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I can see some similarities but also many differences; namely scale. Also I can see as many similarities to a place like Charleston or even a Savannah (The Garden district just two blocks from the CBD feels nothing like a NE city or SF for that matter)
End of the day I find NOLA to not really have a true peer; to me what makes it so interesting.
I always thought the ornate houses of the Garden District and many other neighborhoods in New Orleans were actually very reminiscent of the ornate houses of San Francisco.
Also, yes, Charleston and Savannah are similar to NOLA. The biggest difference, however, is that Charleston and Savannah are mainly one historic area and the rest is suburban. New Orleans is a large city comprising many large historic districts and seamless urban development around the core. I'm defining the core as basically any part of the city built before WWII which is a very large chunk with almost half the population of the city (from Carrollton uptown to Poland Ave downtown up to City Park in Mid City). I'm defining it like this because the urban core of New Orleans is much more complex than just downtown and the FQ. The inner core of NOLA consists of the French Quarter, Treme, Marigny, CBD, Warehouse district, and Lower Garden District. Then, everything outside of that uptown, downtown (downriver from canal street), and up to mid city is part of the outer core (still dense/urban just not as crowded as the inner core).
This is how I'm making the assumption that New Orleans is on the same level as SF or Boston or DC. There is a dense urban core, followed by a large and less dense but still urban outer core. As I said in my first post, this is unlike many cities in America where they mostly consist of an urban core made up of "downtown" and maybe a randomly placed "midtown" or "uptown". NOLA and the other older cities of the country follow a similar urban pattern.
I can see some similarities but also many differences; namely scale. Also I can see as many similarities to a place like Charleston or even a Savannah (The Garden district just two blocks from the CBD feels nothing like a NE city or SF for that matter)
End of the day I find NOLA to not really have a true peer; to me what makes it so interesting.
Is it urban, yes, is it large, no
But again that is to me the charm of NOLA
New Orleans is much larger than Charleston and Savannah even though there are some Antebellum style architectural similarities in the Garden District (but not the entire city) but unlike Boston or Charleston it is more French and Spanish colonialism influenced rather than British which is why it's oldest urban historical style is different than most cities in the country. I wouldn't want New Orleans to have the same style as other cities than it's culture and urban style wouldn't be unique. It's not about quantity but unique quality and substance that separates it from other cities and being the most unique in the world.
100 years ago it may have been but has since fallen prey to many of the problems that plague all of the Mississippi delta cities, such has high crime, unemployment, and poverty. Today, it's barely a step above Charleston and Savannah.
New Orleans is much larger than Charleston and Savannah even though there are some similarities but unlike Boston or Charleston it is more French and Spanish colonialism influenced rather than British which is why it's oldest urban historical style is different than most cities in the country. I wouldn't want New Orleans to have the same style as other cities than it's culture and urban style wouldn't be unique. It's not about quantity but unique quality and substance that separates it from other cities and being the most unique in the world.
I never understood the "most unique in the world" claim. Think I've seen it in some brochure as well. What's the basis for this claim? More unique than Venice? Amsterdam? Rio? New York? I don't get it...
At first I thought the 197.8 urban area of a million was a typo on Wikipedia, until a NOLA poster came and pretty much told me off. New Orleans pre katrina had a million people in just 197.8 sq mi.
SF is not like a East coast city, it's a dense west coast city, like NOLA is to the south. But since SF and East Coast Cities are group together by default New Orleans is comparable.
At first I thought the 197.8 urban area of a million was a typo on Wikipedia, until a NOLA poster came and pretty much told me off. New Orleans pre katrina had a million people in just 197.8 sq mi.
It has actually gained more people. On December 22nd 2011 it is approximately 1,346,729 up from 1.1 million. The population in the metro is growing along with the city. New Orleans was the fastest growing city in the nation and continues to grow. Katrina was only a temporary setback as the city has suffered many disasters in the past. This is nothing new and some people don't even realize it's growing population today. Source: http://www.census.gov/newsroom/relea...n/cb09-99.html
Last edited by urbanologist; 12-22-2011 at 02:19 PM..
I never understood the "most unique in the world" claim. Think I've seen it in some brochure as well. What's the basis for this claim? More unique than Venice? Amsterdam? Rio? New York? I don't get it...
Unique as in there is no city like New Orleans...none. It's interesting that there are cities across the country trying to reinvent themselves or look to other cities. New Orleans doesn't have to. It's that unique What is the most unique is pretty subjective anyway so that's neither here nor there.
100 years ago it may have been but has since fallen prey to many of the problems that plague all of the Mississippi delta cities, such has high crime, unemployment, and poverty. Today, it's barely a step above Charleston and Savannah.
Let me know when Charleston and Savannah get this big and become a major seaport city.
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What is the most unique is pretty subjective anyway so that's neither here nor there.
