Central City is a neighborhood of the city of

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

. It is located at the lower end of Uptown, just above the

New Orleans Central Business District The Central Business District (CBD) is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. A subdistrict of the French Quarter/CBD area, its boundaries, as defined by the City Planning Commission, are Iberville, Decatur and Ca ...

, on the "lakeside" of St. Charles Avenue. A subdistrict of the Central City/Garden District Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: MLK Boulevard, South Claiborne Avenue and the

Pontchartrain Expressway The Pontchartrain Expressway is a parallel six-lane section of Interstate 10 (I-10) and U.S. Route 90 Business (US 90 Bus.) in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, with a brief stand-alone section in between junctions with these highway ...

to the north, Magazine, Thalia, Prytania and Felicity Streets and St. Charles Avenue to the south and Toledano Street, Louisiana Avenue and Washington Avenue to the west. This old predominantly

African-American neighborhood African-American neighborhoods or black neighborhoods are types of ethnic enclaves found in many cities in the United States. Generally, an African American neighborhood is one where the majority of the people who live there are African American ...

has been important in the city's brass band and Mardi Gras Indian traditions.

History

The area closest to Saint Charles Avenue developed first, in the first half of the 19th century, booming with the opening of the New Orleans & Carrollton Railway, which became the St. Charles Avenue Streetcar line. The opening of the

New Basin Canal The New Basin Canal, also known as the New Canal and the New Orleans Canal, was a shipping canal in New Orleans, Louisiana, operating from 1830s into the 1940s. History The New Basin Canal was constructed by the New Orleans Canal and Banking Comp ...

at the neighborhood's lower end contributed to the area's development as a center of commerce and a working class residential area, attracting many Irish, Italian, and German immigrants. After the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

many African Americans from rural areas settled in this part of the city. By the 1870s, the urbanized area extended back to Claiborne Avenue. Dryades Street in this area was a neighborhood commercial district by the 1830s. In 1849 the public Dryades Market was built, and served as an anchor for almost 100 years. The commercial district thrived in the first half of the 20th century, becoming the city's largest commercial district patronized by African Americans during the

Jim Crow law The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Other areas of the United States were affected by formal and informal policies of segregation as well, but many states outside the Sout ...

era and a major hub for the Uptown African American community, overtaking the older South

Rampart Street Rampart Street (french: rue du Rempart) is a historic avenue located in New Orleans, Louisiana. The section of Rampart Street downriver from Canal Street is designated as North Rampart Street, which forms the inland or northern border of the Fr ...

area in importance. At its height in the years after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the Dryades Street district boasted over 200 businesses, with businesses owned primarily by Jews and some African Americans. The commercial portion of Dryades Street began a decline in the late 1960s, which became a steep nose-dive by the 1980s. At the low point somewhere around 1990, blighted and vacant buildings predominated. The blighted area got city attention, and the old commercial section of Dryades Street was renamed after local civil rights activist Oretha Castle Haley, who was one of the young college students who boycotted Dryades Street in 1960 (although black shoppers were welcomed, the businesses did not hire black cashiers or clerks) and participated in lunch counter desegregation demonstrations on Canal St. Projects to improve the neighborhood gradually saw fruit by the start of the 2000s. A large part of Central City was above the flooding which devastated the majority of New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 (see:

Effect of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans As the center of Hurricane Katrina passed southeast of New Orleans on August 29, 2005, winds downtown were in the Category 1 range with frequent intense gusts. The storm surge caused approximately 23 breaches in the drainage canal and navi ...

). As there were many vacant buildings and vacant lots in this rare piece of high dry ground, greater attention has been drawn to Central City in post-Katrina redevelopment of the city, including the redevelopment and updating of old public housing apartments built in the 1940s during segregation. The Melph,

Magnolia Projects The Magnolia Projects, officially the C. J. Peete Public Housing Development, was one of the Housing Projects of New Orleans. As part of the ongoing redevelopment, the area has been renamed Harmony Oaks. The project was among the largest, hous ...

, and

Calliope Projects The Calliope Projects, also known as B. W. Cooper Public Housing Development, was a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans and one of the housing projects of New Orleans. This project of New Orleans gained notoriety for its extremely high violent ...

were located in Central City. Magnolia has been redeveloped and is now the mixed-income Harmony Oaks. Calliope has been partially redeveloped into the mixed-income Marrero Commons. Melpomene (known as the Guste apartments) includes a multi-story building for senior citizens, as well as newer townhouses and additional new replacement units under construction in 2015. Central City has a significant Civil Rights History. In addition to the boycott on Dryades Street, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference was founded with Martin Luther King Jr. in Central City in 1957. The New Orleans chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality was founded and located in Central City as well.

Geography

Central City is located at and has an elevation of . According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of t ...

, the district has a total area of . of which is land and (0.0%) of which is water. It is located between the

Louisiana Superdome The Caesars Superdome, commonly known as the Superdome (formerly known as Mercedes-Benz Superdome), is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the home stadium of the New Orleans Saints ...

and the Garden District.

Adjacent neighborhoods

* Gert Town (north) * Central Business District (north) *

Lower Garden District Lower Garden District is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the Central City/Garden District Area, its boundaries as defined by the New Orleans City Planning Commission are: St. Charles Avenue, Felicity, Prytania, Thalia, ...

(south) * Garden District (south) *

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

(west) * Broadmoor (west)

Demographics

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

of 2000, there were 19,072 people, 8,147 households, and 4,016 families residing in the neighborhood. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

was 13,526 /mi (5,155 /km). As of the

of 2010, there were 11,257 people, 5,279 households, and 2,142 families residing in the neighborhood.

