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Real Estate & Homes in New Orleans - Louisiana - New Orleans, Lousiana homes and communities
New Orleans
 
New Orleans History
The largest city in Louisiana, New Orleans is known the world over for its colorful history, enduring romance and multicultural charm. It's the carpe diem capital of the United States. An enchanting land of Mardi Gras. All-night jazz. Clanging streetcars. Paddlewheel steamers. Café au lait and beignets. Creole houses and plantation homes. Sleepy bayous, swamps and moss-draped oaks. Sometimes bawdy. Sometimes mysterious. Always magical.
The fourth-largest port in the world, the city is situated below sea level and surrounded by water: the Mississippi River, Lake Pontchartrain, and a bevy of bayous and waterways. It can see as much as 60 to 100 inches of rainfall each year. To stay dry, the city is built on a complex system of levees, spillways and pumping stations, and it once relied on a canal network comparable in length to the canals of Venice, Italy!
Over the years, New Orleans has amassed a unique array of nicknames, from “The Big Easy,” “The City Care Forgot” and “The European Queen of the Mississippi” to “The Crescent City” because of its location on a graceful river curve. Indeed, the city's unusual shape can make getting around confusing. Rather than traditional compass points, locals give directions according to “lakeside” or “riverside.”
New Orleans’ history is as vibrant as the French and Spanish influences that transformed it from a murky shipping port in the 1700s to a world-class, cosmopolitan gem of the American South. "La Nouvelle Orleans" was founded in 1718 as a French-Canadian outpost, 19 years after Louisiana was claimed for French King Louis XIV. It remained a French colony until 1763, when it was transferred to the Spanish — and then ceded back to France in 1800. By the end of the 18th century, the port was flourishing, and the city's unusual demographic mix took shape. New arrivals streamed in from every world corner: Anglo-Americans escaping the American Revolution, aristocrats fleeing from the revolution in France, Canadians chased out by the British, and free people of color from the Caribbean.
In 1803, Napoleon I sold New Orleans, along with the entire Louisiana Purchase, to the United States for about 4 cents an acre. In the 19th century, New Orleans grew to be the largest city in the South.
The city was the site of the Battle of New Orleans in the War of 1812, and during the Civil War, it was occupied by Union troops from 1862 to 1865. It was captured without a battle and hence was spared the destruction suffered by so many other Southern cities. New Orleans served as the capital of Louisiana until 1849, and then again from 1865 to 1880.
Today, the city is a curious mixture of the old and new, with a look and feel that can be found nowhere else in the nation. It's often described as a “cultural gumbo,” a spicy mix of flavors that complement one another without losing their individual distinction. New Orleans’ Creoles (descendants of the original French and Spanish colonists), Cajuns (descendants of the Acadians who were driven from Canada by the British in 1755), and other groups whose ancestors came from Italy, Germany, Ireland, Africa, the Caribbean islands and various points in between are all key ingredients in the city's savory uniqueness.
New Orleans is served by the New Orleans International Airport, just 11 miles west of the city center. Trains and buses share Union Station in the Central business district. A streetcar or a mule-drawn carriage is a popular way to soak in the city sites, along with a paddlewheel boat cruise along the mighty Mississippi.
In the Crescent City, the good times roll 24-7! One of few American cities without a closing law, it's literally open all day and night. Wherever your destination, whatever the time of day, you can count on delicious cuisine, fascinating characters and abundant adventures at every turn.
  
New Orleans Fast Facts
Location: New Orleans is located in southern Louisiana on the banks of the Mississippi River and the shores of Lake Ponchartrain.
*Total area: 907 km2, nearly half of which is water
*Elevation: 11 feet
*Population: 484,674
*Housing units: 215,091
*Average housing density: 1,036.4/km2
*Median household income: $27,133
*Average temperature: 55°F in winter; 82°F in summer
*Information provided by 2000 Census
Neighborhoods
New Orleans is a checkerboard of distinct neighborhoods, each with its own allure and ambiance.
The fabled French Quarter, the oldest part of New Orleans, is the city's heart and soul. It's a colorful world of iron gateways and verdant courtyards, lush with wisteria, tropical plants and banana trees. The French Quarter comprises 90 city blocks, laid out in a grid pattern. The Vieux Carre, or "Old Square," is the site of the original city and contains many of the historic and architecturally significant buildings for which New Orleans is famous. Before World War II, the French Quarter was a mecca for writers, from Tennessee Williams to William Faulkner. With its festive lifestyle and constant swirl of activity, the French Quarter sets the pace for the rest of the city.
