New Orleans, Louisiana
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Template:Otherusesof Template:Infobox City New Orleans (local pronunciations: Template:IPA, Template:IPA, or Template:IPA) (French: La Nouvelle-Orléans, pronounced Image:Ltspkr.png [[Media:La Nouvelle-Orleans.ogg|Template:IPA]] in standard French accent) is a major United States port city and historically the largest city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is in southeastern Louisiana along the Mississippi River, just south of Lake Pontchartrain, and is coextensive with Orleans Parish. New Orleans is named after the historical Duke of Orléans, Regent of France and is one of the oldest and most historic cities in the United States.
New Orleans is a Southern city known for its multicultural heritage (especially French, Spanish and African American influences) as well as its music and cuisine. It is a world-famous tourist destination thanks to its many festivals and celebrations; the most noteworthy annual events are Mardi Gras ("Fat Tuesday"), Jazz Fest, Essence Festival (moved to Houston, TX for 2006), Voodoo Fest, Southern Decadence, and college football's Sugar Bowl (although the bowl game has been moved to Atlanta for the 2006 game).
The most recent U.S. census put New Orleans' population at 484,674 and the population of Greater New Orleans at 1,337,726. Since the devastation of the city in conjunction with Hurricane Katrina, the population has been significantly less, due to the majority of surviving residents either taking temporary shelter elsewhere or relocating indefinitely. A survey conducted by the city's Emergency Operations Center in January 2006, estimated the population at between 160,000 and 202,000 residents in the city.<ref>{{cite web
| author=Emergency Operations Center, City of New Orleans | year=2006 | title=Rapid Population Estimate Project, January 28-29 2006 Survey Report | format=PDF | url=http://www.cityofno.com/Resources/RPEP_Draft%20Report_Jan2.pdf | accessdate=2006-03-12}}</ref> Projections of the city's eventual population following reconstruction are highly speculative.
As of mid-March 2006, efforts continue to aid survivors, clean up debris, and restore infrastructure. While most of the city has reopened to residents, and areas which suffered moderate damage have substantially resumed functioning, the parts of town most severely damaged - such as some neighborhoods of the lower 9th Ward - are open only during daylight hours for residents to salvage items from their formerly flooded homes.
New Orleans remains a major port city due to its location near the Gulf of Mexico and along the Mississippi River, making it a hub for goods which travel to and from Latin America. The petroleum industry is also of great importance to the New Orleans economy; many oil rigs are located in the Gulf. The Port of New Orleans is the largest U.S. port for several major commodities including rubber, cement and coffee. The Port of South Louisiana is based in the New Orleans metropolitan area and has been ranked the fifth largest port in the world in terms of raw tonnage, and among the largest U.S. ports for exporting grain. The two ports together would be the fourth largest port in the world.
New Orleans was founded by the French in 1718 and has played an important role in the history of the United States. The city was named in honor of Philip II, Duke of Orléans, who was regent and ruler of France when the city was founded (much as New York was named in honor of James, Duke of York, heir to the throne of England).
The city's several nicknames describe various characteristics of the city, including the "Crescent City" (describing its shape around the Mississippi River), "The Big Easy" (a reference by musicians to the relative ease of finding work in the city) and "The City that Care Forgot" (associated with the easy going, carefree nature of many of the local residents). The city's unofficial motto, "Laissez les bons temps rouler" ("Let the good times roll") describes the party-like attitude of many residents.
The city's name is often abbreviated NOLA. Residents of the city are referred to as New Orleanians.
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History
Colonial era
New Orleans was founded in 1718 by the French as La Nouvelle-Orléans, under the direction of Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville. The site was selected because it was a rare bit of natural high ground along the flood-prone banks of the lower Mississippi, and was adjacent to a Native American trading route and portage between the Mississippi and Lake Pontchartrain via Bayou St. John (known to natives as Bayou Choupique). A community of French fur trappers and traders had existed along the bayou (in what is now the middle of New Orleans) for more than a decade before the official founding of the city. Nouvelle-Orléans became the capital of French Louisiana in 1722, replacing Biloxi.
In 1763, the colony was ceded to the Spanish Empire and remained under Spanish control for 40 years.
The Great Fire of 1788 destroyed many of the existing structures in the city (800 houses were destroyed), which were made of wood. As a result of this, and a subsequent fire in 1795 (another 200 houses destroyed), much of 18th century architecture still present in the French Quarter was built under Spanish rule and demonstrates Spanish colonial characteristics, wood being replaced with bricks.
The three most impressive buildings of New Orleans come from the Spanish times: St. Louis Cathedral, the Cabildo and the Presbytere.
In 1795, Spain granted the United States "Right of Deposit" in New Orleans, allowing Americans to use the city's port facilities. Louisiana reverted to French control in 1801 after Napoleon re-acquired the territory from Spain by treaty. But in 1803, Napoleon sold Louisiana (which then included portions of more than a dozen present-day states) to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase. At this time the city of New Orleans had a population of about 10,000.
