College of LawLoyola University New Orleans College of Law is a private law school in New Orleans, Louisiana affiliated with Loyola University New Orleans. Loyola's law school opened in 1914 and is now located on the Broadway Campus of the University in the historic Audubon Park District of the city. The College...
. The
University of New OrleansThe University of New Orleans, often locally called UNO, is a medium sized public urban university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. It is a member of the LSU System and the Urban 13 and is currently headed by Chancellor Timothy P...
is a large public research university in the city.
Dillard UniversityDillard University is a private, historically black liberal arts college in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded in 1869, it is affiliated with the United Church of Christ and the United Methodist Church....
,
Southern University at New OrleansSouthern University at New Orleans is a historically black university located in New Orleans, Louisiana...
and
Xavier University of LouisianaXavier University of Louisiana is a private, coeducational, liberal arts historically Black Roman Catholic university located in New Orleans, Louisiana. Xavier has the distinction of being the only historically black university in the United States that is Roman Catholic...
are among some of the leading historically black colleges and universities in the United States (Xavier being the only predominantly black Catholic university in the U.S.)
Louisiana State University School of MedicineLouisiana State University School of Medicine refers to two separate medical schools in Louisiana: LSU School of Medicine in New Orleans and LSU School of Medicine in Shreveport.-See also:* LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans...
is the state's flagship public university medical school, which also conducts research.
Our Lady of Holy Cross CollegeOur Lady of Holy Cross College is a liberal arts college in New Orleans, Louisiana.-History:OLHCC was founded in 1916 as a two year normal school by the Marianites of Holy Cross. Its original location was in the Bywater area of New Orleans. It became a 4 year institution in 1938. In 1947, a ...
,
Notre Dame SeminaryNotre Dame Seminary is a resident, accredited graduate theological school in New Orleans, Louisiana, founded in 1923 for the education of men to be priests of the Roman Catholic Church. It offers the graduate degrees of M.Div. and M.A. in theological studies. It operates under the auspices of the...
and the
New Orleans Baptist Theological SeminaryThe New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary is a private, non-profit institution of higher learning associated with the Southern Baptist Convention, located in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. The Seminary offers Doctoral, Master, Bachelor and Associate degrees. Dr...
are several smaller religiously affiliated universities. Other notable schools include
Delgado Community CollegeDelgado Community College is a Louisiana public community college with campuses throughout the New Orleans metropolitan area, the East and West Banks of New Orleans, the East Bank of Jefferson Parish and on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain in Covington and Slidell in St. Tammany Parish...
, the William Carey College School of Nursing, the Culinary Institute of New Orleans,
Herzing CollegeHerzing College is a private, for profit, career focused institution of higher education that awards diplomas, associate degrees and bachelor degrees in a variety of disciplines. It was founded by Henry and Suzanne Herzing in 1965 as a computer programming school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin...
, and Commonwealth University.
Libraries
There are numerous academic and
public librariesA public library is a library which is accessible by the public and is generally funded from public sources and may be operated by civil servants...
and archives in New Orleans, including Monroe Library at Loyola University, Howard-Tilton Memorial Library at
Tulane UniversityTulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
, the Law Library of Louisiana, and the
Earl K. LongEarl Kemp Long was an American politician and three-time Democratic governor of Louisiana, who termed himself the "last of the red hot poppas" of politics, referring to his stump-speaking skills...
Library at the University of New Orleans.
The
New Orleans Public LibraryThe New Orleans Public Library is the public library service of the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States.-History:The system began in 1896 as the Fisk Free and Public Library in a building on Lafayette Square...
includes 13 locations, most of which were damaged by Hurricane Katrina. However, only four libraries remained closed in 2007. The main library includes a Louisiana Division housing city archives and special collections.
Other research archives are located at
the Historic New Orleans CollectionThe Historic New Orleans Collection is a museum, research center, and publisher dedicated to the study and preservation of the history and culture of New Orleans and the Gulf South region of the United States. It is located in New Orleans' French Quarter. The institution was established in 1966...
and the
Old U.S. MintThe New Orleans Mint operated in New Orleans, Louisiana, as a branch mint of the United States Mint from 1838 to 1861 and from 1879 to 1909. During its years of operation, it produced over 427 million gold and silver coins of nearly every American denomination, with a total face value of over...
