One of New Orleans' many nicknames
is "the
Crescent City
," because of the way it
nestles between the southern shore
of Lake Pontchartrain and a dramatic
horseshoe bend in the Mississippi
River. This unique location makes
the city's layout confusing, with
streets curving to follow the river,
and shooting off at odd angles to
head inland. Compass points are of
little use here - locals refer
instead to
lakeside (towards
the lake) and
riverside
(towards the river), and, using
Canal Street as the dividing line,
uptown
(or upriver) and
downtown
(downriver).
Most visitors spend most time in
the battered, charming old French
Quarter (or Vieux Carré
), site of the original settlement.
On its fringes, the funky Faubourg
Marigny creeps northeast from
Esplanade Avenue, while the
Quarter's lakeside boundary, Rampart
Street , marks the beginning of
the historic, run-down
African-American neighborhood of Tremé
. On the other side of the Quarter,
across Canal Street , the CBD
(Central Business District), bounded
by the river and I-10, spreads
upriver to the Pontchartrain
Expressway. Dominated by offices,
hotels and banks, it also
incorporates the revitalizing Warehouse
District and, towards the lake,
the gargantuan Superdome . A
ferry ride across the river from the
foot of Canal Street takes you to
the suburban west bank and the
residential district of old Algiers
.
Back on the east bank, it's an
easy journey upriver from the CBD to
the rare-fied Garden District
, an area of gorgeous old mansions,
some of them in delectable ruin. The
Lower Garden District ,
creeping between the expressway and
Jackson, is quite a different
creature, its run-down old houses
filled with impoverished artists and
musicians. The best way to get to
either neighborhood is on the
streetcar along swanky St Charles
Avenue , the Garden District's
lakeside boundary; you can also
approach it from Magazine Street
, a six-mile stretch of galleries
and antique stores that runs
parallel to St Charles riverside.
Entering the Garden District, you've
crossed the official boundary into uptown
, which spreads upriver to encompass
Audubon Park and Zoo.
