Canal Street

[nola17]

Well, if you drive down Canal Street lately you will see all of the construction going on. But, is the cooridor recovering fast enough.

Post your thoughts on Canal Street post-katrina.

Also, I found this website from one of the other forums that goes into detail of a big transition of canal street. I dont know if the plan is still on since katrina.

[UptownNewOrleans]

Canal St. definitely is not the same post-Katrina. I drove through there yesterday and I was quite astonished at how rapidly construction is coming along. Now if only the 9th Ward could get that same attention.

[NCB]

Also, I found this website from one of the other forums that goes into detail of a big transition of canal street. I dont know if the plan is still on since katrina.

All of the construction you see on Canal is part of this project. If you notice, the area on Canal around Canal Place and Harrah's, and further down to the River, is beginning to look a bit like the redering of the projects' page.

[NCB]

And as you see here, work is advancing further up both sides of Canal. Notice the new sidewalks, palm trees, lights, etc; this is all part of the "Canal Street Vision" plan.

[richyb83]

Canal Street is a very impressive urban corridor. One of the best looking IMO too. The rail-lines for the street cars, lights, and palm trees set-it-off.

[nola17]

One thing that i really liked was the Entertainment cooridor at Rampart & Canal. But I dont know if that is still going to be developed because of the theaters that flooded.

Also Iberville has to go. Not trying to put anyone out but it is really hampering further bigtime developement along that Rampart and Basin cooridor.

I really think that if we invested into that area it would surely payout in the long run.

[dimebag1980]

And as you see here, work is advancing further up both sides of Canal. Notice the new sidewalks, palm trees, lights, etc; this is all part of the "Canal Street Vision" plan.

AWESOME shot of Canal, Nate!! I love it... it's really coming along quite nicely.

FYI: this photo would make a nice tilt-shift fake scale miniature.

[Kayleph23]

Brand New to the scene

but i have to say

That's an amazing picture of downton New Orleans. It's also amazing since there are many other streets like that wich give you an idea of the city's dense core. Are there any pictures of Common Street or Loyola?

[NCB]

That's an amazing picture of downton New Orleans. It's also amazing since there are many other streets like that wich give you an idea of the city's dense core. Are there any pictures of Common Street or Loyola?

[tennreb]

Canal street is definitely becoming a lot better. Before Katrina, you would have thought you were in a third world country walking down Canal. Now it has nice sidewalks and a lot fewer thugs. It's possible to go a few blocks without being harassed for money. Now if they could just convert all the upper floors of those historic buildings to apartments and condos.

[Puddinhead]

Canal street is definitely becoming a lot better. Before Katrina, you would have thought you were in a third world country walking down Canal. Now it has nice sidewalks and a lot fewer thugs. It's possible to go a few blocks without being harassed for money. Now if they could just convert all the upper floors of those historic buildings to apartments and condos.

[convulso]

i'm a little confused by the talk of canal street's transformation since katrina. i never thought of canal as 'third-world' prior to katrina - there has always been a lot of activity and diversity 'round the clock on canal. i do agree that there is thugg life on canal, but it was not the prevailing demographic (nothing, really, was, unless it was out-of-town revelers & conventioneers). i've been back since the hurricane (may of 2006 was my last visit); has canal changed dramatically since that time? in what way is its character expected to be transformed?

those are beautiful photos, btw. i've been up and down common a million times, but never remembered the street name. now i won't forget it.

[NCB]

Convulso, I definately recommend you come back sometime within the next few months, especially through the Summer, to see Canal's physical change for yourself. It looks and feels much better, and what I like most is the fact that all of the changes and new additions like the new sidewalks, palm trees, etc. are local and tourist friendly.

[tennreb]

i'm a little confused by the talk of canal street's transformation since katrina. i never thought of canal as 'third-world' prior to katrina - there has always been a lot of activity and diversity 'round the clock on canal. i do agree that there is thugg life on canal, but it was not the prevailing demographic (nothing, really, was, unless it was out-of-town revelers & conventioneers). i've been back since the hurricane (may of 2006 was my last visit); has canal changed dramatically since that time? in what way is its character expected to be transformed?

those are beautiful photos, btw. i've been up and down common a million times, but never remembered the street name. now i won't forget it.

[convulso]

Do you call diversity a whole bunch of thugs from nearby projects with a few white yankees with horrified looks on their faces? Before Katrina, Canal was little more than some wig shops, cheap tourist crap, and fried chicken joints and a whole lot of dirt and trash. Canal is what gave New Orleans its infamous title as thug capital of the country before people ever saw the looting of plasmas on the news.

