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IMO New Orleans is uniquely itself... saying its the "most eastern looking city in the South" takes away from the fact that it's different than just about anywhere else in the country. The fact that it's densely populated and busy doesn't mean it's "Eastern looking"... there's plenty of larger cities in the east coast that are not busy or densely populated (i.e. Hartford, Buffalo, etc). Do they suddenly lose their "Eastern" status? Being eastern is irrespective of being a city with hustle and bustle.
Thank you. They're saying eastern when they mean to say European. Even that is a bit of a misnomer, but it still drives the point better than simply saying "eastern".
Someone had some photos on a thread that were parts of Boston comparing the, to parts of the French quarter. Eerily similar. To some of your points, I believe that's more of a European style vs an east coast style. However, the Europeans did settle the east coast first. #ijs
I'm going to New Orleans with three of my friends in about 2 weeks for the weekend. I've only been to New Orleans twice before, once in 2003 with my family and it was awful not because of the city but because of the people I went with (my family). They're such boring people, instead of doing that monster boat thing on the Mississippi River they wanted to go look at some old road (America's oldest road according to the tours).
I went again I would believe 2 summers ago with another set of friends and we did all the historical stuff (because they wanted to see it) and tried the gumbo, chile peppers, spicy seafood, crawfish, & spent a lot of time in the tourist areas especially French Quarters. Man the streetscape felt nice not because it seemed old and historic but because it was so condensed and portable like with the beautiful styling of their architecture with the moss and stuff growing along the buildings. It was wicked cool.
I'm not a history buff nor do I care for history. Seriously, don't take this offensively but I'm super Atheist and have grown to believe that your actions should be first priority, so I never got into caring for what anyone did in the past and stuff. I can certainly respect people that fought and protected our awesome country and gave their lives doing so but beyond that with historical documents, pictures, cathedrals, whatever I don't care for it. For that reason New Orleans never was (still isn't) a place that I look "forward" to going to but I don't hate it either. I don't hate any place.
So anyways that long rant all said and done, now I have some questions.
Question #1: What are some cool streets where I can do some shopping like a bazaar type of thing? I want to buy a hat (New Orleans hat), souvenirs, & other memorables.
Question #2: What are some restaurants that you can recommend to me to try out? I'm a huge spice fanatic and that is pretty much all I ever eat. So any type of food as long as its spicy works for me.
Question #3: Where do we go for high speed boating?
Question #4: Any cool tourist swamps? I'm sort of excited to see those legendary mossy swamps, you know the ones with the trees with the moss hanging down in a unique fashion?
That'll be it for now. Thanks in advance everyone.
Oh yeah and almost forgot to add in my 2 cents for this thread, no I don't think its eastern looking at all. Not all "dense" cities are eastern. I get that density is something every Northeastern city excels at by default because of the age they came to be but its ridiculous when people say "San Francisco is an east coast city misplaced in California", "New Orleans is an east coast city put in the south", whatever.
For a city that is so economically depressed/crime ridden I found the downtown surprisingly busy/vibrant, outside the French Quarter. It has a cosmopolitan vibe that is unlike anywhere in the South.
Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Charlotte.etc are just too new looking to look like the old cities of the Eastern seaboard.
I just don't see this being urban don't equal the same. So are taking about being closer to a "Eastern city" or are were taking just about being urban. Also lets say "northeast"
And actually Charlotte was founded before the American Revolution but it was just a tiny town so it's not going to stand out architecturally. Atlanta didn't boom until after the civil war but even after the popular architecture of Atlanta reflect more of a Midwest like style though. But with saying that to me if were taking metro wise Atlanta and Charlotte suburbs are more East coast they differ from the rest of the sunbelt, a lot of middle and western America is grid even the suburbs, notably the South Atlantic, Mid Atlantic, and New England metros are not that gridded. Another feature historic satellite towns half of Atlanta and Charlotte suburbs are just as old or older them. Atlanta and Charlotte do reflect "eastern" but don't have the density of northeast cities which is something different.
With saying that Savannah, Charleston, Norfolk, Richmond, are hands down the closest city to being Northeast like. If it helps don't think just Boston, DC, NY and Philly, think about Providence, Wilmington, Newark, Trenton and etc.