.
An independently operated lending library called
Iron Rail Book CollectiveIron Rail Book Collective is an volunteer-run radical library and bookstore in New Orleans, Louisiana.The Iron Rail's main focus is as a lending library featuring a wide selection of books ranging from Anarchism and Socialism to Fiction to Gardening to Philosophy to name a few. The Iron Rail also...
specializes in radical and hard-to-find books. The library contains over 8,000 titles and is open to the public. It was the first library in the city to re-open after Hurricane Katrina.
Streetcars
New Orleans has three active
streetcar linesA tram, tramcar, trolley, trolleycar, or streetcar is a railborne vehicle, of lighter weight and construction than a conventional train, designed for the transport of passengers within, close to, or between villages, towns and/or cities, on tracks running primarily on streets...
. The
St. Charles lineStreetcars in New Orleans have been an integral part of the city's public transportation network since the first half of the 19th century. The longest of New Orleans' streetcar lines, the St. Charles Avenue Streetcar, is the oldest continuously operating street railway system in the world,...
is the oldest continuously operating streetcar line in America and each car is a historic landmark. The Riverfront line runs parallel to the river from Esplanade Street through the French Quarter to Canal Street to the Convention Center above Julia Street in the Arts District. The Canal Street line uses the Riverfront line tracks from the intersection of Canal Street and Poydras Street, down Canal Street, then branches off and ends at the cemeteries at City Park Avenue, with a spur running from the intersection of Canal and Carrollton Avenue to the entrance of City Park at Esplanade, near the entrance to the New Orleans Museum of Art.
The city's streetcars were also featured in the
Tennessee WilliamsTennessee Williams , né Thomas Lanier Williams, was an American playwright who received many of the top theatrical awards for his works of drama...
play,
A Streetcar Named Desire. The streetcar line to Desire Street became a bus line in 1948. There are proposals to revive a Desire streetcar line, running along the neutral grounds of North Rampart and St. Claude, as far downriver as Poland Avenue, near the Industrial Canal.
Hurricane Katrina destroyed the power lines supplying the St. Charles Avenue line. The associated levee failures flooded the Mid-City facility storing the red streetcars which normally run on the Riverfront and Canal Street lines. Restoration of service has been gradual, with vintage St. Charles line cars running on the Riverfront and Canal lines until the more modern red cars are back in service; they are being individually restored at the RTA's facility in the Carrollton neighborhood. On December 23, 2007, streetcars were restored to running on the St. Charles line up to Carrolton Avenue. The much-anticipated re-opening of the second portion of the historic route, which continues until the intersection of Carrolton Avenue and Claiborne Avenue, was commemorated on June 28, 2008.
Buses
Public transportPublic transport comprises passenger transportation services which are available for use by the general public, as opposed to modes for private use such as automobiles or vehicles for hire.Public transport services are usually funded by fares charged to each passenger, with varying levels of subsidy...
ation in the city is operated by the
New Orleans Regional Transit AuthorityThe New Orleans Regional Transit Authority is a body established by the Louisiana State Legislature in 1979; since 1983 it has controlled bus and streetcar service in the City of New Orleans....
("RTA"). There are many
busA bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. A bus seats a maximum of 8 to 300 passengers...
routes connecting the city and suburban areas. The RTA lost 200+ buses due to
Hurricane KatrinaHurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the costliest hurricane, as well as one of the five deadliest, in the history of the United States...
, this would mean that there would be a 30-60 minute waiting period for the next bus to come to the bus stop, and the
streetcarA tram, tramcar, trolley, trolleycar, or streetcar is a railborne vehicle, of lighter weight and construction than a conventional train, designed for the transport of passengers within, close to, or between villages, towns and/or cities, on tracks running primarily on streets...
s took until 2008 to return, so the RTA placed an order for 38 Orion VII Next Generation clean diesel buses, which arrived in July 2008. The RTA has these new buses running on
biodieselBiodiesel refers to a vegetable oil- or animal fat-based diesel fuel consisting of long-chain alkyl esters. Biodiesel is typically made by chemically reacting lipids with an alcohol....