19th century
In its early days it was noted for its cosmopolitan polyglot population and mixture of cultures. The city grew rapidly, with influxes of Americans, French and Creole French, many of the latter fleeing from the revolution in Haiti. During the War of 1812 the British sent a force to try to conquer the city, but they were defeated by forces led by Andrew Jackson some miles down river from the city at Chalmette, Louisiana on January 8, 1815 (commonly known as the Battle of New Orleans).
Image:Karte New Orleans MKL1888.png The population of the city doubled in the 1830s, and by 1840 the city's population was around 102,000, fourth-largest in the U.S, the largest city away from the Atlantic seaboard, as well as the largest in the South after Baltimore. However, population growth was at times plagued by yellow fever epidemics, such as the great scourge of 1853 that killed nearly 10,000 people in New Orleans.
New Orleans was the capital of the state of Louisiana until 1849, then again from 1865 to 1880. As a principal port it had a leading role in the slave trade, while at the same time having North America's largest community of free persons of color. Early in the American Civil War it was captured by the Union (by David Farragut, son of Spanish emigrants, later named the first US Navy Vice-Admiral) without a battle, and hence was spared the destruction suffered by many other cities of the American South. It was the first captured city in the American South. It retains a historical flavor with a wealth of 19th century structures far beyond the early colonial city boundaries of the French Quarter. The city hosted the 1884 World's Fair, called the World Cotton Centennial. An important attraction in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was the famous red light district called Storyville.
20th century
Image:6a05628r.jpg Image:CanalStreetNOLA1920s.jpg Image:NewOrleansCBDfromUptown.jpg Image:Skylineriver.jpgMuch of the city is located below sea level between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain, so the city is surrounded by levees. Until the early 20th century, construction was largely limited to the slightly higher ground along old natural river levees and bayous, since much of the rest of the land was swampy and subject to frequent flooding. This gave the 19th century city the shape of a crescent along a bend of the Mississippi, the origin of the nickname The Crescent City. In the 1910s engineer and inventor A. Baldwin Wood enacted his ambitious plan to drain the city, including large pumps of his own design which are still used. All rain water must be pumped up to the canals which drain into Lake Pontchartrain. Wood's pumps and drainage allowed the city to expand greatly in area. However, pumping of groundwater from underneath the city has resulted in subsidence. The subsidence greatly increased the flood risk, should the levees be breached or precipitation be in excess of pumping capacity (as was the case in 2005 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina). There were many warnings in the late 20th century that a major hurricane or a Mississippi flood could create a lake in the central city as much as 9 m (30 ft) deep, which could take months to pump dry.
In 1905 Yellow Fever was reported in the city, which had suffered under repeated epidemics of the disease in the previous century. As the role of mosquitos in spreading the disease was newly understood, the city embarked on a massive campaign to drain, screen, or oil all cisterns and standing water (breeding ground for mosquitos) in the city and educate the public on their vital role in preventing mosquitos. The effort was a success and the disease was stopped before reaching epidemic proportions. President Theodore Roosevelt visited the city to demonstrate the safety of New Orleans. The city has had no cases of Yellow Fever since.
New Orleans was hit by major storms in the 1909 Atlantic hurricane season and the 1915 Atlantic hurricane season.
In the 1920s an effort to "modernize" the look of the city removed the old cast-iron balconies from Canal Street, the city's commercial hub. In the 1960s another "modernization" effort replaced the Canal Streetcar Line with buses. Both of these moves came to be regarded as mistakes long after the fact, and the streetcars returned to a portion of Canal Street at the end of the 1990s, and construction to restore the entire line was completed in April 2004.
The suburbs saw great growth in the second half of the 20th century; the largest suburb today is Metairie, which borders New Orleans to the west. Metairie is not incorporated and is a part of Jefferson Parish.
Much of the city flooded in September of 1947 due to the 1947 Fort Lauderdale Hurricane.
In 1965 the city was damaged by Hurricane Betsy, with catastrophic flooding of the city's Lower 9th Ward.
In 1969 the city was brushed by Hurricane Camille but was spared from the catastrophic flooding it had seen in Hurricane Betsy and later in Hurricane Katrina. Because of Camille's tightly wound rings, the storm actually pulled water from the then impending fate they believed was imminent from Lake Ponchartrain and Lake Borgne, and veered toward her landfall point, approximately 50 miles away at Pass Christian, Mississippi, which is believed to have received a 28 foot storm surge.
While long one of the USA's most-visited cities, tourism boomed in the last quarter of the 20th century, becoming a major force in the local economy. Areas of the French Quarter and Central Business District which were long oriented towards local residential and business uses switched to largely catering to the domestic and international tourist industry.
A century after the Cotton Centennial Exhibition, New Orleans hosted another World's Fair, the 1984 Louisiana World Exposition.
The city experienced severe flooding in the May 8th 1995 Louisiana Flood when heavy rains suddenly dumped as must as two feet of water on parts of town faster than the pumps could remove the water.