The Central Business/Warehouse District is adjacent to the French Quarter in downtown. Long the site of massive warehouses servicing river traffic, these monolithic structures have been converted to upscale loft apartments and first-class condominiums, offering luxurious amenities and extraordinary views of the Mississippi River and skyline.
Also located adjacent to the French Quarter is the Marigny. A mostly residential neighborhood with many trendy restaurants, coffeehouses and nightclubs, it's the neighborhood of choice for artists of all sorts. The area is known as "the maze of New Orleans.” Its streets form triangles, pentagons and squares set at 45-degree angles, while numbers and street names often jump their sequence mid-block.
The Garden District is a predominantly residential area that boasts some of the finest architecture and lush garden landscaping in New Orleans. Many consider it to be the most beautiful neighborhood in the nation. It's where the city's original aristocratic class settled, building exquisite antebellum homes — many of which have been restored in grand fashion. Highlights include the St. Charles Streetcar line and Lafayette Cemetery. The Garden District is also home to some famous names, like novelist Anne Rice.
Uptown, referred to by most locals as “up from the river,” began as a series of wedge-shaped plantations in the late 19th century. Today it's the largest residential area of the city, teeming with chic boutiques, outdoor cafes and youthful energy. The Audubon Zoo and Park are part of the neighborhood, as are Tulane and Loyola Universities.
The Bywater is a charming and close-knit community that reflects its historic roots. The neighborhood features examples of virtually every period of architecture, from Creole cottages to late Victorian homes. The relatively inexpensive housing costs in Bywater have brought many new homeowners, as well as continued restoration of historic structures and preservation of the neighborhood as a whole.
 
Attractions
Whatever your pleasure, you'll have enough activity for a lifetime of fun in the city that invented a good time.
Celebrate the world-famous Mardi Gras, or “Fat Tuesday.” Held each year in New Orleans the week before Lent, this spectacular event — called “the Largest Free Show on Earth” — is marked by colorful parades, masked balls and dancing in the street.
Take a ride on the St. Charles Streetcar, the world's oldest street railway line. Today, it transports locals and tourists from uptown to the business district along St. Charles Avenue.
If you're a history buff or just love a good ghost story, you won't want to miss the Haunted History Tour. With New Orleans deemed the most haunted and vampiric city in the United States, this tour of above-ground tombs and documented ghost sightings will leave you tingling.
The city's expansive cemeteries are the stuff of legend. Many resemble Greek temples or Egyptian pyramids, while others look like Southern antebellum homes without windows. All Saints Day on Nov. 1, and the days leading up to it are a favorite time to visit the city's tombs, whitewashed and decorated with fresh wreaths and chrysanthemums.
For another glimpse into New Orleans’ dark and mysterious side, find out everything you always wanted to known about voodoo at the New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum.
Museum lovers of every variety will have a field day in the Crescent City, with an endless array of historic and interactive displays to choose from. Discover the history of Louisiana, from European explorations to the post-Civil War Reconstruction era, at the Louisiana State Museum. A collection of several museums, it includes the famous Cabildo, the actual site of the 1803 Louisiana Purchase ceremonies, and the Old U.S. Mint, the only building in America to have served as both a U.S. and Confederate Mint.
Marvel at milestones in pharmacy and medicine at the New Orleans Pharmacy Museum, where the first licensed U.S. pharmacist opened an apothecary shop in 1823.
Celebrate the Italian contribution to New Orleans culture at the American-Italian Museum.
Delight in the treasures of the House of Broel’s Victorian Mansion and Dollhouse Museum, a three-story, life-size doll house.
Experience more than 300 years of history, legend and scandal with the 154 life-size figures at the Musee Conti Wax Museum. Don't miss the Haunted Dungeon!
Check out uniforms, weapons and other Civil War memorabilia at the Confederate Civil War Museum, Louisiana's oldest museum. For another battle view, explore the world's largest amphibious assault at the renowned D-Day Museum.
Take the kids to the Louisiana Children's Museum, featuring drama, dance and puppet shows; hands-on math and physics exhibits; and a reproduction of a television studio. Or indulge them in endless adventure at the 140-acre Jazzland, a Six Flags theme park.
If you're an architecture buff, New Orleans is your treasure trove. The city has 10 natural historic districts and about 40,000 buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places, more than most other cities in the United States.