[tennreb]

i think diversity's overrated (in some respects), so i didn't mean to flatter anything about canal street, pre-katrina, if i used 'diversity' as a descriptor above.

i know what you're saying, but i guess it's somewhat relative depending on your background and memory-reflexes generated from being in various downtown areas here and yon. there are parts of bham that feel far more ghetto than canal to me (for that matter, there are parts of NO and even baton rouge that feel more so), and i've never felt more thugg-surrounded than when in parts of memphis and montgomery. by comparison, SF, manhattan, baltimore, LA, even atlanta - i've just not experienced anything as exclusively seedy, even in these much bigger places. no one's been everywhere in every town, so it's just my limited experience.

i do agree that canal had a seedy vibe, but i didn't ever feel that it was just one kind of demographic promoting that seediness. it seemed to be a gravity well of new orleans-neophyte tourism / purposeful cash-sucking hedonism to me. i'm not a native, so i haven't lived amongst it for longer than my longest stay near canal (6 days at the ambassador just two weeks before katrina).

i look forward to seeing the changes, though! hope to be there again within the next couple of months.

[WRM2007]

I like the seediness of New Orleans, but the seediness of Canal pre-Katrina had no cultural redeeming value. The only somewhat nice things were some mega-hotels with 1970s architecture. I think Canal was starting to turn around with the arrival of the Ritz-Carlton. I'm sure Canal will always have some seediness, as will everywhere in New Orleans, but hopefully it can have a strong upscale component mixed in. That's why Uptown is so great--seediness and high class occupying the same space.

[NCB]

The funny thing is, I know exactly what businesses and shops you guys are talking about. Especially the camera shop, which I know believe is being run by a Mexican family.

One of the blocks on Canal that I really don't like is Tchoupitoulas, where you have that really ugly store that is pretty much a waste of what could be a very nice space. But even with that, it's extremely funny just to see all of the signs on the store:

[tennreb]

Why is liquor at those stores twice the price of anywhere else? I hate every last one of those stores for gouging people.

[franktown]

I was in NOLA last week looking at Tulane, and our hotel was near Canal, and personally I was very impressed with the streetscaping done to Canal (although I think the palm trees are cheesy). I envy the streetcar system you all have, but what's sad about Canal is that many of the businesses are still boarded up and closed--much moreso than other areas in the Quarter it seemed.

[NCB]

Glad to hear you liked most of what you saw on Canal, franktown. The streetcars you saw were not the cars that usually run on Canal. The "ladies in red" ran on Canal pre-Katrina, along with the Riverfront line, but nearly all of them are still being repaired from flood damage caused by Katrina. As a result, the green Saint Charles Ave. cars are running on Canal and the Riverfront.

BTW, where are you from, and how did you like Tulane? I'm a Tulane student myself, so I'm just curious of what you thought of the place.

[franktown]

I'm from a suburb just outside of Nashville, and LOVED Tulane! One of the biggest draws for me is the city of New Orleans itself--it has such an amazing culture. I really liked the historic area it's in, and I enjoyed the architecture of the older buildings and some of the newer ones on campus (but Sharp Hall and its twin, Butler, and some others are simply horrendous in my opinion). I really like that at Tulane I have tons of options of what I can major in, because I'm not sure if I want to do architecture/urban design, International Business, Pre-Med or Pre-Dental, or Law. There I have options, and I can do any of those things. Too, you all have an amazing grad school in all of those fields. I also love the opportunities I would have to positively impact the community though service, and I really feel I could make a difference there (over optimism perhaps). I really like the new LBC, but I think a lot of the residence halls are sub par (no offense!) and I'm not sure how I feel about the large percent of people who live off campus ( I would prefer that more were on campus). Are my observations off-base? What do like and dislike about Tulane, and what are you majoring in? Where else did you look?

PS To the mods, sorry this is off topic; please don't get mad at me!

[tennreb]

Glad to hear you liked most of what you saw on Canal, franktown. The streetcars you saw were not the cars that usually run on Canal. The "ladies in red" ran on Canal pre-Katrina, along with the Riverfront line, but nearly all of them are still being repaired from flood damage caused by Katrina. As a result, the green Saint Charles Ave. cars are running on Canal and the Riverfront.

BTW, where are you from, and how did you like Tulane? I'm a Tulane student myself, so I'm just curious of what you thought of the place.

[UptownNewOrleans]

I'll be applying to Tulane's medical residency programs next year, but I know the medical school has taken a major hit. I'd love to live in New Orleans, though. Hopefully most of its problems (both the city and Tulane) will be smoothed over by next year. Right now, the city is in limbo. I would love to live in New Orleans if I never had to leave Uptown/Downtown, but I know that really isn't possible.