21st century (Hurricane Katrina)
Image:Navy-FloodedNewOrleans.jpg Template:Main The city suffered from the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina, which made landfall on August 29, 2005 on the Louisiana/Mississippi state line near the city. New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin issued a mandatory evacuation of the entire city, the first such order ever issued in New Orleans. Many residents chose to stay or were stranded in the city by a lack of available transportation. The eye of the storm passed within 10 to 15 miles of New Orleans, bringing strong winds that downed trees, shattered windows, and hurled debris around the area. Heavy rains and flooding immediately affected the eastern areas of the city.
The situation worsened when levees along three canals were breached. These canals were the 17th Street Canal, the Industrial Canal, and the London Avenue Canal. As much as 80% of the city, much of which is below sea level, flooded, with water reaching a depth of 25 feet (7.6 meters) in some areas. As of November 2005, the Times Picayune article states that, in addition to 1,050 confirmed deaths, there are 5,000 missing residents of the city. Early estimates of the cost of physical damage from the storm have exceeded 100 billion USD. Subsequent investigations showed that the levee failures which flooded the majority of the city were the result of what has been called "the largest civil engineering disaster in the history of the United States."<ref>{{cite news
| first=Bob | last=Marshall | url=http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-4/1133336859287360.xml | title=17th Street Canal levee was doomed | work=Times-Picayune | date=2005-11-30 | accessdate=2006-03-12 }}</ref>
The city government declared the city off-limits to residents while clean-up efforts began and warned that those remaining could be removed by force, for their health and safety. On September 15, several of the suburban towns started allowing residents to return. The mayor announced a "phased repopulation" plan to start bringing residents of the city back in the next two weeks. Concern about the fragility of the city's flood defenses and transportation caused repopulation efforts to be postponed due to Hurricane Rita. [1]. New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward was reflooded when a storm surge from Rita overcame one of the repaired levees on the Industrial Canal [2]. By October 1, parts of the city accounting for about one-third of the population of New Orleans had been reopened, including the French Quarter.[3] As of October 1, only 5% of the city remained underwater.
Geography and climate
Image:New Orleans Levee System.gif New Orleans is located at Template:Coor dms (29.964722, -90.070556)Template:GR on the banks of the Mississippi River, approximately 100 miles upriver from the Gulf of Mexico at 30.07°N, 89.93°W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 907.0 km² (350.2 mi²). 467.6 km² (180.6 mi²) of it is land and 439.4 km² (169.7 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 48.45% water. Image:Mississipi River - New Orleans.JPG
The city is located in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain, between the Mississippi River in the south and Lake Pontchartrain in the north. The area along the river is characterized by ridges and hollows. Fields atop the ridges along the river are referred to as the "frontlands." The land contour slopes away from the frontlands to the "backlands", comprised of clay and silt. The Mississippi River Delta, at the mouth of the Mississippi River, covers about 13,000 square miles (about 1/4 of Louisiana) and consists of silt deposited by the river, and is the most fertile area of Louisiana.
The city of New Orleans actually contains the lowest point in the state of Louisiana, and one of the lowest points in the United States, after Death Valley and the Salton Sea. Much of the city is actually located between 1 and 10 feet (0.3 to 3 m) below sea level, and as such, is very prone to flooding. Some 45% of the city is above sea level; these higher areas were developed before 1900; the lowest areas only being developed more recently. Rainwater is continually pumped out of the city and into Lake Pontchartrain across a series of canals lined by levees and dikes. Before the 20th century pumping system, if it rains more than 1 inch, or more recently if there is a major storm surge, such as that caused by a hurricane, greater flooding can occur. Because of the city's high water table the practice of burying the dead in above-ground crypts as opposed to underground burial is very common. Also, many houses do not have basements.
The New Orleans Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), the 37th largest in the United States, includes the Louisiana parishes of Orleans (contiguous with the city of New Orleans), Jefferson, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, and St. Tammany.
Cityscape
Image:New Orleans - French Quarter - balcon.JPG
Image:Colorful houses in New Orleans.jpg The Central Business District of New Orleans is located immediately north and west of the Mississippi River, and is historically called the "American Quarter." Most streets in this area fan out from a central point in the city. Major streets of the area include Canal Street and Poydras St. The term "downtown" refers to those parts of town that are downriver from the central business district. "Uptown" refers to those parts of town that are upriver from the central business district. Parts of the city that are located downtown include the world famous French Quarter (most noted as the central tourist district, with its array of shops, bars, and nightclubs along Bourbon Street), Storyville (now defunct), Treme, Faubourg Marigny, Bywater, the 7th Ward, and the Lower 9th Ward. Parts of the city that are located uptown include the Garden District, the Irish Channel, the University District, Carrollton, Gert Town, Fontainebleau, and Broadmoor. Its tallest building is the 50-story One Shell Square.
Other major districts within the city include Bayou St. John, Mid City, Gentilly, Lakeview, Lakefront, New Orleans East, The upper 9th Ward and Algiers.
Parishes located adjacent to the city of New Orleans include St. Tammany Parish to the northeast, St. Bernard Parish to the south, Plaquemines Parish to the southwest, and Jefferson Parish to the west.