Many of the city's architectural treasures are located in the 120 blocks of the French Quarter, where you'll find an intriguing variety of genteel plantation homes. The Destrahan Plantation is the oldest in the state and boasts an elegantly restored antebellum mansion. The Oak Alley Plantation is perhaps the most recognized plantation in the country, thanks to its appearance in countless movies and TV shows.
Along with plantations, you'll find restored historic homes, open for touring — from the Gallier House, called one of the “best small museums in the country” by The New York Times, to the Beauregard-Keyes House, a Greek Revival Cottage once called home by General P.G.T. Beauregard of the Confederacy.
Visit St. Louis Cathedral, the oldest continuously active Roman Catholic Cathedral in the United States, and the Old Ursuline Convent, the oldest building in the Mississippi River Valley.
Revel in the legend of Tony Moran’s Old Absinthe House. Built in 1806 by two Spaniards, this watering hole's namesake drink has long been banned for causing blindness and insanity. But you can enjoy any other drink concoction and feel the presence of the famous patrons who have gone before you, from Andrew Jackson to Walt Whitman.
If you're a shopaholic, you won't want to miss the French Market in the French Quarter. America's oldest functioning city market, the site dates back to the Chotaw Indians, who set up a trading post there hundreds of years ago.
 
The Arts
With its intertwined European, Latin American and African American cultures, New Orleans has long been a center for music. More than 100 clubs feature live music, from jazz to zydeco, Cajun to Latin, R&B to rock ‘n’ roll.
The “Big Easy” is rightfully known as the birthplace of jazz. Early jazz greats got their starts in the nightclubs of Storyville, a fabled red-light district that flourished in the early 20th century. At Preservation Hall, the tradition continues with local musicians performing every night of the year.
Celebrate jazz and French Quarter life at the French Quarter Festival, a three-day funfest held every April, featuring music, art shows and more. Here, Jackson Square is transformed into the biggest jazz brunch in New Orleans, with about 40 leading restaurants serving up Cajun and Creole specialties.
Join one of the world's greatest cultural celebrations at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, held every year in late April. This annual 10-day event draws thousands of well-known musicians and hundreds of thousands of jazz enthusiasts. In August, Satchmo SummerFest heralds the legend of jazz icon and native son Louis Armstrong. Jazz is so synonymous with New Orleans that the city even has a national park devoted to this indigenous musical art form: the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park.
For more great entertainment, catch a Broadway musical at the nationally renowned Saenger Theatre. Or enjoy a performance at Le Petit Théâtre du Vieux Carré, one of the oldest little theaters in the United States.
Classical music lovers can revel in the sounds of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra or catch an opera performance at the New Orleans Center for the Performing Arts.
If dance is your passion, you'll enjoy classics and modern works from the New Orleans Ballet Association. As a special bonus, after each performance, artistic directors and company members discuss their work.
If you're a visual art connoisseur, New Orleans offers an array of cultural riches to delight you. Explore the nearly 40,000 treasures of the New Orleans Museum of Art, as well as the Contemporary Arts Center, Gallier House, and countless private galleries featuring international and local painting, sculpture, and photography.
 
Recreation and Leisure
Water, water everywhere! Surrounded by swamps, America's largest river and the Gulf of Mexico, New Orleans brings an endless selection of outdoor water activities, from canoeing and kayaking to sailing. Fishing enthusiasts will delight in the bayous and inlets off the Mississippi, where redfish, trout and bass abound.
Start your water excursions at City Park. With 1,500 acres, it's the fourth-largest urban park in the nation. Canoes and paddleboats are available to rent for excursions to surrounding park lagoons.
Stroll through the lush gardens of the 10-acre New Orleans Botanical Garden, a tropical conservatory.
Take in the cool breezes and wonderful river views at the Waldenberg Park, a 20-acre green oasis on the river in the French Quarter. This promenade, lined with hundreds of beautiful trees, is located in the heart of the city and features works by local artists. It's also home to the Aquarium of the Americas, featuring more than 7,500 aquatic specimens and one of the world's largest shark collections.
Hike, fish and camp on the 2,800 pristine acres of Fontainebleu State Park, just north of the city.
Picnic and ride horses at Audubon Park, named for famous naturalist and painter John James Audubon. The park also houses the 58-acre Audubon Zoo, featuring everything from white alligators to rare white tigers.