Crime

Central City was home to the

civil rights movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...

in New Orleans in the 1960s, but fell into poverty, blight and crime in the late 1970s and into the 1980s and '90s. It was also one of the main areas affected by the

crack epidemic The crack epidemic was a surge of crack cocaine use in major cities across the United States throughout the entirety of the 1980s and the early 1990s. This resulted in a number of social consequences, such as increasing crime and violence in Amer ...

in the mid 1980s The overall crime rate in Central City is 93% higher than the national average. For every 100,000 people, there are 15.16 daily crimes that occur in Central City. It is safer than 44% of the cities in Louisiana. There is a 1 in 19 chance of becoming a victim of any crime. However, the number of total year-over-year crimes in New Orleans has decreased by 7%. In 2014, Central City was ranked 2nd most dangerous neighborhood with 122 violent crimes in a three-month period. Criminal organizations like the 39ers Gang, Young Melph Mafia Dooney Boys and Byrd Gang have been known to operate out of Central City.

Boundaries

The New Orleans City Planning Commission defines the boundaries of Central City as these streets: MLK Boulevard, South Claiborne Avenue,

, Magazine Street, Thalia Street, Prytania Street, Felicity Street, St. Charles Avenue, Toledano Street, Louisiana Avenue and Washington Avenue.

Landmarks

Major streets include Baronne, Oretha Castle Haley Blvd., Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, and Simon Bolivar. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard is near a Martin Luther King statue and memorial on

Claiborne Avenue Claiborne Avenue is a major thoroughfare in New Orleans, Louisiana. It runs the length of the city, about , beginning at the Jefferson Parish line and ending at the St. Bernard Parish line; the street continues under different names in both dire ...

, and the boulevard is part of the route of New Orleans's annual Martin Luther King Day parade. A memorial to Martin Luther King Jr. is on boulevard at the intersection of Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard. It is a bronze sculpture by the late Frank Hayden, and was commissioned by the city and unveiled in 1976. Neighborhood businesses include Brown's Dairy and

Leidenheimer Bakery Leidenheimer Baking Company is a bakery in New Orleans. It was started in 1896 by George Leidenheimer, an immigrant from Deidesheim, Germany. Initially located on Dryades Street, it moved in 1904 to Simon Bolivar Avenue, where it continues in b ...

, which have furnished the city with milk, ice cream and Louisiana French bread for

po'boy A po' boy (also po-boy, po boy derived from the non-rhotic southern accents often heard in the region, or poor boy) is a sandwich originally from Louisiana. It almost always consists of meat, which is usually roast beef or some sort of fried se ...

sandwiches respectively for generations. The "Main Street" of Central City is Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard, formerly known as the Dryades Street commercial district for over 100 years. It is a nationally accredited Main Street, as well as a member of the Louisiana Main Streets Network, as well as a Louisiana Cultural District. Long-time anchors include the Ashe Cultural Arts Center and Cafe Reconcile. Other commercial borders and streets include St. Charles Ave., S. Claiborne Ave., and LaSalle/Simon Bolivar. Central City is a designated National Register Historic District, and contains several individually landmarked buildings as well.

Education

Orleans Parish School Board The Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB) governs the public school system that serves New Orleans, Louisiana. It includes the entirety of Orleans Parish, coterminous with New Orleans. The OPSB directly administers 6 schools and has granted charte ...

and the

Recovery School District Recovery School District (RSD) is a special statewide school district administered by the Louisiana Department of Education. Created by legislation passed in 2003, the RSD is designed to take underperforming schools and transform and make them effe ...

manage public schools, which are all charters. The

KIPP The Knowledge is Power Program, commonly known as KIPP, is a network of free open-enrollment college-preparatory schools in low income communities throughout the United States. KIPP is America's largest network of charter schools. The head o ...

Central City Academy is located in the Carter G. Woodson Middle School building; the new Woodson building was dedicated in 2012. KIPP Central City Primary is also in Central City at the former Guste Elementary. New Orleans College Prep was established in 2006. The original New Orleans College Prep school building is in Central City. Central City also is home to the NET Charter High School, James Singleton Charter School and Edgar Harney Charter School. The

New Orleans Public Library The New Orleans Public Library (NOPL) is the public library service of the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. History The system began in 1895 in the Fisk Free and Public Library in a building on Lafayette Square. Abijah Fisk was a ...

operates the Central City Branch in the

Mahalia Jackson Mahalia Jackson ( ; born Mahala Jackson; October 26, 1911 – January 27, 1972) was an American gospel singer, widely considered one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century. With a career spanning 40 years, Jackson was integral to ...

Center.

Notable residents

Buddy Bolden Charles Joseph "Buddy" Bolden (September 6, 1877 – November 4, 1931) was an African American cornetist who was regarded by contemporaries as a key figure in the development of a New Orleans style of ragtime music, or "jass", which later ca ...

, jazz pioneer *

Kid Ory Edward "Kid" Ory (December 25, 1886 – January 23, 1973) was an American jazz composer, trombonist and bandleader. One of the early users of the glissando technique, he helped establish it as a central element of New Orleans jazz. He was ...

, jazz pioneer * Professor Longhair, songwriter, pianist * Birdman, rapper * Turk, rapper * Juvenile, rapper *

Soulja Slim James Adarryl Tapp Jr. (September 9, 1977 – November 26, 2003), better known by his stage name Soulja Slim, was an American rapper and songwriter. He is perhaps best known for featuring on the U.S. number one hit "Slow Motion". Early life Jam ...

, rapper

References

External links

* * http://www.healinghistories.org
Central City Storymapping Project
Central City Storymapping Project

Central City Participatory Documentary Project, New Orleans videovoice {{Authority control Neighborhoods in New Orleans