Metairie ( ) is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

(CDP) in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States, and is part of the New Orleans metropolitan area. With a population of 143,507 in 2020, Metairie is the largest community in Jefferson Parish, the fifth-largest CDP in the United States, and the largest outside Clark County,

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

. It is an unincorporated area that (as of 2020) would have been Louisiana's fourth-largest city behind Shreveport if incorporated."Metairie, Louisiana (LA) Detailed Profile" (notes), ''City Data'', 2019, webpage
C-Metr
"Census 2020 Data for the State of Louisiana" (town list),

US Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, 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 U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, May 2003, webpage
C2020-LA

Etymology

''Métairie'' () is the French term for a small tenant farm which paid the landlord with a share of the produce, a practice also known as

sharecropping Sharecropping is a legal arrangement in which a landowner allows a tenant (sharecropper) to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on that land. Sharecropping is not to be conflated with tenant farming, providing the tenant a ...

(in French, '' métayage''). In the 1760s, many of the original French farmers were tenants; after the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, the majority of the community's inhabitants were sharecroppers until urbanization started in the 1910s.

History

In the 1720s, French settlers became the first Europeans to settle Metairie in the area known then as Tchoupitoulas and now as Metairie Ridge, a natural levee formed by an ancient branch of the Mississippi River, Bayou Metairie, which flowed through modern-day River Ridge, Metairie, Gentilly, and New Orleans East. It emptied into Mississippi Sound. The Acolapissa Native Americans used this ridge as a road; it is the oldest road in the New Orleans area. Paved in the 1920s, it is called Metairie Road. An electric

streetcar A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some include s ...

was installed running along Metairie Road in the late 1910s, opening the area to greater development. Upscale housing tracts were constructed off the road in the 1920s; this area is now known as "Old Metairie". The areas to the north and northwest of Metairie Road were not developed until after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The land between Metairie Ridge and Lake Pontchartrain, which was

cypress Cypress is a common name for various coniferous trees or shrubs from the ''Cupressus'' genus of the '' Cupressaceae'' family, typically found in temperate climates and subtropical regions of Asia, Europe, and North America. The word ''cypress'' ...

swamps and marshlands, was drained with the Wood Pump. With development of this new land for residences, Metairie's population grew in the 1940s as a result of cheaper land, lower taxes, and larger lots as compared to Orleans Parish. The 1947 Fort Lauderdale hurricane, with winds of , directly hit Metairie. Much of the community was under of water. Hurricane Betsy, a Category 3 storm, hit the area in 1965, causing extensive wind damage and moderate flooding. Thirty years later, the May 8, 1995 Louisiana flood, which dumped upwards of of rain on Metairie in a twelve-hour period, also flooded some parts of the region, especially areas south and west of Metairie, including Kenner, Harahan, and River Ridge. In 1989, a Metairie district elected

white supremacist White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine ...

David Duke to the Louisiana state legislature for a single term. On August 29, 2005,

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

caused a new migration from Orleans Parish, because housing was needed to replace what had been destroyed in the flooding of the city. It has been a racially neutral migration, with equal numbers of black and white residents moving to Jefferson Parish. The 2010 census showed that Metairie has increasingly become more diverse. Veterans Boulevard was laid out alongside a drainage

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface ...

, and became a commercial center of the region. The

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...

of Metairie is located on Causeway Boulevard near Lake Pontchartrain. Metairie also has one of the handful of major malls located in the New Orleans metro area. Lakeside Shopping Center is the highest-grossing mall in the New Orleans metropolitan area. In the 1970s and early 1980s, an area of bars and

nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

s opened in a section of Metairie known as "Fat City", which is now the most racially diverse area in the New Orleans metropolitan area and is home to a vibrant restaurant scene. Several New Orleans radio and television stations have transmitter facilities in Metairie and Jefferson Parish; two of them, WGNO-TV and WNOL, now have studios and main offices in Metairie. Metairie has a large Mardi Gras season that touts itself as more family-friendly than the New Orleans Mardi Gras.

Geography

Metairie is located in eastern Jefferson Parish and is bordered by

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

to the east, Kenner to the west, Lake Pontchartrain to the north, and the

Illinois Central Railroad The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, is a railroad in the Central United States. Its primary routes connected Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama, and thus, ...

tracks to the south. South of the railroad are River Ridge, Harahan, Elmwood, and Jefferson. The 17th Street Canal forms the border between Metairie and New Orleans to the east. It is a principal community in Greater New Orleans. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Metairie CDP has a total area of , of which is land and , or 0.18%, is water.

Climate

The climate of Metairie has been classified as humid subtropical. Like the city of New Orleans, it has short, generally mild winters and hot, humid summers. The average precipitation is annually; the summer months are the wettest, while October is the driest month. Precipitation in winter usually accompanies the passing of a cold front. On average, there are 77 days of or greater highs, 8.1 days per winter where the high does not exceed , and 8.0 nights with freezing lows annually. It is rare for the temperature to reach , with the last occurrence of each being February 5, 1996, and June 26, 2016, respectively.

Tallest buildings

Three Lakeway Center stands at .

Demographics

According to the 2019

American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is an annual demographics survey program conducted by the United States Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the United States census, decennial census ...

, there were 130,427 people living in the census-designated place. At the 2010 United States census, there were 138,481 people living in Metairie. The 2020 census reported 143,507 people living in the CDP. As of 2019, population density was 5,607.7 people per square mile, with a median age of 40.6. At the 2019 American Community Survey, the racial and ethnic makeup was 69%

non-Hispanic white Non-Hispanic Whites, also referred to as White Anglo Americans or Non-Latino Whites, are White Americans who are classified by the United States census as "White" and not of Hispanic or Latino origin. According to annual estimates from the Unit ...

, 10% Black and African American, 4% Asian, 1% multiracial, and 16%

Hispanic and Latino American Hispanic and Latino Americans are Americans who have a Spaniards, Spanish or Latin Americans, Latin American background, culture, or family origin. This demographic group includes all Americans who identify as Hispanic or Latino (demonym), ...

. According to 2017 census estimates, the racial makeup of Metairie was 67.5% White, 16.2% Hispanic or Latino American of any race, 9.9% Black and African American, 3.9% Asian, 0.7% from other races, 0.9% from two or more races, and 0.1% Native American. By the time of the 2020 census, its racial and ethnic makeup was 62.89% non-Hispanic white, 10.98% Black or African American, 0.49% Native American, 3.73% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 18.20% two or more races, and 18.42% Hispanic or Latino American of any race. Among the population of Metairie, 52% were female in 2019. There were 56,421 households with an average of 2.63 persons per household. An estimated 52% of households were married couples living together, 23% non-family, 18% female householder with no male present, and 7% male householder with no female present. Approximately 61,354 housing units were in the community, and 92% were occupied; 59% of housing units were owner-occupied, and 64% of housing units were single unit structures. The median value of owner-occupied housing units was $246,600, and the median household income was $60,404. Residents had a per capita income of $35,007 at the 2019 American Community Survey.

Religion

In Metairie, 54.1% of residents identified with some religion as of 2019. Due to Spanish and French colonial influence, Metairie and the surrounding area have an overwhelmingly Catholic populace. Approximately 34.6% identify with the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, served by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans; 5.9% were

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

, 3.1%

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...

, 1.4%

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

, 0.6%

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

, 0.6%

Latter-Day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

, 0.5%

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

, and 0.5% from another Christian group including the

Metropolitan Community Church The Metropolitan Community Church (MCC), also known as the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches (UFMCC), is an international LGBT-affirming Christian denominations, LGBT-affirming mainline Protestant Christian denomination. The ...

among others. Approximately 0.7% were

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

and 0.4% identified with an

Eastern religion The Eastern religions are the religions which originated in East Asia, East, South Asia, South and Southeast Asia and thus have dissimilarities with Western religions, Western and Traditional African religions, African religions. Eastern religions i ...

such as

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

, or

Sikhism Sikhism is an Indian religion and Indian philosophy, philosophy that originated in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent around the end of the 15th century CE. It is one of the most recently founded major religious groups, major religio ...

; 0.6% of the community claimed affiliation with

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

. Metairie is home to Congregation Gates of Prayer, a

Reform Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...

synagogue, and beside it is Congregation Beth Israel, the oldest Orthodox congregation in the New Orleans metro area. Beth Israel constructed its new building in Metairie in 2012, several years after its building in

Lakeview, New Orleans Lakeview is a New Orleans neighborhoods, neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the Lakeview District Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: Robert E Lee Boulevard to the north, Orleans Avenue to ...

was destroyed by

Economy

Metarie has the headquarters of Rawbar Inc., which operates Acme Oyster House, a restaurant chain.

Arts and culture

Public libraries

Jefferson Parish Library operates public libraries. The East Bank Regional Library, which houses the library system's headquarters, is in Metairie. Other public libraries in Metairie include the Lakeshore Library, the Old Metairie Library, and the Wagner Library.

