It has been said that New Orleans, Louisiana, celebrates indulgence like no other U.S. city; its reputation for revelry, especially during Mardi Gras, is legendary. But after 29 August 2005, when Hurricane Katrina unleashed a storm of wind and water that flooded 80% of this vibrant city, the word
indulgence took on a different meaning for New Orleans. Pleas for patience went out to residents and visitors alike as the Crescent City brought itself back from the ravages of Katrina.
The good news is that the 20% of New Orleans that was spared is the most historically significant section of the city, and the well-beaten tourist path is very much back in business. The service sector is largely restored, and the level of hospitality is higher than ever. Residents are effusively appreciative of tourists who visit and leave "donations" in the form of patronage to music clubs, restaurants, retail shops and area attractions.
New Orleans' Central Business District, the French Quarter, the Marigny neighborhood, the Garden District and Uptown along St. