New Orleans, city, southeastern Louisiana, U.S. Unquestionably one of the most distinctive cities of the New World, New Orleans was established at great cost in an environment of conflict. Its strategic position, commanding the mouth of the great Mississippi-Missouri river system, which drains the rich interior of North America, made it a pawn in the struggles of Europeans for the control of North America. As a result, the peoples of New Orleans evolved a unique culture and society, while at the same time blending many heritages. Its citizens of African descent provided a special contribution in making New Orleans the birthplace of jazz.
New Orleans is a city of paradox and contrast: while it shares the urban problems afflicting other U.S. cities, it has nevertheless preserved an exuberant and uninhibited spirit, perhaps best exemplified by its Carnival season, which culminates in the famous annual Mardi Gras, when more than a million people throng the streets. The city also has a solid economic base: it is the largest city in Louisiana, one of the country’s most important ports, a major tourist resort, and a medical, industrial, and educational centre. It was devastated by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, when the levees protecting the city were breached and nearly all of the city was flooded. The storm and its aftermath killed hundreds, caused massive property damage, and forced a full-scale evacuation of the city.
Landscape
City layout
The city of New Orleans and Orleans parish (county) are coextensive, occupying a point at the head of the Mississippi River delta at the Gulf of Mexico. The boundaries are formed by the Mississippi River and Jefferson parish to the west and Lake Pontchartrain to the north. Lake Pontchartrain is connected by The Rigolets channel to Lake Borgne on the east (and thence to the gulf), and the southern boundary of New Orleans is made up of St. Bernard parish and, again, the Mississippi River. The city is divided by the Mississippi, with the principal settlement on the east bank. The west bank, known as Algiers, has grown rapidly. It is connected to eastern New Orleans by the Greater New Orleans Bridge (also known as the Crescent City Connection). The bridge, completed in 1958, proved to be a bottleneck to the city’s traffic; a second, adjacent bridge designed to reduce congestion was completed in 1988.
The early city was located on the east bank along a sharp bend in the Mississippi, from which the nickname “Crescent City” is derived. The modern metropolis has spread far beyond this original location. Because its saucer-shaped terrain lies as low as 5 to 10 feet (1.5 to 3 metres) below sea level and has an average rainfall of 57 inches (1,448 mm), a levee, or embankment, system and proper drainage have always been of prime importance. There had long been concern that a powerful storm could inundate the low-lying city; such an event occurred in 2005, when Hurricane Katrina produced a storm surge that overwhelmed the levees protecting New Orleans, and about four-fifths of the city was flooded. Less than a month later, a second hurricane passing to the west caused some levees to fail again, flooding a few areas of the city once more.
Climate
New Orleans has a moderate climate; the average daily temperature from October through March is 60 °F (16 °C), and from April through September the daily average is 77 °F (25 °C). Freezing weather is rare, and the temperature rises above 95 °F (35 °C) only about six days per year.
People
The population of New Orleans has been declining. Whites account for less than one-third of the total, whereas in 1960 they made up almost two-thirds. In contrast to the population decline in Orleans parish, the adjacent parishes of St. Bernard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, and St. Tammany—which, together with Orleans, compose the New Orleans Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)—have shown steady increases. Since the African American population in most of the adjacent parishes is quite small, these figures indicate the general trend of white movement to the suburbs typical of most major U.S. cities since 1950.
The shift in population to the suburbs has been motivated less by racial tension (although this may play a part) than by desires for better and more modern living facilities. The fact that a large segment of the Black population resides in declining neighbourhoods (some segregated, some integrated) has spurred both Black and interracial political, social, and religious organizations to work either independently or with city and federal agencies on projects to improve the quality of life for low-income citizens. The additional fact that New Orleans has upper-class and middle-class Black populations has been a significant factor in such projects.
Economy of New Orleans
The port
New Orleans has always been primarily a commercial centre, with manufacturing playing a secondary role in its economic life. The busy harbour, besides adding to the city’s cosmopolitan atmosphere, is the foundation of the metropolitan economy, influencing many aspects of urban life.
The era of the modern Port of New Orleans began in 1879 with the construction of jetties in South Pass, one of three passes that flow from the river into the gulf. Sandbars had formed at intervals in these passes and had hindered ships entering the river since the city’s founding. The jetties narrowed South Pass, forcing the river to cut a deeper channel to a depth of 30 feet (9 metres). Later, a second channel, Southwest Pass, was deepened to 40 feet (12 metres) by installing jetties; it is now the main pass used by seagoing vessels entering and leaving the river. The distance from New Orleans to the gulf is about 110 miles (180 km).
Another major step forward for the port was taken in 1896, when the state legislature removed wharf facilities from the control of private contractors and created the Board of Commissioners of the Port of New Orleans (the Dock Board), a body charged with administering the public wharves. In 1908 the Dock Board was authorized to issue negotiable bonds for the improvement of port facilities. The projects subsequently accomplished included the rebuilding and expansion of public wharves and the construction (in partnership with the Board of Levee Commissioners of the Orleans Levee District) of the 5.5-mile (9-km) Industrial Canal, which links the river to Lake Pontchartrain, the Intracoastal Waterway, and the Mississippi River–Gulf Outlet. In 1963 the Mississippi River–Gulf Outlet, a ship channel shortening the passage to the gulf by 40 miles (64 km), was opened to maritime traffic.
The Dock Board formulated a plan, called Centroport U.S.A., by which much of the port’s activities would be switched from the Mississippi River to wharves and industrial complexes along the Gulf Outlet and the river frontage thus retired from maritime use would be diverted to such projects as high-rise apartments and public recreation areas. The Julia, Erato, and upper Poydras wharves were developed as the site of the 1984 Louisiana World Exposition. Permanent structures enhancing this area are the New Orleans Convention and Exhibition Center and the International Pavilion.
New Orleans is a major grain port both in the United States and worldwide; other exports include raw and processed agricultural products, fabricated metals, chemicals, textiles, oils, petroleum and petroleum products, tobacco, and paperboard. There has been substantial growth in bulk exports since the early 1980s, which has made New Orleans the lighter aboard ship (LASH) cargo and Seabee barge capital of the world. Grain, coal, and animal feed make up a major portion of LASH and Seabee trade. In international commerce about 5,000 oceangoing vessels dock at New Orleans annually, and more than 40 nations have consular offices in the city.
Industry
Greater New Orleans is a major industrial area. A concentration of petrochemical plants has sprung up along the Mississippi River above New Orleans. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration established the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans in 1961 to produce the giant Saturn rocket boosters used in flights to the Moon. The principal goods manufactured in the Greater New Orleans area are food products, clothing and related items, stone, clay and glass articles, primary metal and fabricated metal items, and transportation equipment. Tourism is an important industry.
Petrochemical industries along the Mississippi above New Orleans and offshore oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico have become serious polluters, however, through oil-rig fires, oil slicks, and discharges of mercury, arsenic, and lead, which have threatened the city’s drinking water, ruined the taste of river fish, and endangered the ecology of the gulf. Despite federal actions against the offending industries, much remains to be done.
Transportation
The transportation facilities of New Orleans include three airports: New Orleans International Airport, to the west of the city; New Orleans Airport, on Lake Pontchartrain, devoted to private and corporate use; and the U.S. Naval Air Station, serving air reserve units of the various armed services. Several railroads operate out of New Orleans, and passenger bus, truck, and barge lines transport people and cargo to and from the city. Regular express sailings by steamship lines also offer passenger- and cargo-carrying service. The major access bridges serving the Greater New Orleans area, in addition to the Greater New Orleans Bridge, are the Huey P. Long Bridge, which crosses the river above the city, and the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, a twin-span structure that is among the world’s longest bridges, stretching nearly 24 miles (39 km).
Cultural life
The cultural life of New Orleans is a synthesis of contributions by both whites and Blacks. The white American heritage—with its roots in French-speaking Cajun society—is reflected in the business and commercial life of the city, while the immigrant heritage—Irish societies, German Oktoberfests, Italian St. Joseph’s Day altars—adds ethnic colour to urban conformity. The African American heritage is particularly rich. In antebellum days, free persons of colour were musicians, poets, journalists, business entrepreneurs, and landlords. Both Black freemen and slaves were renowned for their craftsmanship in such trades as bricklaying, iron grillwork, and carpentry. The contribution of African American musicians to the birth of jazz out of Black blues and “field hollers” and white dance tunes and hymns is well known.
Facilities for recreation and relaxation in New Orleans are justly famous. New Orleans is often referred to as “the city that care forgot,” and it has always been a town for those seeking a good time. Its residents love music, dancing, and a “Continental Sunday” spent in amusements. The three factors that have contributed to its popularity with tourists are the Old World charm of the Spanish-French architecture in its Vieux Carré (French: “Old Square”), the reckless abandon of its Carnival and Mardi Gras, and its reputation as the birthplace, between the 1880s and World War I, of jazz.
The Vieux Carré, or French Quarter, is a sightseer’s delight. Its Creole architecture, creating the atmosphere of a foreign city, combines native architectural ingenuity with adaptations of French colonial traditions of eastern Canada and West Indian Spanish colonial styles. Typical are one-story cottages opening directly on the sidewalks, with high-pitched roofs and windows reaching to the ground. Another style is the L-shaped two-story dwelling with a side entrance to an inner patio. Also built to the sidewalk, it has a roof that extends out over balconies on both the street and patio sides. Iron grillwork, designs for which were created locally and executed to a high perfection by slave craftsmen, decorates these balconies and also supports the roof. Such houses are built side by side with no openings between them, but the patios offer space for trees, flowers, and fountains and ensure privacy for the occupants.
Central to the Vieux Carré is Jackson Square, facing the Cabildo and the Presbytère (former governmental centres but now part of the Louisiana State Museum) and St. Louis Cathedral. All date from colonial times, but considerable stylistic changes have been made on these buildings since they were erected.
On either side of this square are the Pontalba Buildings, built in 1849–50, while nearby is the historic French Market. Curio and antique collectors throng the many shops on Royal Street. Side streets are lined with art galleries, perfume shops, sidewalk cafés, and tearooms. Bourbon Street is famous for its nightclubs, where music (notably jazz) and risqué floor shows are a specialty. Devotees of jazz may also visit Preservation Hall, where revivals of traditional styles may be heard. The New Orleans Jazz Club established a Jazz Museum and later donated the collection to the Louisiana State Museum system. The jazz collection is displayed in the Old U.S. Mint. Each spring the city puts on the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.
Every year during Spring Fiesta there are tours of private homes and patios in the Vieux Carré and also of the spacious Garden District uptown, the elite 19th-century neighbourhood. Boats tour the extensive harbour facilities and the magnificent scenery of nearby waterways. The observation point on the 31st floor of the World Trade Center at the foot of Canal Street offers a panoramic view of the river and city. The world-renowned Creole and spicy Cajun cuisine may be sampled in numerous restaurants, ranging from elegant dining rooms with French menus and waiters to small cafés with checkered tablecloths, serving red beans and rice and crawfish, a local specialty.
Sports share an honoured position with jazz and Carnival activities in New Orleans. The city is the home of the New Orleans Saints, a member of the National Football League, and the New Orleans Pelicans, a member of the National Basketball Association that relocated from Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2002. In 2010 the Saints, who were especially beloved by the people of New Orleans because of the decades they spent as the city’s sole professional sports franchise, won their first Super Bowl—an important symbolic step on the road to recovery from Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans is the site of the Louisiana Superdome, one of the world’s largest sports arenas. In early January the Superdome hosts the Sugar Bowl game, one of the collegiate championship contests in football; in conjunction with the game are competitions in other sports. Horse racing is held at the local Fair Grounds Race Course, while golfers are attracted every year to the Compaq Classic of New Orleans tournament held at one of the local golf clubs. Boating and fishing are popular pastimes on the city’s many waterways. The Southern Yacht Club, on Lake Pontchartrain, is the second oldest in the country. In addition to the lakefront, popular recreation areas include the city’s two largest parks, City and Audubon, the latter of which has one of the country’s finest zoos. The New Orleans Recreation Department operates more than 100 playgrounds and directs organized recreation activities for thousands of youngsters.
Since World War II New Orleans has become an art centre, with many artists and galleries offering original works to collectors. The New Orleans Museum of Art is a public museum with a variety of collections, notably in decorative arts and photography. Live theatre is represented by several community theatre groups. Musical events include operas staged annually by the New Orleans Opera Association, concerts given by the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, performances by the New Orleans Ballet Association, and concerts presented by the New Orleans Jazz Club. Other attractions include the Aquarium of the Americas, one of the top aquariums in the country; the Historic Voodoo Museum; the National WWII Museum; and the Contemporary Arts Center. Tours of the city’s unique aboveground cemeteries are also popular.
The New Orleans Carnival season begins annually on January 6 and culminates in Mardi Gras, the “Fat Tuesday” before Ash Wednesday. The two weeks before Mardi Gras are filled with parades, both day and night, climaxing on Mardi Gras with the Rex parade. The first parading Carnival group (called a “krewe”) was the Mystick Krewe of Comus, which appeared in 1857, though celebrations by masked participants date to the 1820s. The krewe of Rex came into existence in 1872. In 1992 the city council began requiring all krewes to be racially integrated; as a result, several krewes stopped parading and held only private balls. The Presbytère has an exhibit devoted to Mardi Gras.In the latter half of the 19th century there were about a half-dozen leading newspapers, including one in French. Through a process of gradual consolidation, New Orleans now has only one major daily, the Times-Picayune. The city also has weekly newspapers, trade publications, college journals, and regional magazines of considerable circulation. Competitive journalism is kept alive among the city’s television and radio stations.