. The
Jefferson ParishJefferson Parish is a parish in Louisiana, United States that includes most of the suburbs of New Orleans. The seat of parish government is Gretna....
Department of Transit Administration operates Jefferson Transit, which provides service between the city and its suburbs.
Roads
New Orleans proper is served by
Interstate 10Interstate 10 is the southernmost east-west, coast-to-coast Interstate Highway in the United States. It stretches from the Pacific Ocean at State Route 1 in Santa Monica, California to Interstate 95 in Jacksonville, Florida...
,
Interstate 610Interstate 610 is an auxiliary route of Interstate 10 that lies entirely within the boundaries of New Orleans, Louisiana....
and
Interstate 510Interstate 510 is a short spur route of Interstate 10 within in eastern New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. It runs south from Interstate 10, intersects with U.S. Highway 90, and ends at the Almonaster Boulevard interchange, near the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility...
. I-10 travels east-west through the city as the
Pontchartrain ExpresswayThe Pontchartrain Expressway is a parallel 6-lane section of Interstate 10 and U.S. Route 90 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The designation begins on I-10 near the Orleans Parish/Jefferson Parish line at the I-610 Split. The expressway follows I-10 into the Central Business District of New Orleans ...
. In the far eastern part of the city,
New Orleans EastEastern New Orleans is a large section of the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. Developed extensively from the 1960s onwards, it was originally marketed as "suburban-style living within the city limits", and has much in common with the Algiers neighborhood of New Orleans...
, it is known as the Eastern Expressway. I-610 provides a direct shortcut for traffic passing through New Orleans via I-10, allowing that traffic to bypass I-10's southward curve. In the future, New Orleans will have another interstate highway,
Interstate 49Interstate 49 is an intrastate Interstate Highway located entirely within the state of Louisiana in the southern United States. Its southern terminus is in Lafayette, Louisiana, at Interstate 10 while its northern terminus is in Shreveport, Louisiana, at Interstate 20.-Route description:I-49...
, which will be extended from its current terminus in
LafayetteLafayette is a city in and the parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the Vermilion River. The population was 110,257 at the 2000 census; a 2007 census estimate put the metropolitan area's population at 256,494. It is the fourth largest city in the state...
to the city.
In addition to the interstate highways,
U.S. 90U.S. Route 90 is an east-west United States highway. Despite the "0" in its route number, US 90 never was a full coast-to-coast route; it has always ended at Van Horn, Texas...
travels through the city, while
U.S. 61U.S. Route 61, is the official designation for a United States highway that runs from New Orleans, Louisiana, to the city of Wyoming, Minnesota, generally following the course of the Mississippi River. As of 2004, the highway's northern terminus in Wyoming, Minnesota, is at an intersection with...
terminates in the city's downtown center. In addition,
U.S. 11U.S. Route 11 is a north-south United States highway extending 1,645 miles across the eastern United States. The southern terminus of the route is at U.S. Route 90 in the Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge in eastern New Orleans, Louisiana...
terminates in the eastern portion of the city.
New Orleans is home to many bridges, the tolled
Crescent City ConnectionThe Crescent City Connection, abbreviated as CCC, refers to twin cantilever bridges that carry U.S. Route 90 Business over the Mississippi River in New Orleans, Louisiana. They are tied as the fifth-longest cantilever bridges in the world...
is perhaps the most notable. It serves as New Orleans' major bridge across the Mississippi River, providing a connection between the city's downtown on the eastbank and its westbank suburbs. Other bridges that cross the Mississippi River in the New Orleans area are the
Huey P. Long BridgeThe Huey P. Long Bridge in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, is a cantilevered steel through truss bridge that carries a two-track railroad line over the Mississippi River at mile 106.1 with two lanes of US 90 on each side of the central tracks....
, over which U.S. 90 travels, and the
Hale Boggs Memorial BridgeThe Luling Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge over the Mississippi River in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana. It is named for the late United States Congressman Hale Boggs. The bridge was dedicated by Governor David C...