Take a scenic swamp ride on the Cajun Pride Swamp Tour. Or cruise on the three-decker Natchez, an authentic steamboat offering full-service catering and live jazz.
Whatever your sport, you're bound to find a league to play in, from badminton to billiards, rugby to ultimate Frisbee.
Runners can choose from a smorgasbord of competitive events, highlighted by the 10K Crescent City Classic, the nation's fifth-largest road race. The runs are backed by the Crescent City Fitness Foundation, organized with the express goal of promoting health and fitness to the New Orleans community.
Thoroughbred racing enthusiasts will find plenty of action at the Fair Grounds Race Track, while card sharks can play to their hearts’ content at Harrah’s New Orleans Casino, just steps from the French Quarter.
Bowlers can “rock ‘n’ bowl” at the Mid City Lanes, an 18-lane center featuring strikes and spares in a party atmosphere.
Every season is golf season in New Orleans, with breathtaking greens surrounded by moss-draped oaks, towering pines and cypress lagoons. The Professional Golf Association makes a stop in the Big Easy every spring with the Compaq Classic, held early May at English Turn Golf and Country Club.
In the fall, it's Harley-Davidson time, as thousands of motorcyclists convene on New Orleans for the Steel Pony Express™, an annual four-day event and festival.
Spectator sports fans will have no shortage of teams to root for in New Orleans, from the NBA's Hornets to the NFL's Saints and Tulane University's Green Wave. The New Orleans Brass professional hockey team also plays in the city, while the New Orleans Zephyrs minor league baseball team has a stadium in Jefferson Parish.
New Orleans has served eight times as host of the Super Bowl, more than any other city, and it also hosts the annual Sugar Bowl Classic football game.
The 72,675-seat Louisiana Superdome, just minutes from the French Quarter, is the largest indoor stadium in the world.
Dining
As they say in New Orleans, "we don't eat to live, but live to eat.” Food in New Orleans is a way of life. In fact, it's so much a part of Crescent City culture that when giving directions to a destination, a native New Orleanian will use well-known restaurants or cafes as landmarks, rather than street names. The city boasts more than 3,000 restaurants, many of which have been owned and operated by the same families for generations.
From fresh seafood from the Gulf to Creole and Cajun specialties to fine ethnic fare, New Orleans is known the world over for its artfully created cuisine. Many of the city's restaurants have Web sites and freely share their recipes. The Big Easy is also home to more than a dozen cooking schools, including the renowned Culinary Institute of New Orleans.
Every May, the city hosts the New Orleans Wine and Food Experience, a five-day event featuring more than 800 wines from around the world and culinary creations from more than 100 of the city's finest restaurants.
New Orleanians have created their own cuisine vocabulary — from andouille (spicy Cajun sausage) to beignets (deep-fried pastries), gumbo (thick soup) to pain perdu (French toast made with French bread). To non-natives, it can sound like a foreign language! Yet whatever’s cooking, you can bet it will be tasty, rich and filling, a kind of culinary melting pot of textures, flavors and cultural influences.
Housing
New Orleans is home to some of the most historic and beautiful real estate in the world. From oak-shrouded avenues in the Garden District to piney woods on the North Shore, the area offers an array of choices in price range, ambiance and lifestyle.
With a median home price of $108,600 — below the national average — housing in New Orleans provides great value. It's no wonder that the Crescent City real estate market is one of the most active and fastest-growing markets in the country.
In many New Orleans neighborhoods, Creole cottages and shotgun houses are the dominant structures. The Creole cottage — two rooms wide, and two or more rooms deep under a pitched roof with a front overhang — likely evolved from European and Caribbean forms. The shotgun house — one room wide and two, three or four rooms deep under a continuous gable roof — represents a distinctively Southern type of house. It is as much a symbol of New Orleans as the French Quarter.
In Orleans Parish, Downtown and the Warehouse District offers a variety of first-class condominiums, with luxurious amenities and spectacular views of the Mississippi River and skyline.
The French Quarter, too, features condominiums that continue to expand in value and allure.
The Garden District has an array of Victorian side hall cottages and antebellum mansions.
In the Uptown/University area, you'll find properties with main houses and additional garage or duplex dwellings for additional income or expanded family quarters.
Lakeview features frame cottages and sprawling brick ranches, all in the beautiful setting of Lake Pontchartrain.
Across the lake is the North Shore, the fast-growing area in Louisiana. This booming neighborhood offers an abundance of new construction and some of the most beautiful forest land in the South, with large lots and property available in a wide range of prices. Slidwell, located between New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast, is a popular choice for Louisiana and Mississippi workers alike. It features everything from water to golf course lots.
East New Orleans, near downtown, offers single-family residences, miles of lake view and several communities with golf course living.
Algiers, on the west bank of the Mississippi River, features large suburban neighborhoods along with the secluded Algiers Point, with Victorian cottages dating to the late 19th century. English Turn, on the lower coast of Algiers, is a golf community designed by Jack Nicklaus. Homes here, ranging from the $400,000s, promise a secluded, upscale lifestyle.
The surrounding parishes of Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. Bernard and Plaquemines also offer a variety of older homes and new construction.
 
Employment
The New Orleans economy has traditionally relied heavily on manufacturing and shipping, both river barge and ocean vessel traffic. One of the country's busiest international ports, New Orleans leads the nation in tonnage of goods conveyed.
Metropolitan New Orleans is one of Louisiana's foremost industrial centers. The city's industrial base is highly diversified, with more than 800 manufacturing operations. Leading industries include shipbuilding; petroleum refining; food processing; and manufacturing of clothing, construction materials, wood products, primary metals and petrochemicals. In recent years, the tourism, health care and biotechnology industries make up an increasing share of the city's employment opportunities.
The federal government is also key to the New Orleans economy, with military installations and many regional federal offices. The Michoud Assembly Facility, located just outside of the city, produces equipment for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Other growing sectors of the economy include high technology, and professional services, legal/accounting, hospitals and universities. Tulane University is New Orleans' largest employer, with 5,900 employees and 17,800 contractors.
Education
New Orleans has a rich educational heritage, beginning in 1727, when Ursuline nuns opened a convent school for girls. The parochial school system, which extends into the outlying metropolitan parishes, or counties, is now one of the largest in the United States. The parishes also have well-established public school systems.
The region's many colleges and universities offer undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees in a broad range of academic and occupational fields.
Six vocational-technical schools and community colleges with a combined enrollment of about 15,000 provide balance between the university systems and vo-tech schools.
Higher education institutions include:
Dillard University: Dillard University is a private, historically black, faith-based liberal arts institution.
Loyola University of New Orleans: One of 28 Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States, Loyola emphasizes the Jesuit tradition of educating the whole person. Its 5,500 students come from some 50 countries around the world.
Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center: SUHSC educates health professionals and scientists at all levels, with a focus on advancing and disseminating knowledge in medicine, dentistry, nursing, allied, health, public health and basic sciences. It includes six schools, nine Centers of Excellence and patient-care clinics.
Louisiana State University School of Dentistry: LSUSD, the state's only dental school, is considered one of the finest dental schools in the world. It educates more than 70 percent of the dental professionals practicing in Louisiana today.
Our Lady of Holy Cross College: The college has a growing enrollment of 1,450 full- and part-time students.
Southeastern Louisiana University: Southeastern is the fourth-largest university in Louisiana, offering 65 undergraduate and graduate degree programs, including new master's degree programs in integrated science and technology, organizational communication, and applied sociology.
Southern University of New Orleans: SUNO awards about 450 undergraduate and 70 graduate degrees each year. It offers a range of degree programs in the liberal arts and sciences, business, education, technology, and a variety of graduate degree programs.
Tulane University: Tulane is a private, nonsectarian research university with 11 schools and colleges. Tulane’s Amistad Research Center is one of the finest facilities in the United States for the study of African American culture and history.
University of New Orleans: UNO’s more than 17,000 undergraduate and graduate students come from the city's surrounding seven-parish area, as well as dozens of nations around the globe.
Xavier University of Louisiana: Catholic and historically Black, Xavier ranks No. 1 in the nation in the number of doctor of pharmacy degrees awarded to African Americans, in placing African American students into medical schools, and in awarding undergraduates degrees in biology and the life sciences.
Delgado Community College: Delgado Community College offers 40 degree programs with 19 concentrations in seven of the degree programs, and 25 certificate programs.
Elaine P. Nunez Community College: The college bears the name of the late wife of the Honorable Samuel B. Nunez, Jr., former president of the Louisiana State Senate. It was the first public institution of higher learning in Louisiana to be named for a woman. Today, the college serves nearly 2,000 students each semester in credit courses and many more in noncredit offerings.
Where is New Orleans?
Written by Sue Carrington exclusively for HomesParadise.com.
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