West Lake Forest is a
neighborhood
A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural area, ...
of
, Louisiana, United States. A subdistrict of the
New Orleans East
New Orleans East is the eastern section of New Orleans, the newest section of the city. It is bounded by the Industrial Canal, the Intracoastal Waterway and Lake Pontchartrain. Developed extensively from the 1950s onward, its numerous residential ...
area, its boundaries as determined by the City Planning Commission are:
Interstate 10
Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost cross-country highway in the American Interstate Highway System. I-10 is the fourth-longest Interstate in the United States at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. This freeway is part of the originally pl ...
to the north and west, Read Boulevard to the east, and Dwyer Road to the south.
West Lake Forest has a mixture of single-family detached homes, apartment complexes, and townhomes. The neighborhood was developed mostly during the late 1960s and 1970s. New Orleans and the state of Louisiana experienced an economic decline in the late 1980s, which slowed development.
Lake Forest Plaza, an shopping center in the heart of West Lake Forest, was hit hard by the downturn. The opening of newer, larger malls in the
Greater New Orleans
The New Orleans metropolitan area, designated the New Orleans–Metairie metropolitan statistical area by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, or simply Greater New Orleans (french: Grande Nouvelle-Orléans, es, Gran Nueva Orleans), is a me ...
area also depleted its customer base.
By the 1990s, the neighborhood saw an increase in the number of low-income residents as public housing developments in other parts of the city were closed. The total population of West Lake Forest rose 5.75% between 1990 and 2000, while New Orleans as a whole declined by 2.5%.
West Lake Forest was
significantly impacted by
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...
in 2005. Over 70% of residential properties as well as nearly all commercial properties in the neighborhood received flood damage, wind damage, or both.
Approximately 33.4% of West Lake Forest's pre-Katrina household population had returned to the neighborhood as of June 2008.
Geography
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 the ...
, West Lake Forest has a total area of . of which is land and of which is water.
Adjacent Neighborhoods
*
Little Woods
''Little Woods'' is a 2018 crime drama film, written and directed by Nia DaCosta in her feature directorial debut. The film stars Tessa Thompson, Lily James, Luke Kirby, James Badge Dale and Lance Reddick.
''Little Woods'' had its world premi ...
(north)
*
Pine Village (west)
*
Plum Orchard (south)
*
Read Boulevard West (south)
*
Read Boulevard East (east)
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 incl ...
of 2000, there were 9,596 people, 3,578 households, and 2,377 family households.
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 incl ...
of 2010, there were 4,015 people, 1,468 households, and 1,064 family households.
See also
*
New Orleans neighborhoods
The city planning commission for New Orleans divided the city into 13 planning districts and 73 distinct neighborhoods in 1980. Although initially in the study 68 neighborhoods were designated, and later increased by the City Planning Commission to ...
References
Neighborhoods in New Orleans
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