, which carries
Interstate 310Interstate 310 is a short spur route of Interstate 10 near New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. It runs south from Interstate 10 near the New Orleans International Airport, intersects with U.S. Highway 61 and ends at the junction with U.S...
.
The
Twin Span BridgeThe I-10 Twin Span Bridge, known locally as the Twin Spans, consists of two parallel trestle bridges. These parallel bridges cross the eastern end of Lake Pontchartrain in southern Louisiana from New Orleans, Louisiana to Slidell, Louisiana...
, a five-mile (8 km)
causewayIn modern usage, a causeway is a road or railway elevated on a sandbank, usually across a broad body of water or wetland.- Etymology :...
in eastern New Orleans, carries I-10 across
Lake PontchartrainLake Pontchartrain is a brackish estuary located in southeastern Louisiana. It is the second-largest saltwater lake in the United States, after the Great Salt Lake in Utah, and the largest lake in Louisiana....
. Also in eastern New Orleans,
Interstate 510Interstate 510 is a short spur route of Interstate 10 within in eastern New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. It runs south from Interstate 10, intersects with U.S. Highway 90, and ends at the Almonaster Boulevard interchange, near the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility...
/
LA 47Louisiana Highway 47 is a state highway in Louisiana that serves Orleans and St. Bernard Parishes. It spans 16.19 in a southeast to northwest direction, although it is designated as a south/north route. It is known locally as Paris Road and Hayne Boulevard.-Route description:From the south, LA 47...
travels across the
Intracoastal WaterwayThe Intracoastal Waterway is a 4,800-km waterway along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States. Some lengths consist of natural inlets, salt-water rivers, bays, and sounds; others are man-made canals...
/
Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet CanalThe Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet Canal is a channel that provided a shorter route between the Gulf of Mexico and New Orleans's inner harbor...
via the
Paris Road BridgeThe Green Bridge is the unofficial local name of the Paris Road Bridge carrying Louisiana Highway 47 across the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet between St. Bernard Parish and New Orleans, Louisiana. It is sometimes also called Paris Road Bridge. The name "the Green Bridge" came from it originally...
, connecting
New Orleans EastEastern New Orleans is a large section of the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. Developed extensively from the 1960s onwards, it was originally marketed as "suburban-style living within the city limits", and has much in common with the Algiers neighborhood of New Orleans...
and suburban
ChalmetteChalmette is a census-designated place in and the parish seat of St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 32,069 at the 2000 census. It is part of the New Orleans–Metairie–Kenner Metropolitan Statistical Area....
.
The tolled
Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, consisting of two parallel bridges are, at long, the longest bridges in the world. Built in the 1950s (southbound span) and 1960s (northbound span), the bridges connect New Orleans with its suburbs on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain via
MetairieMetairie is a census-designated place in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 146,136 at the 2000 census, making it the largest census-designated place that is not a consolidated city-county government. Adjacent to New Orleans, Metairie is the largest community in...
.
Airports
The metropolitan area is served by the
Louis Armstrong New Orleans International AirportLouis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport is a public use airport in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is owned by the City of New Orleans and is located 10 nautical miles west of its central business district. The airport's address is 900 Airline Drive in Kenner, Louisiana....
, located in the suburb of
KennerKenner is a city in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States, and a suburb of New Orleans. The population was 70,517 at the 2000 census.- History :...
. New Orleans also has several regional airports located throughout the metropolitan area. These include the
Lakefront AirportLakefront Airport is a public use airport located four nautical miles northeast of the central business district of New Orleans, in Orleans Parish, Louisiana, United States...
,
Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New OrleansNaval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans is a base of the United State military located in Belle Chasse, Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, United States. NAS JRB New Orleans is home to the 159th Fighter Wing as well as other naval activities...
(locally known as Callendar Field) in the suburb of Belle Chasse and "Southern Seaplane", also located in Belle Chasse. Southern Seaplane has a runway for wheeled planes and a water runway for seaplanes. New Orleans International suffered some damage as a result of Hurricane Katrina, but as of April 2007, it contained the most traffic and is the busiest airport in the state of Louisiana and the sixth busiest in the Southeast.
