bourbon st very slow (New Orleans: crime, home, live in)

[pnutbujelly]

I have been going to NOLA just before or just after Mardi Gras for years. This was the slowest I have ever seen Bourbon St. There was no one in the balcony’s asking the girls to show breasts. There was maybe 300 to 400 people out at anyone time. When I walked at 12 to 1am you could have shot a rifle down the street and not hit a thing. On wed. I walked to the French market and there was 9, That’s right 9 vendors. I talked with one vendor and he said that during sugar bowl he usually sell's 20,000$ worth, he said he sold 500$. It were more vendors out Thursday but nothing like years past. I went into Alpine to eat on Thursday night and we were the only people there from 7:00pm to 8:30pm. They had 2 servers and a bar maid. I got my room on price line at the Holliday Inn on Royal for 39$ a night. I did not expect the first try to be accepted. What do you guys who live there see?

[miserylovesco.]

All my friends who work on Bourbon claim to be busy.
You gotta remember, we're in a recession, any business is good business at this point.
People are losing all their stuff, might as well be thankful people like you want to still come down and drink some beers.

[Innotech]

I would definitely chalk it up more to a worldwide recession than a particular problem with New Orleans. The FQ is reasonably busy considering what the city went through. It is still a premier destination for visitors to Louisiana. It is still very much the unique city it always was and that includes the people who live in it.

[poltergiest]

I went to NOLA a few weeks ago. It was not as busy as I have seen before either. I did pick up a couple of nice water meter lids at the french market though. They were a bit rusty and I painted them up and did a bit of dry brushing and they look great. I got them for 15$@. One was a key lock the other was not. Both look great on my wall. I noticed that it was slow on bourbon street. There were maybe 3 to 4 hundered people total. I am used to a thousand or more all along the street.

[Bluesmama]

We went there in '06. A lot of people thought we were nuts for going there so soon after Katrina, but I knew that anything tourists go there for was 'open for business'.

So we went. And something we will never forget, is how many times people said, "Thank you for coming." We were there for 10 days, a weekend of it for the French Quarter Fest, which drew a good crowd. But it was pretty slow otherwise. I have tried to convince people to GO (although what I read about crime these days has me a bit nervous).

We'll be there again this time, also for 10 days. And we'll catch the first half of Jazz Fest. The rest of the time will be spent enjoying the city and maybe taking the River Drive and a swamp tour.

Poltergiest, I'll have to remember those water meter lids. They're pretty heavy to pack but I still want one. Thanks for sharing that tid-bit.

[WestbankNOLA]

It varies night to night and like the above posts say, It's a recession. I went down a couple of weeks ago and it was kind of empty. Two weeks before that we had to hold hands to stay together on Bourbon because of the crowd and New Years it was packed from one end to the other. The Quarter is doing pretty good considering the circumstances of the country and city.

[Stitches]

Originally Posted by pnutbujelly

I have been going to NOLA just before or just after Mardi Gras for years. This was the slowest I have ever seen Bourbon St. There was no one in the balcony’s asking the girls to show breasts. There was maybe 300 to 400 people out at anyone time. When I walked at 12 to 1am you could have shot a rifle down the street and not hit a thing. On wed. I walked to the French market and there was 9, That’s right 9 vendors. I talked with one vendor and he said that during sugar bowl he usually sell's 20,000$ worth, he said he sold 500$. It were more vendors out Thursday but nothing like years past. I went into Alpine to eat on Thursday night and we were the only people there from 7:00pm to 8:30pm. They had 2 servers and a bar maid. I got my room on price line at the Holliday Inn on Royal for 39$ a night. I did not expect the first try to be accepted. What do you guys who live there see?

The week before Mardi Gras, it will start getting filled up again. Lundi Gras and Mardi Gras, there will be so many people crammed body-to-body onto the street, that it is almost impossible to move down the street. Ash Wednesday, most of the partiers leave town and things will be back to how they are now. I actually prefer when it is empty; I can take in the historic beauty of the Quarter without the drunks and weirdos.

[jacq63]

What is 'busy' in NOLA? Bourbon St has sorta turned into a frat boy/rowdy business man away from home magnet. We are actually trying to avoid it now, and go to areas where locals hang out. There seems to be a sudden proliferation of bars with bland 'music' since we were here last.
I still think N.O has a great vibe, even if it's not crazy busy.
I am doing what I can to support the local economy..not hard really.

I guess N.O needs the tourists, but please don't let them (us) turn N.O into Disneyland..you have a wonderful, spirited place here, with a great sense of heritage and history.

Having said that , the 'bon temps' are still 'roulezing' I think.

[sierraAZ]

Originally Posted by Blue_Bayoula

No kidding, it never ceases to amaze me the way tourists will behave in NOLA. I can't even talk about it I'm so mad, what a bunch of jerks.

Yeah... it's OK with me if Bourbon in particular is slow... I've been reading that locals are annoyed by the media reducing Mardi Gras to the frat party on Bourbon and frankly I'd be mad, too, if I lived there.

[Huckleberry3911948]

dont live there any more but per the OP post, too many people have fired a rifle on the streets that is the issue behind "slow". everybody that posts to give NO a boost always wana talk about katrina, katrina is not why they went away.