Image:Landsat new orleans nfl.jpg
| Name | Stories | Height |
|---|---|---|
| One Shell Square | 50 | 697 ft (213 m) |
| Bank One Center | 53 | 645 ft (197 m) |
| Crescent City Residences (former Plaza Tower) | 45 | 531 ft (162 m) |
| Energy Center | 39 | 530 ft (162 m) |
| LL&E Building | 39 | 481 ft (147 m) |
| Sheraton New Orleans | 48 | 479 ft (146 m) |
| New Orleans Marriott | 42 | 449 ft (137 m) |
| Texaco Center | 32 | 442 ft (135 m) |
| One Canal Place | 32 | 440 ft (134 m) |
| 1010 Common | 31 | 438 ft (134 m) |
- The proposed Trump International Hotel & Tower if built would become the tallest building in the city at 700 ft (213 m) and 60 stories.
Climate
The climate of New Orleans is subtropical, with mild winters and hot, humid summers. In January, morning lows average around 43°F (6°C), and daily highs around 62°F (17°C). In July, lows average 74°F (23°C), and highs average 91°F (33°C). The lowest recorded temperature was 11.0°F (-11.6°C) on December 23 1989. The highest recorded temperature was 102.0°F (38.9°C) on August 22 1980. The average precipitation is 59.74 inches (1520 mm) annually.
On rare occasions, snow will fall. Most recently, a trace of snow fell on Christmas in 2004, during the 2004 Christmas Eve Snowstorm. On December 25, a combination of rain, sleet, and snow fell on the city, leaving some bridges icy. Before that, the last white Christmas was in 1954, and brought 4.5 inches (110 mm). The last significant snowfall in New Orleans fell on December 22 1989, when most of the city received 1 or 2 inches of snow.
People and culture
Demographics
| 1810 | 17,242 [5] |
|---|---|
| 1820 | 27,176 [6] |
| 1830 | 46,082 [7] |
| 1840 | 102,193 [8] |
| 1850 | 116,375 [9] |
| 1860 | 168,675 [10] |
| 1870 | 191,418 [11] |
| 1880 | 216,090 [12] |
| 1890 | 242,039 [13] |
| 1900 | 287,104 [14] |
| 1910 | 339,075 [15] |
| 1920 | 387,219 [16] |
| 1930 | 458,762 [17] |
| 1940 | 494,537 [18] |
| 1950 | 570,445 [19] |
| 1960 | 627,525 [20] |
| 1970 | 593,471 [21] |
| 1980 | 557,515 [22] |
| 1990 | 496,938 [23] |
| 2000 | 484,674 [24] |
- Note: Though many of those evacuated from New Orleans from circumstances relating to Hurricane Katrina have yet to return, the evacuees remain residents of the city. While medium-to-long term changes in population may be drastic, there is no way, short of speculation, to account for these effects. The U. S. Census figures presented here are the most recent; and verifiable. As of March 7, 2006, about 200,000 people had returned.[25]
As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 484,674 people, 188,251 households, and 112,950 families residing in the city. The most recent (2004) population estimate for the city is 462,269. The population density was 1,036.4/km² 2,684.3/mi²). There were 215,091 housing units at an average density of 459.9/km² (1,191.3/mi²). 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 population of Greater New Orleans stood at 1,337,726 in 2000, making it the 35th largest metropolitan area in the United States. These population statistics are based on legal residents of the city. But due to the enormous annual tourist flow, the number of people inside the city at a given time, such as Mardi Gras season, tends to exceed these numbers sometimes by the hundreds of thousands.
There were 188,251 households out of which 29.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 30.8% were married couples living together, 24.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 40.0% were non-families, 33.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.7% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older.
The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 3.23.
The age distribution of the city's population is 26.7% under the age of 18, 11.4% from 18 to 24, 29.3% from 25 to 44, 20.9% from 45 to 64, and 11.7% who were 65 years of age or older.
The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 88.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.3 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $27,133, and the median income for a family was $32,338. Males had a median income of $30,862 versus $23,768 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,258. 27.9% of the population and 23.7% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 40.3% of those under the age of 18 and 19.3% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.
The population of New Orleans reached its highest point in the summer of 1965, when its population reached an estimated 804,108. The population was stunted in the late sixties, a decade which saw storm surge from Hurricane Betsy flooded much of the Lower 9th Ward Since the late sixties, the population of New Orleans/Orleans Parish has experienced a steady decline while surrounding parishes such as Jefferson and St. Tammany registered strong increases in population.
An analysis by Brown University sociologist John R. Logan in January of 2006 suggests that as many as 50% of whites and 80% of blacks relocated from New Orleans due to Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath may relocate permanently.
New Orleans is well known for its Creole culture and the persistence of Voodoo practice by a few of its residents, as well as for its music, food, architecture, and spirit of celebration.
Pronunciation
New Orleans is usually pronounced by locals as "Noo Or-lins," "Noo Or-lee-uns", "Noo Or-leens", "Noo Awlee-enz," or "Noo Aw-linz." The pronunciation "N'Awlinz" is not generally used nor liked by locals but has been popularized by the tourist trade. The distinctive local accent is unlike either Cajun or the stereotypical Southern accent so often misportrayed by film and television actors. It does, like earlier Southern Englishes, feature frequent deletion of post-vocalic "r". It is similar to a New York "Brooklynese" accent to people unfamiliar with it. There are many theories to how the accent came to be, but it likely results from New Orleans' geographic isolation by water, and the fact that New Orleans was a major port of entry into the United States throughout the 19th century. Many of the immigrant groups who reside in Brooklyn also reside in New Orleans, with Irish, Italians, and Germans being among the largest groups.
The prestige associated with being from New Orleans by many residents is likely a factor in the linguistic assimilation of the ethnically divergent population. This distinctive accent is dying out generation by generation in the city (but remains very strong in the surrounding Parishes). As with many sociolinguistic artifacts, it is usually attested much more strongly by older members of the population. One subtype of the New Orleans accent is sometimes identified as Yat (from "Where y'at). This word is not used as a generalized term for the New Orleans accent, and is generally reserved for the strongest varieties. Also notable are lexical items specific to the city, such as "lagniappe" (pronounced LAN-yap) meaning "a little something extra," "makin' groceries" for grocery shopping, or "neutral ground" for a street median.
Media
The major daily newspaper is the New Orleans Times-Picayune, publishing since 1837. Other alternative weekly publications include the Louisiana Weekly and the Gambit Weekly.
Greater New Orleans is well served by television and radio. The market is the 43rd largest Designated Market Area (DMA) in the U.S., serving 672,150 homes and 0.610% of the U.S. Major television network affiliates serving the area include WWL 4 (CBS), WGNO 26 (ABC), WDSU 6 (NBC), WVUE 8 (FOX), WNOL 38 (WB), WUPL 54 (UPN), and WPXL 49 (PAX). PBS stations include WYES 12 and WLAE 32. WHNO 20 also operates as an independent station in the area, providing mainly religious programming.
Radio stations serving Greater New Orleans include:
- Jazz: WWNO-FM (88.9), WWOZ-FM (90.7)
- Classical: WWNO-FM (88.9)
- Country: WNOE-FM (101.1)
- Contemporary: KLRZ-FM (100.3), WLMG-FM (101.9), WDVW-FM (92.3)
- Gospel/Christian: KHEV-FM (104.1), WYLD-AM (940), WBSN-FM (89.1), WLNO-AM (1060), WSHO-FM (800), WOPR-FM (94.9), WVOG-AM (600)
- Latino: KGLA-AM (1540), WFNO-FM (830)
- Oldies: WTKL-FM (95.7), WJSH-FM (104.7)
- Public: WTUL-FM (91.5), WRBH-FM (88.3), WWNO-FM (88.9)
- Rock: KKND-FM (106.7), WRNO-FM (99.5), WEZB-FM (97.1), WKBU-FM (105.3)
- Sports: WODT-AM (1280)
- Talk: WSMB-AM (1350), WWL-AM (870), WTIX-AM (690)
- Urban/Urban Contemporary: KMEZ-FM (102.9),KNOU-FM (104.5), WQUE-FM (93.3), WYLD-FM (98.5)
Tribute "City"
The culture of the city has had a profound impact on many people, one of which was Walt Disney, who built a replica of the French Quarter called New Orleans Square in his park Disneyland in 1966, with buildings and landscaping fitting that of 19th Century New Orleans set upon the park's Rivers of America port. When it opened, Walt Disney had then New Orleans mayor, Victor H. Schiro be made honorary mayor of New Orleans Square, and Schiro, in turn, made Disney an honorary citizen of the real New Orleans.
Museums and other attractions
Image:Orleans.bourbon.arp.750pix.jpg Greater New Orleans has many major attractions, from the world-renowned Bourbon Street and the French Quarter's notorious nightlife, St. Charles Avenue (home of Tulane and Loyola Universities), and many stately 19th century mansions.
Favorite tourist scenes in New Orleans include the French Quarter (known locally as "the Quarter"), which dates from the French and Spanish eras and is bounded by the Mississippi River and Rampart Street, Canal Street and Esplanade Ave. The French Quarter contains many popular hotels, bars, and nightclubs, most notably around Bourbon Street. Other notable tourist attractions in the quarter include Jackson Square, St. Louis Cathedral, the French Market (including the Café du Monde, famous for café au lait and beignets), and Preservation Hall.
Also located near the French Quarter is the old New Orleans Mint, formerly a branch of the United States Mint, now operates as a museum. The National D-Day Museum is a relatively new museum (opened on June 6 2000) dedicated to providing information and materials related to the allied invasion of Normandy, France. The Natchez is an authentic steamboat with a calliope which tours the Mississippi twice daily.
Art museums in the city include the New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA) in City Park and the Ogden Museum of Southern Art. The Audubon Park and the Audubon Zoo are also located in the city of New Orleans. New Orleans is also noted for its many beautiful cemeteries. Some notable cemeteries in the city include Saint Louis Cemetery and Metairie Cemetery.
The city is also world-famous for its food. Specialties include beignets, square-shaped fried pastries that are sometimes called French doughnuts (served with coffee and chicory "au lait"); Po'boy and Italian Muffaletta sandwiches; Gulf oysters on the half-shell and other seafoods; etouffee, jambalaya, gumbo, and other Creole dishes; and the Monday evening favorite of red beans and rice. (Louis Armstrong often signed his letters, "red beans and ricely yours.")
Significant gardens include Longue Vue House and Gardens and the New Orleans Botanical Garden.
Annual cultural events and fairs
Template:Seealso Image:ToHorses.jpg
Greater New Orleans is home to numerous year-around celebrations, including Mardi Gras, New Year's Eve celebrations, and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. New Orleans' most famous celebration is its Carnival Season. The Carnival season is often known (especially by out-of-towners) by the name of the last and biggest day, Mardi Gras (literally, "Fat Tuesday"), held just before the beginning of the Catholic liturgical season of Lent. Mardi Gras celebrations include parades and floats; participants toss strings of cheap colorful beads and doubloons to the crowds. The Mardi Gras season is kicked off with the only parade allowed through the French Quarter (Vieux Carré, translated Old Square), a walking parade aptly named Krewe du Vieux.
The largest of the city's many musical festivals is the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Commonly referred to simply as, "Jazz Fest", it is one of the largest music festivals in the nation, and features crowds coming from all over the world 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 nationally-known popular music artists.
Music
Image:Larmstrongportrait.jpg New Orleans has always been a significant center for music with its intertwined European, Latin American, and African-American cultures. The city engendered jazz with its brass bands. Decades later it was home to a distinctive brand of rhythm and blues that contributed greatly to the growth of rock and roll. In addition, the nearby countryside is the home of Cajun music, Zydeco music, and Delta blues.
The city also created its own spin on the old tradition of military brass band funerals; traditional New Orleans funerals with music feature sad music (mostly dirges and hymns) on the way to the cemetery and happy music (hot jazz) on the way back. Such traditional musical funerals still take place when a local musician, a member of a club, krewe, or benevolent society, or a noted dignitary has passed. Until the 1990s most locals preferred to call these "funerals with music," but out of town visitors have long dubbed them "jazz funerals." Younger bands, especially those based in the Treme neighborhood, have embraced the term and now have funerals featuring only jazz music.
Sports and recreation
Image:Louisiana superdome 2004.jpg The city also hosts two college football bowl games annually: the New Orleans Bowl and the Sugar Bowl. The city also holds "The Bayou Classic" which is an annual college football game between the Grambling State University Tigers and the Southern University Jaguars. Nine Super Bowls have been contested in New Orleans.
Historically, many teams have been formerly located in the city, including the New Orleans Pelicans baseball team (1887–1959), the New Orleans Breakers of the United States Football League, the New Orleans Night of the Arena Football League (1991–1992), and the New Orleans Brass ice hockey team (1997–2003). Former basketball teams were the New Orleans Buccaneers (c. 1967–1970), and the New Orleans Jazz (1974–1980) which became the Utah Jazz.
New Orleans is also home to Southern Yacht Club, located at West End on the shore of Lake Pontchartrain. Established in 1849, it is the second oldest yacht club in the United States. The building was severely damaged, first by storm surge and then by fire, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Economy
Image:Barge on the Mississippi River in New Orleans.jpeg New Orleans is an industrial and distribution center, and a major U.S. seaport. It is one of the busiest seaports in not only the United States, but also the world. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet Canal in the mid 20th century to accommodate New Orleans' barge traffic.
Like Houston, New Orleans is located in proximity to the Gulf of Mexico and the many oil rigs lying just offshore. There are a substantial number of energy companies that have their regional headquarters in the city, including BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, and Shell Oil Company. The city is the home and worldwide headquarters of two Fortune 500 companies: Entergy Corporation, an energy and infrastructure providing company, and Freeport-McMoRan, a copper and gold exploration company.
The federal government has a significant presence in the area. The NASA Michoud Assembly Facility is located in the eastern portion of Orleans Parish. The facility is operated by Lockheed-Martin and is a large manufacturing facility where external fuel tanks for space shuttles are produced. The Michoud Assembly Facility also houses the National Finance Center operated by the USDA.
Other companies with a significant presence or base in New Orleans include BellSouth, Hibernia Corp., IBM, Navtech, Harrah's (downtown casino), Popeye's Fried Chicken, and Zatarain's.
The Port of New Orleans handles about 84 million short tons of cargo a year. The Port of South Louisiana, based in the New Orleans suburb of LaPlace, handles 199 million short tons. The two combined form the largest port in the world by bulk tonnage, and the world's fourth largest by patronage.
About 5,000 ships from nearly 60 nations dock at the Port of New Orleans annually. The chief exports are grain and other foods from the Midwestern United States and petroleum products. The leading imports include chemicals, cocoa beans, coffee, and petroleum. The port handles more trade with Latin America than does any other U.S. gateway, including Miami.
New Orleans is also a busy port for barges. The barges use the nation's two main inland waterways, the Mississippi River and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, which meet at New Orleans. The port of New Orleans handles about 50,000 barges yearly.
There are also two ferries that cross the river near the Garden district and the French Quarter. These ferries are free of charge to pedestrians, but motorists pay a $1 fee to cross on them.