Rail
The city is served by rail via
AmtrakThe National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971 to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a blend of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union Station...
. The
New Orleans Union Passenger TerminalNew Orleans Union Passenger Terminal is the main train station in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is served by Amtrak passenger trains, and played a role in the recovery efforts from Hurricane Katrina in 2005.- History :...
is the central rail depot, and is served by three trains: the
CrescentThe Crescent is a passenger train operated by Amtrak in the eastern part of the United States. It runs daily from Pennsylvania Station in New York City to New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal in New Orleans, Louisiana as train 19 and returns on the same route as train 20. Most of the route of the...
, operating between New Orleans and New York City; the
City of New OrleansThe City of New Orleans is a nightly passenger train operated by Amtrak which travels between Chicago, Illinois and New Orleans, Louisiana. Before Amtrak's formation in 1971, the train was operated by the Illinois Central Railroad along the same route . The train currently operates on a 19½ hour...
, operating between New Orleans and Chicago; and the
Sunset LimitedThe Sunset Limited is a passenger train that for most of its history has run between New Orleans and Los Angeles, California, and that from early 1993 through late August 2005 also ran east of New Orleans to Florida, making it during that time the only true transcontinental passenger train in...
, operating through New Orleans between Orlando, Florida, and Los Angeles, California. From late August 2005 to the present, the Sunset Limited has remained officially a Florida-to-Los Angeles train, being considered temporarily truncated due to the lingering effects of Hurricane Katrina. At first (until late October 2005) it was truncated to a San Antonio-to-Los Angeles service; since then (from late October 2005 on) it has been truncated to a New Orleans-to-Los Angeles service. As time has passed, particularly since the January 2006 completion of the rebuilding of damaged tracks east of New Orleans by their owner, CSX Transportation, the obstacles to restoration of the Sunset Limited's full route have been more managerial and political than physical.
With the strategic benefits of both a major international port and one of the few double-track Mississippi River crossings, the city is served by six of the seven
Class I railroadA Class I railroad in the United States and Mexico, or a Class I rail carrier in Canada, is a large freight railroad company, as classified based on operating revenue.Smaller railroads are classified as Class II and Class III...
s in North America:
Union Pacific RailroadThe Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest and oldest operating railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....
,
BNSF RailwayThe BNSF Railway , formerly known as the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway, is an American freight railroad company headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas; it is one of four remaining transcontinental railroads, and one of the largest freight railroad networks, in North America. Only the Union...
,
Norfolk Southern RailwayThe Norfolk Southern Railway is a major Class I railroad in the United States, owned by the Norfolk Southern Corporation. With headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, the company operates 21,500 route miles in 22 eastern states, the District of Columbia and the province of Ontario, Canada...
,
Kansas City Southern RailwayThe Kansas City Southern Railway , owned by Kansas City Southern Industries, is the smallest and second-oldest Class I railroad company still in operation. KCS was founded in 1887 and is currently operating in a region consisting of ten central U.S. states...
,
CSX TransportationCSX Transportation is a Class I railroad in the United States, owned by the CSX Corporation and headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. It is one of the three Class I railroads serving most of the East Coast, the other two being the Norfolk Southern Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway...
and
Canadian National RailwayThe Canadian National Railway is a Canadian Class I railway operated by the Canadian National Railway Company headquartered in Montreal, Quebec....
. The
New Orleans Public Belt RailroadThe New Orleans Public Belt Railroad is a non-profit terminal switching railroad, owned by the City of New Orleans. It connects with six Class I railroads serving the city, and provides switching and haulage service....
provides interchange services between the railroads.
Recently, many have proposed extending New Orleans' public transit system by adding
light railLight rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...
routes from downtown, along Airline Highway through the airport to
Baton RougeBaton Rouge is the capital city and the second largest city of Louisiana It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish which contains 428,000 residents. The Greater Baton Rouge population is approximately 774,327...
and from downtown to
SlidellSlidell is a city situated on the northeast shore of Lake Pontchartrain in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 25,695 at the 2000 census. The Greater Slidell Community has a population of about 90,000...
and the
Mississippi Gulf CoastThe Mississippi Gulf Coast refers to the three Mississippi counties which lie on the Gulf of Mexico: Hancock, Harrison and Jackson counties.The region was severely damaged by Hurricane Camille in 1969 and again by Hurricane Katrina in 2005....
