New Orleans, LA

Posted January 7, 200916 yr

January 7, 200916 yr

Nice set.

January 7, 200916 yr

Beautiful photos! You captured the color, history, and urban density perfectly. I think a lot of tourists only see Bourbon Street and their hotel, and never notice the city's impressive commercial district.

A ride on the St. Charles streetcar out to the end of the line is a time trip. Once you get beyond Canal Street and the hotels, it's a workaday line that people use to get to and from work and school. During peak periods the service is very frequent, and from all appearances and sounds the cars are just as they were when built in 1923. They have varnished wood-slat seats and bare-bulb interior lighting, and they amble along at about 10mph down a grassy center median past some of the city's finest mansions. Air conditioning? That's what windows are for.

January 7, 200916 yr

I've never been to New Orleans... but this set of photos makes me want to fix that! Thanks for sharing!

January 7, 200916 yr

Canal street is pretty tacky and ugly.

But I agree, many people don't go past Rampart street or Dumaine Street. They judge all of NoLa by the French Quarter.

Go outside of the Warehouse District/CBD or the FQ and you'll see the real NoLa. It's not pretty.

Clevelumbus, did you get a chance to go to the Clover Grill. Best time to go is around 2 AM. It's a kii-kii!!! The CG's moto: "We're here to serve people and make them feel prettier than they are"

January 7, 200916 yr

Go outside of the Warehouse District/CBD or the FQ and you'll see the real NoLa. It's not pretty.

Exactly. New Orleans outside the French Quarter, Garden District and Magazine Street sucks. It is extremely poor, dirty, few jobs, lots of crime, way too humid/sticky, and everybody's fat. New Orleans post Katrina is turning more into a cliche than anything else. It's become less of a functioning city than what it was.

Some people have moved back but places like the Lower 9th still sit vacant for the most part. Some new people have moved their but almost as a statement (similar to buying a Prius). New Orleans is a place to visit for a weekend, but definitely not a place to raise a family, invest, or settle down.

January 7, 200916 yr

Go outside of the Warehouse District/CBD or the FQ and you'll see the real NoLa. It's not pretty.

Exactly. New Orleans outside the French Quarter, Garden District and Magazine Street sucks. It is extremely poor, dirty, few jobs, lots of crime, way too humid/sticky, and everybody's fat. New Orleans post Katrina is turning more into a cliche than anything else. It's become less of a functioning city than what it was.

Some people have moved back but places like the Lower 9th still sit vacant for the most part. Some new people have moved their but almost as a statement (similar to buying a Prius). New Orleans is a place to visit for a weekend, but definitely not a place to raise a family, invest, or settle down.

I agree, it's lifeless, but like many older cities the buildings and homes that have been vacated are gorgeous. New Orlean's neighborhoods, Uptown and Audubon could be Cleveland's Hough. Their Gentilly neighborhood could be Cleveland's Tremont. Their Lake Terrace neighborhood feels like Glenville or East Cleveland's Forest Hills, just more racial diverse.

January 7, 200916 yr

...go to the Clover Grill ...

Back when I was still gainfully employed, I attended a week-long software-engineering symposium in New Orleans. Even though I was on an expense account, I found the hotel breakfasts outrageously expensive. On one of my early-morning walks I found a corner grill on Canal Street where local workers ate, and had my breakfasts there.

Likewise for the evening social events sponsored by the software company, with business-casual dress code; after the classes were over, I'd put on some old jeans, a sweatshirt, and beat-up sneakers, pick up a newspaper, and claim a spot in a booth at the Clover Grill, facing the door. I'd order a coke and fries and a burger and browse the paper while watching the locals come and go. Interesting place.

On the hotel's map of the city's attractions, the Clover Grill was in an "unsafe" area. That's often where you find the good stuff and escape the pretentiousness.

January 7, 200916 yr

...go to the Clover Grill ...

Back when I was still gainfully employed, I attended a week-long software-engineering symposium in New Orleans. Even though I was on an expense account, I found the hotel breakfasts outrageously expensive. On one of my early-morning walks I found a corner grill on Canal Street where local workers ate, and had my breakfasts there.

Likewise for the evening social events sponsored by the software company, with business-casual dress code; after the classes were over, I'd put on some old jeans, a sweatshirt, and beat-up sneakers, pick up a newspaper, and claim a spot in a booth at the Clover Grill, facing the door. I'd order a coke and fries and a burger and browse the paper while watching the locals come and go. Interesting place.

On the hotel's map of the city's attractions, the Clover Grill was in an "unsafe" area. That's often where you find the good stuff and escape the pretentiousness.

Rob I 100% agree. There is a bbq joint near Lee Circle that looks like a condemned garbage dump. It's a completely ugly area and what appears on the outside to be "sketchy" but the place was packed with locals and the BBQ (y'all know MTS is a carnivore) was off the hook.

Just don't eat at Mother's! The food isn't worth the long - and I mean long - line just to get in.

Question, you thought the "hotel" prices for the food was outrageous? O was it just at that time? Because I find the food in NoLa to be very under prices for the quality and size of portions.