New Orleans is also one of the most visited cities in the United States, and tourism is a major staple in the area's economy. The city's colorful Carnival celebrations during the pre-Lenten season, centered on the French Quarter, draw particularly large crowds. Other major tourist events and attractions in the city include Mardi Gras, the Sugar Bowl, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Southern Decadence (one of the largest annual Gay/Lesbian celebrations in the nation), and the Essence Festival.
Infrastructure
Government
New Orleans has a mayor-council government. The city council consists of five councilmembers who are elected by district and two at large councilmembers. Mayor C. Ray Nagin, Jr. was elected in May 2002, and is running for reelection in the April 2006 mayoral election
The New Orleans Police Department provides professional police services to the public in order to maintain order and protect life and property. The Orleans Parish civil sheriff's employees serve (deliver) papers involving lawsuits. The Criminal Sheriff's department maintains the parish prison system.
The city of New Orleans and the parish of Orleans operate as a merged city-county government.Template:GR Before the city of New Orleans became co-extensive with Orleans Parish, Orleans Parish was home to numerous smaller communities. Some of these communities within Orleans Parish have historically had separate identities from the city of New Orleans, such as Irish Bayou and Carrollton. Algiers, Louisiana was a separate city through 1870. As soon as Algiers became a part of New Orleans, Orleans Parish ceased being separate from the city of New Orleans.
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 seperately. 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. However, in Hurricane Katrina's aftermath, many locals have been pushing for a smaller more efficient government.
Schools
New Orleans Public Schools, the city's school district, is one of the area's largest school districts. NOPS contains approximately 100 individual schools. The Greater New Orleans area has approximately 200 parochial schools. Following Hurricane Katrina, the state of Louisiana took over most of the schools within the system (all schools that fell into a certain "worst-performing" metric); about 20 new charter schools have also been started since the storm, educating about 15,000 students.
Several institutions of higher education also exist within the city, including University of New Orleans, Tulane University, Loyola University New Orleans, Dillard University, Southern University at New Orleans, Xavier University of Louisiana, Louisiana State University Medical School, and Our Lady of Holy Cross College. Other schools include Delgado Community College, Nunez Community College, Culinary Institute of New Orleans, Herzing College, Commonwealth University, and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.
Libraries
There are numerous academic and public libraries and archives in New Orleans, including Monroe Library at Loyola University, Howard-Tilton Memorial Library at Tulane University[26], the Law Library of Louisiana[27] and Earl K. Long Library at the University of New Orleans.[28]
The New Orleans Public Library includes 13 locations, most of which were damaged by Hurricane Katrina.[29] The main library includes a Louisiana Division housing city archives and special collections.[30]
Other research archives are located at the Historic New Orleans Collection[31] and the Old U.S. Mint.[32]
Transportation
The metropolitan area is served by Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport Template:Airport codes, located approximately nine miles west of the city in the suburb of Kenner. Prior to Hurricane Katrina, it served millions of passengers on approximately 300 nonstop flights per day to or from destinations throughout the United States, Canada, Latin America, and the Caribbean. The airport also handled a significant amount of charter operations to/from Europe, with which it's had a significant degree of success in retrieving. As of June 2006, Armstrong International is projected to return to 57% of its pre-Katrina total traffic, by seat-count.
Within the city itself is Lakefront Airport, a small, general aviation airport, as well as the New Orleans Downtown Heliport, located on the roof of the Louisiana Superdome's parking garage. There are also several regional airports located throughout the metropolitan area.
The city is also served by rail via Amtrak. The New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal is the central rail depot, and it is served by three trains: the Crescent to New York City, the City of New Orleans to Chicago, Illinois, and the Sunset Limited from Orlando to Los Angeles.
In addition, the city is served by six Class I freight railroads. Union Pacific Railroad and BNSF Railway approach the city from the west, Norfolk Southern Railway and CSX from the east, and the Canadian National Railway and Kansas City Southern Railway from the north.
Public transportation in the city is operated by New Orleans Regional Transit Authority ("RTA"). In addition to the many bus routes connecting the city and suburban areas, there are three active streetcar lines moved by electric motors powered by DC wires overhead. The St. Charles line (green cars, formerly connecting New Orleans with the then independent suburb of Carrollton) is the oldest continuously operating streetcar line in New Orleans and a historic landmark. The Riverfront line (also known as the Ladies in Red since the cars are painted red) runs parallel to the river from Canal Street through the French Quarter to the Convention Center above Julia Street in the Arts District. The Canal Street line uses the Riverfront line tracks from Esplanade Street to Canal Street, then branches off down Canal Street 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 Williams play, A Streetcar Named Desire. The streetcar line to Desire Street became a bus line in 1948. There are proposals to revive a Desire light rail streetcar line.
As of April 2006, the St. Charles streetcar line is still not operational due to overhead wire damage from Hurricane Katrina. The Canal line is functioning, but the red cars were flooded by the hurricane, so the green cars are currently running on the Canal line.