. Proponents of this idea claim that these new routes would boost the region's economy, which has been badly damaged by
Hurricane KatrinaHurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the costliest hurricane, as well as one of the five deadliest, in the history of the United States...
, and serve as an evacuation option for hospital patients out of the city.
Algiers Ferry
The
Canal Street FerryThe Canal Street Ferry, also known as the Algiers Ferry, is a ferry across the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana, connecting the foot of Canal Street in the Central Business District of New Orleans with Algiers on the Westbank....
connects the heart of New Orleans with the neighborhood of Algiers Point on the other side of the Mississippi River. This service has been in continuous operation since 1827. Pedestrians ride for free, while automobiles are charged a fee. Service is from 6 am until midnight.
Sister cities
New Orleans has eleven sister cities:
CaracasCaracas is the capital and largest city of Venezuela. It is located in the north of the country, following the contours of the narrow Caracas Valley on the Venezuelan coastal mountain range . The valley's temperatures are springlike. Terrain suitable for building lies between 760 and 910 m above...
,
VenezuelaVenezuela , officially titled Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It is a continental mainland with numerous islands located off its coastline in the Caribbean Sea...
DurbanDurban is the third most populous city in South Africa, forming part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. It is the largest city in KwaZulu-Natal and is famous as the busiest port in Africa. It is also a major centre of tourism due to the city's warm subtropical climate and...
,
South AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa, with a coastline on the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. To the north lie Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland, while Lesotho is an independent country surrounded by South Africa.Modern...
Holdfast BayThe City of Holdfast Bay is a Local Government Area in the south western suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia.The council was formed in the mid 1990s, when the former local government councils of Glenelg and Brighton amalgamated due to their comparatively small size...
,
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
InnsbruckInnsbruck is the capital city of the federal state of Tyrol in western Austria. It is located in the Inn Valley at the junction with the Wipptal , which provides access to the Brenner Pass, some south of Innsbruck...
,
AustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.3 million people in Central Europe. It borders both Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west...
Juan-les-PinsJuan-les-Pins is a town in the commune of Antibes, in the Alpes-Maritimes, in southeastern France, on the Côte d'Azur. It is situated between Nice and Cannes, at 13 km of the Nice Côte d'Azur Airport....
,
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
MaracaiboMaracaibo is the second-largest city in Venezuela after the national capital Caracas and is the capital of Zulia state. Based on the 2001 census information, the estimated population of Maracaibo in 2007 is 3,200,000 inhabitants....
,
VenezuelaVenezuela , officially titled Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It is a continental mainland with numerous islands located off its coastline in the Caribbean Sea...
Matsue, Shimaneis the capital city of Shimane Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan.As of 2005, the city has an estimated population of 196,093 and the density of 369.84 persons per km². The total area is 530.21 km²....
,
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
Mérida, YucatánMérida is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Yucatán and the Yucatán Peninsula. It is located in the northwest part of the state, about 35 km from the Gulf of Mexico coast, at...
,
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
Pointe-NoirePointe-Noire is the second largest city in the Republic of the Congo, and an autonomous Department since 2004. Before this date it was the capital of the Kouilou region . It is the main commercial centre of the country and has a population of 663,400...
,
Republic of the CongoThe Republic of the Congo , also known as Congo-Brazzaville or the Congo, is a country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Gabon, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Angolan exclave province of Cabinda, and the Gulf of Guinea.The region was dominated...
San Miguel de TucumanSan Miguel de Tucumán is the largest city in northern Argentina, with a population of 527,607 per the . The metropolitan area totals 830,000, making it the fifth-largest in the country. It is the capital of the province of Tucumán...
,
ArgentinaArgentina, officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires. It is the eighth largest country in the world by land area and the largest among Spanish-speaking nations, though Mexico,...
TegucigalpaTegucigalpa is the capital city of Honduras and is also the country's largest city. Tegucigalpa is also the capital of Honduras's Francisco Morazán department.-Etymology of the name:...