I just don't see this being urban don't equal the same. So are taking about being closer to a "Eastern city" or are were taking just about being urban. Also lets say "northeast"
And actually Charlotte was founded before the American Revolution but it was just a tiny town so it's not going to stand out architecturally. Atlanta didn't boom until after the civil war but even after the popular architecture of Atlanta reflect more of a Midwest like style though. But with saying that to me if were taking metro wise Atlanta and Charlotte suburbs are more East coast they differ from the rest of the sunbelt, a lot of middle and western America is grid even the suburbs, notably the South Atlantic, Mid Atlantic, and New England metros are not that gridded. Another feature historic satellite towns half of Atlanta and Charlotte suburbs are just as old or older them. Atlanta and Charlotte do reflect "eastern" but don't have the density of northeast cities which is something different.
With saying that Savannah, Charleston, Norfolk, Richmond, are hands down the closest city to being Northeast like. If it helps don't think just Boston, DC, NY and Philly, think about Providence, Wilmington, Newark, Trenton and etc.
I was looking at historical census results and it looks like Louisville had been the second largest city of the south (after NO) for many decades of the 1800s and the first half of the 1900s. I wonder if freeway construction and urban renewal tore a lot of that down.
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Originally Posted by Nairobi
Thank you. They're saying eastern when they mean to say European. Even that is a bit of a misnomer, but it still drives the point better than simply saying "eastern".
No eastern does not equal European, when I mean eastern I mean as in like the old, historic cities of the East coast: lots of historic buildings, the type of skyscrapers, the type of housing (rowhouses, brownstones, tenements, shotgun houses).
Santa Barbara or San Francisco can be 'European' but they're hardly European. Although DC has superficial similarities to the Paris of Le Corbusier, and Philadelphia and Boston has neighbourhoods that have a historic look reminiscent of Europe (quaint shop houses, cobble stone streets, the type of city parks), 'European' is not what I mean.
The French quarter of NOLA is a mix of European, Caribbean (African), and American/Victorian/Colonial styles.
No eastern does not equal European, when I mean eastern I mean as in like the old, historic cities of the East coast: lots of historic buildings, the type of skyscrapers, the type of housing (rowhouses, brownstones, tenements, shotgun houses).
Santa Barbara or San Francisco can be 'European' but they're hardly European. Although DC has superficial similarities to the Paris of Le Corbusier, and Philadelphia and Boston has neighbourhoods that have a historic look reminiscent of Europe (quaint shop houses, cobble stone streets, the type of city parks), 'European' is not what I mean.
The French quarter of NOLA is a mix of European, Caribbean (African), and American/Victorian/Colonial styles.
This is what I'm saying too. New Orleans would roughly fit in visually and overall with cities like DC, Philly and Boston on the east coast. The French Quarter reminded me of Georgetown somewhat. Similar walkability, historical neighborhoods, grid system of streets, vibrancy, diversity. There's also some New Orleans food and cultural influences on the east coast, at least in the DC area there is.
That's not at all to say that New Orleans isn't unique. Of course it's unique. Heck, I wish the east coast cities I mentioned could learn to have a party atmosphere and nightlife like that. But the difference in climate would probably not allow it.
Last edited by BigCityDreamer; 06-07-2012 at 08:47 AM..
In the South I've been to Austin, Houston, New Orleans, Memphis, Nashville...NOLA felt the busiest. The black culture reminded me of DC, but it's very different too of course.^ great pics, too, it really conveys the old-school-ness of NOLA!
It is a pity that NOLA isn't one of the major cities in terms of prominence. It's still my 2nd/3rd favourite city I visited in America though.
I don't know what NOLA you were in or what DC you have been in. But the Black culture of NOLA is NOTHING like the Black culture of DC.
No eastern does not equal European, when I mean eastern I mean as in like the old, historic cities of the East coast: lots of historic buildings, the type of skyscrapers, the type of housing (rowhouses, brownstones, tenements, shotgun houses).
Santa Barbara or San Francisco can be 'European' but they're hardly European. Although DC has superficial similarities to the Paris of Le Corbusier, and Philadelphia and Boston has neighbourhoods that have a historic look reminiscent of Europe (quaint shop houses, cobble stone streets, the type of city parks), 'European' is not what I mean.
The French quarter of NOLA is a mix of European, Caribbean (African), and American/Victorian/Colonial styles.
If you put it like that, then no, I would not say New Orleans looks Eastern. All of those qualities you described simply come from the fact that these were the first major cities to be settled.
Shotgun houses are characteristic of the postbellum South; not the east coast. Tenements can be found across the entire country.
I don't know what NOLA you were in or what DC you have been in. But the Black culture of NOLA is NOTHING like the Black culture of DC.
I agree, but I'm guessing he's comparing the go-go scene of DC to the street jazz of NOLA. But, true, they're nothing alike.
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