Is New Orleans a southern or southwestern city? (living, location)

[missymomof3]

Originally Posted by WestbankNOLA

From now on let's just put everything from Houston and Galveston to New Orleans, in its own category.

Oh Lord what would we call it?

[TexasReb]

Originally Posted by City Fanatic

The Southwest:

Southern California
Southern Nevada
Arizona
New Mexico
Southern Utah
Southern Colorado
Extreme Western Texas

Most of Texas doesn't even classify as southwestern. Why would anyone think that Louisiana would? Geographically and culturally, New Orleans and Louisiana are Southern or Southeastern.

Excellent definition of the true Southwest, CF. Like you say, most of Texas isn't the Southwest in the sense of New Mexico and Arizona, much less any part of Louisiana.

Of course, it can be argued that Louisiana was part of the "Old Southwest"....but that was back in the day when the term literally meant the western part of the the South. It also included Arkansas and later, Texas, when it was settled. But that is very different from the modern day "Interior Southwest" which were/are -- unlike the above states -- characterized by a dominating hispanic and Native-American influence.

Here is a good link and a couple of excerpts on the definition of the modern-day Southwest. It also addresses that the "Southwest" cannot be defined by place names and architecture:

Table of Contents (http://digital.library.arizona.edu/jsw/3403/index.html - broken link)

Place names in southern Texas and California suggest a rich and enduring Hispanic heritage in those two states. But following the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, hordes of white Americans rushed into these Hispanic areas of Texas, and, even though white Americans totally dominated these parts of Texas, they continued to use many existing Spanish place names. Most of California's Spanish place names were designated by Anglo real estate developers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in an attempt to capitalize commercially on the state's romance that visitors and newcomers to the region found so "quaint" and attractive. A meaningful cultural presence of Hispanic traditions cannot be derived merely from Spanish place names. And other qualifications- primarily physiographic, climatic, and prehistoric-preclude Texas and California from being placed within "the Southwest."

There should be much less of an argument regarding the Southwest's eastern and western boundaries. Texans may not like it, but there is no convincing or substantial physical and qualified cultural evidence that the Southwest extends eastward beyond the 104th Meridian West. The Llano Estacado clearly belongs to the Great Plains, and the headwaters of the Canadian and Cimarron rivers roll toward the same direction as does the culture of northeast New Mexico face: eastward. Combined with the Southwest's southern boundary coordinate of 29° N., this border would enclose the western two-thirds of the "horn" of Texas, a region which includes El Paso, one of the most "Southwestern" of all Southwestern towns.

[soundforlanguage81]

It's a quintessential southern city, there is no discussion.

[MetroBTR]

Southern...no room for debate even. Next Question!

[Akhenaton06]

Southwestern? WTF????

[soundforlanguage81]

One could also argue that N.O. is more French-Canadian than southern due to the acadian influence.


Disclaimer: This is complete sarcasm, just saying this to clear the air before some shmoe decides it's a valid debate....It's not.

[imaterry78259]

NOLA is a south central city or is it the beginning of the Caribe

[bchris02]

Originally Posted by soundforlanguage81

One could also argue that N.O. is more French-Canadian than southern due to the acadian influence.


Disclaimer: This is complete sarcasm, just saying this to clear the air before some shmoe decides it's a valid debate....It's not.

Actually, me and another poster who I will leave unnamed were arguing whether New Orleans was southern or southwestern. He insisted it was southwestern, so I started this thread. I see absolutely nothing southwestern about New Orleans.

[MantaRay]

Originally Posted by WestbankNOLA

From now on let's just put everything from Houston and Galveston to New Orleans, in its own category.

Yeah, Dirtwater! Or the Mud Coast! Maybe Brokeback Bayou?

[WestbankNOLA]

Originally Posted by imaterry78259

NOLA is a south central city or is it the beginning of the Caribe

a little of both

lol @ brokeback bayou