January 7, 200916 yr

Tres Bien!

January 7, 200916 yr

Question, you thought the "hotel" prices for the food was outrageous? O was it just at that time? Because I find the food in NoLa to be very under prices for the quality and size of portions.

This shindig was at the Hyatt. A rather ordinary breakfast off the menu was $14. Maybe it was expensive because of the fancy fold on the napkins, or the pat of butter shaped like a butterfly. I could get a breakfast special (bacon, eggs, toast, maybe even some hash browns or home fries, with plenty of strong coffee) at a local grill for around $3 - $4, and it was tasty because it had the obligatory generous portion of grease that goes with southern cooking.

I think Lee Circle was once the focal point of downtown; the streetcar lines converged/radiated out from there, with a branch to Union Station. The wide, landscaped medians in many of the major streets are where the streetcars once ran. The only survivor of those is the St. Charles line. The waterfront line is a newer creation built to serve the tourist trade. I'm not knocking it, though; they did a nice job with it, and aside from the color, the streetcars on it are pretty close approximations of the original Perley Thomas cars that still run on St. Charles.

January 7, 200916 yr

Question, you thought the "hotel" prices for the food was outrageous? O was it just at that time? Because I find the food in NoLa to be very under prices for the quality and size of portions.

Yeah, there are plenty of places to get a cheap yet filling mean with some "seasoning".

That "riverfront" line is 10 times worse than Clevelands waterfront line.

This shindig was at the Hyatt. A rather ordinary breakfast off the menu was $14. Maybe it was expensive because of the fancy fold on the napkins, or the pat of butter shaped like a butterfly. I could get a breakfast special (bacon, eggs, toast, maybe even some hash browns or home fries, with plenty of strong coffee) at a local grill for around $3 - $4, and it was tasty because it had the obligatory generous portion of grease that goes with southern cooking.

I think Lee Circle was once the focal point of downtown; the streetcar lines converged/radiated out from there, with a branch to Union Station. The wide, landscaped medians in many of the major streets are where the streetcars once ran. The only survivor of those is the St. Charles line. The waterfront line is a newer creation built to serve the tourist trade. I'm not knocking it, though; they did a nice job with it, and aside from the color, the streetcars on it are pretty close approximations of the original Perley Thomas cars that still run on St. Charles.

January 7, 200916 yr

Interesting set of photos. You definitely captured the nicer parts of New Orleans... but it degrades fast outside of that!

January 7, 200916 yr

^ It sure does, and it is depressing to see such a nice urban core surrounded by third world conditions - almost scary, if I hadn't been to places like Detroit and parts of Cleveland that are in just as bad shape.

January 8, 200916 yr

Canal street is pretty tacky and ugly.

But I agree, many people don't go past Rampart street or Dumaine Street. They judge all of NoLa by the French Quarter.

Go outside of the Warehouse District/CBD or the FQ and you'll see the real NoLa. It's not pretty.

Clevelumbus, did you get a chance to go to the Clover Grill. Best time to go is around 2 AM. It's a kii-kii!!! The CG's moto: "We're here to serve people and make them feel prettier than they are"

It's not THAT bad. Uptown, Garden District, etc are fine areas.

Great shots Marc!

"You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers

January 8, 200916 yr

Canal street is pretty tacky and ugly.

But I agree, many people don't go past Rampart street or Dumaine Street. They judge all of NoLa by the French Quarter.

Go outside of the Warehouse District/CBD or the FQ and you'll see the real NoLa. It's not pretty.

Clevelumbus, did you get a chance to go to the Clover Grill. Best time to go is around 2 AM. It's a kii-kii!!! The CG's moto: "We're here to serve people and make them feel prettier than they are"

It's not THAT bad. Uptown, Garden District, etc are fine areas.

Great shots Marc!

I'm talking about areas than those. Some of those areas around city part are worse than garden valley in Cleveland. These area's were bad before katrina, they look like hell now. and make a place like 79, between both train stops look like paradise!

The areas right by the cemetery, the area surround the Superdome and the area around Louis Armstrong Park & the Highway, which is just across the street from the FQ are ghetto as all hell!

January 8, 200916 yr

Agreed on that last part, which is surprising.

"You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers

January 8, 200916 yr

Agreed on that last part, which is surprising.

Trust, there is a restaurant by the highway near Canal.

They have the spicy soulfood, fusion joint and it's located in the hood near the highway - and I mean hood. We drive up there, and us good folks ask the guy from New Orleans to just park there. He said, in a nasty tone, "I'm not parking here. You three can get out, I'll sit here and leave the car running". I was like, WTF. He then goes on to say, "this is not the safest neighborhood, when I come with my boys, just roll up and one person stays in the car while the other person orders and we never come after 6/7 at night".

I was like damn....but the food was good.

January 10, 200916 yr

LOL!

"You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers

January 11, 200916 yr

I need to get to New Orleans!

January 24, 200916 yr

awesome work here. you covered all the off the beaten track big city stuff very well.

i want a mayor named moon landrieu !!!

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