,
HondurasHonduras is a republic in Central America. It was formerly known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras...
Nicknames
The city's several nicknames are illustrative:
- Crescent City alludes to the course of the Lower Mississippi River
The Lower Mississippi River is the portion of the Mississippi River downstream of Cairo, Illinois. From the confluence of the Ohio River and Upper Mississippi River at Cairo, the Lower flows just under 1600 kilometers to the Gulf of Mexico...
around and through the city.
- The Big Easy was possibly a reference by musicians in the early 20th century to the relative ease of finding work there. It also may have originated in the Prohibition era, when the city was considered one big speak-easy due to the inability of the federal government to control alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is any organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom of an alkyl or substituted alkyl group. An important group of acohols is formed by the simple acyclic alcohols, the general formula for which is C
nH
2n+1OH...
sales in open violation of the 18th AmendmentAmendment XVIII of the United States Constitution, along with the Volstead Act , established Prohibition in the United States. Its ratification was certified on January 16, 1919...
. The term was used by local columnist Betty Gillaud in the 1970s to contrast life in the city to that of New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
. The name also refers to New Orleans' status as a major city, at one time "one of the cheapest places in America to live" and came into popular usage throughout the United States in the wake of the 1987 film, The Big Easy, which was set in New Orleans.
- The City that Care Forgot has been used since at least 1938, and refers to the outwardly easy-going, carefree nature of many of the residents.
- America's Most Interesting City appears on welcome signs at the city limits.
- Hollywood South is a reference to the large number of films, big and small, shot in the city since 2002.
- The Northernmost Caribbean City is a reference from The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993. Its chief print rival is the Boston Herald....
, as well as other travel guides due in part to the similarities of culture with the Caribbean islands.
- Paris of the South
See also
- Hurricane on the Bayou
The film Hurricane on the Bayou is about the wetlands of Louisiana before and after Hurricane Katrina.Hurricane on the Bayou is both a documentary of Hurricane Katrina's effects and a call to restore Louisiana's wetlands, rebuild New Orleans, and honor the culture of the city...
(film)
- List of National Historic Landmarks in Louisiana
- List of people from New Orleans, Louisiana
- New Orleans in fiction
The city of New Orleans, Louisiana is featured in a number of works of fiction. This article in an ongoing effort to list the many books, movies, television shows, and comics that are set in or filmed in - whole or partly - New Orleans.-Books and plays:...
- Orléans
Orléans is a commune in north-central France, about southwest of Paris. It is the capital of the Loiret department and of the Centre region.The commune is located on the Loire River where the river curves south towards the Massif Central....
, FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
- USS Orleans Parish (LST-1069)
USS Orleans Parish was an in the United States Navy during World War II. Unlike many of her class, which received only numbers and were disposed of after World War II, she survived long enough to be named...
External links
- Official Website of the City of New Orleans
- Official Tourism Website of the City of New Orleans
- New Orleans travel guide by Wikitravel
Wikitravel is a Web-based project "to create a free, complete, up-to-date, and reliable worldwide travel guide." Launched in July 2003 by Evan Prodromou and Michele Ann Jenkins, the Web site is based upon the wiki model, using the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike license. In 2006, Internet...
- History of New Orleans
- New Orleans Collection, 1770–1904 from the New-York Historical Society
The New-York Historical Society is an American organization located in New York City and dedicated to the preservation of the city's history. The society operates a museum and library at its current headquarters in Manhattan at the corner of 77th Street and Central Park West. The Society building...
- New Orleans PodCasting – Listen to the voices that are rebuilding New Orleans
- A sampling of New Orleans music including jazz, R&B, rock and roll, funk, and brass band
- New Orleans Cemeteries aka "The Cities of the Dead"
- Army Corps of Engineers' New Orleans Risk and Reliability Report – Interactive map showing flood risk
- Geology and Hurricane-Protection Strategies in the Greater New Orleans Area Louisiana Geological Survey publication on geology of New Orleans
- Live Emergency Scanner Feeds Online
- Who's Killing New Orleans? - City Journal
- New Orleans Jazz And Heritage Festival