Sports

Metairie was home to the New Orleans Baby Cakes Triple-A

Minor League Baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

team of the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

from 1993 to 2019. The

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

club played its home games at Privateer Park, home to the University of New Orleans's

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

baseball team, from 1992 through 1996, and at Shrine on Airline from 1997 to 2019. The training facilities of NFL franchise

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

and the NBA franchise

New Orleans Pelicans The New Orleans Pelicans are an American professional basketball team based in New Orleans. The Pelicans compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Confere ...

are located in Metairie. As such, many players reside in the area. Boxing cards have been held in the Copeland Tower Suites (formerly Landmark Hotel). Beginning in 2020, the New Orleans Gold of

Major League Rugby Major League Rugby (MLR) is a professional rugby union competition in the United States. The league comprises 11 teams. While operating outside of the governance and oversight of the national governing body, the league is officially sanctioned ...

play their homes games in Metairie at the Gold Mine on Airline.

Parks and recreation

Jefferson Parish has created many parks in Metairie. Many of these playgrounds have organized sports leagues such as football, baseball, and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

. Some of them also have other programs, such as low-cost

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

lessons. The parks in Metairie are: * Cleary Playground * Delta Playground * Doe Playground * Girard Playground * Jim O'Ryan Playground * Johnny Bright Playground * Lafreniere Park * Lakeshore Playground * LaSalle Park * Mike Miley Playground * Pontiff Playground

Education

Metairie's public schools are operated by the Jefferson Parish Public School System. There is one zoned public high school in Metairie: East Jefferson High School. Additionally, many residents are zoned to Alfred Bonnabel High School in Kenner and Riverdale High School in Jefferson.2010 CENSUS – CENSUS BLOCK MAP (INDEX): Metairie CDP, LA

Archive
. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on May 18, 2014. Previously, some residents were zoned to Grace King High School in Metairie.High School Districts 2012–2013 East Bank of Jefferson Parish Louisiana
"
Archive
Jefferson Parish Public School System. Retrieved on May 18, 2014. King closed in 2023. Magnet public school * Haynes Academy for Advanced Studies Private schools * Archbishop Chapelle High School * Archbishop Rummel High School * Crescent City Christian School * Ecole Classique * Lutheran High School * Metairie Park Country Day School * St. Martin's Episcopal School Closed private schools * Ridgewood Preparatory School-closed 2023

Infrastructure

Transportation

The most common method of transportation within Metairie is the automobile. Mass transit is provided by "JeT" ( Jefferson Transit), but it does not run on Sundays, holidays, or late at night, unlike many lines of New Orleans' RTA. JeT's coverage is also very limited in terms of usability.

Interstate 10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost transcontinental highway in the Interstate Highway System of the United States. It is the fourth-longest Interstate in the country at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. It was part of the origina ...

runs east–west through Metairie. Major east–west roads (starting from north to south) include West Esplanade Avenue, Veterans Memorial Boulevard, West Napoleon Avenue, West Metairie Avenue, Metairie Road, Airline Drive (which is part of U.S. Route 61) and Jefferson Highway (which is part of U.S. Route 90). The Earhart Expressway, running east–west immediately south of Airline Drive, is the only other freeway entering New Orleans from the west, but it ends as an expressway soon after crossing into Orleans Parish and well before the New Orleans CBD (in Central City.) For many of the major east–west roadways, the eastbound and westbound lanes are separated by large, open-topped drainage canals. These canals are one of the most distinct characteristics of the Metairie landscape. Similar canals once bisected many streets in neighboring New Orleans, but most were covered over in the mid-20th century. Multi-line, continuous north–south roads (starting from west to east) include Power Boulevard/David Drive/Hickory Avenue, Transcontinental Drive, Clearview Parkway, Causeway Boulevard, and Bonnabel Boulevard. The

Lake Pontchartrain Causeway The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway (), also known simply as The Causeway, is a fixed link composed of two parallel bridges crossing Lake Pontchartrain in southeastern Louisiana, United States. The longer of the two bridges is long. The southern ...

's southern terminus lies in Metairie.

Gallery

File:Jefferson Parish Eastbank Regional Library, Metairie, Louisiana, 5 April 2023 - 3.jpg, Eastbank Regional Library File:Grace King High School, Metairie Louisiana, June 2023 - 09.jpg, Grace King Senior High School File:East Jefferson High School, Metairie, Louisiana.jpg, East Jefferson High School File:Lakeshore Library, Metairie, Louisiana, 7 March 2024 - 3.jpg, Lakeshore Library

References

External links

Metairie community website
{{Authority control * Census-designated places in Louisiana Census-designated places in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana Census-designated places in the New Orleans metropolitan area