Recently, many have proposed extending New Orleans's public transit system by adding light rail routes from downtown along Airline Highway through the airport to Baton Rouge and from downtown to Slidell and the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Proponents of this idea claim that these new routes would boost the region's economy, which has been badly damaged by Hurricane Katrina, and serve as an evacuation option for hospital patients out of the city.
Roads in the city are arranged in a radial grid pattern, emanating out to various parts of town from a central point north of the Central Business District. I-10 loops east-west through the city, and traverses the northern edge of the Central Business District, taking traffic west towards Baton Rouge, Louisiana and east-northeast to Slidell, Louisiana. The "Highrise" carries I-10 across the Industrial Canal.
Farther east, the I-10 connects New Orleans East with Slidell, bridging an arm of Lake Pontchartrain. This crossing, a dual causeway known as the "Twin Spans," was severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina. By October 2005 single lanes in each direction had been reopened on the eastbound span. The westbound span was reopened in early January 2006. The Twin Spans is to be replaced with a new six-lane bridge, expected to be completed in 2009.[33] As I-10 heads south from Metairie towards the Central Business District, it is called the Pontchartrain Expressway.
I-610 provides a direct shortcut across the northern central part of the city, allowing through traffic to bypass I-10's L-shaped route which traverses the more congested areas.
US 90 leaves the Central Business District and goes west through the city's Uptown neighborhood and crosses the Missisisppi River at the Huey P. Long Bridge near the suburb of Jefferson. I-10 is also connected to I-12, north of Lake Pontchartrain, via the tolled Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, consisting of two parallel bridges, which are also the longest in the world.
The interstate highways serving New Orleans were laid out in the middle of the 20th century, a time when a larger proportion of Gulf of Mexico freight traffic passed through New Orleans. I-10 goes west to Houston and beyond and east to Mobile and Florida, with I-59 and I-55 heading northward to Birmingham and Jackson, respectively. Later, I-12 created a shortcut that avoided crossing Lake Pontchartrain. In Slidell, I-59 and I-12 both end at an interchange with I-10, which turns southward toward New Orleans while I-12 continues straight to rejoin I-10 in Baton Rouge. There are also plans to extend I-49 from Lafayette to New Orleans. The route would follow U.S. Highway 90 and the Westbank Expressway, placing the southern terminus at I-10 behind the Superdome. The southern termini of US Highways 11 and 61 are in New Orleans, and US 51 terminates just west of the city, Laplace.
The Pontchartrain Expressway (U.S. Highway 90's business route), becomes the Westbank Expressway south of the Mississippi River. Along its route west then northwest from the Crescent City Connection bridge to its terminus at I-10 near the Superdome, the Pontchartrain Expressway follows the path of the former New Basin Canal, dug in the 19th century by thousands of immigrant (mostly Irish) laborers, and filled in in 1947. Some of the older warehouse structures still standing along the Pontchartrain Expressway can trace their roots to their days along the banks of the canal.
Roads along the Mississippi River were the first to carry overland traffic into New Orleans. US 51 (the "Old Hammond Highway"), US 90, and US 11 followed old Indian routes along slight ridges to become the first automotive highways. Louisiana governor Huey P. Long championed Airline Highway (US 61) to bypass the circuitous river road between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. The route of today's US 90 east of New Orleans once included a ferry crossing at Fort Pike. Governor Long built public draw bridges at the Rigolets as political retaliation against the operators of a then-private toll bridge across Lake Pontchartrain. Long achieved his objective: the US 11 toll bridge failed commercially and is owned by the State. US 11 was the escape route for Ignatius J. Reilly at the end of John Kennedy Toole's novel, A Confederacy of Dunces.
West of New Orleans, the Ruddock exit at milepost 6 of I-55 is the only trace left of a thriving community that was literally washed away by the hurricane of September 1915. Frenier Beach Hurricane Storm Surge Revisited In the 1960s, a controversial "Dixie Freeway" that would have been designated I-410 would have created an "outer loop" encompassing St. Bernard Parish, the westbank areas of New Orleans and Jefferson, and back across the river in St. Charles Parish where I-310 now runs. Environmental concern for the wetlands south of New Orleans and economic considerations derailed those plans.
Sister cities
New Orleans has ten sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI): Juan-les-Pins (France), Maracaibo (Venezuela), Matsue (Japan), Mérida (Mexico), Innsbruck (Austria), Pointe Noire (Republic of Congo), San Miguel de Tucuman (Argentina), Tegucigalpa (Honduras), Caracas (Venezuela), and Holdfast Bay (Australia).
See also
- Reconstruction of New Orleans
- Mayors of New Orleans
- List of famous New Orleanians
- New Orleans in Fiction
- Wards of New Orleans
External links
- Official Website of the City of New Orleans
- Template:Wikitravelpar
- NewOrleansOnline.com
- FrenchQuarter.com
- NewOrleans.com
- Greater New Orleans, Inc.
- New Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau
- Thayer's Gazetteer: Historical Documents on New Orleans and its Water Management
- New Orleans Streetcars
- 1862 Aerial View of New Orleans
- Louisiana Trip - Gallery of images of French Quarter and other places in Southern Louisiana, taken a few months before Katrina
- New Orleans - A historical timeline
Notes
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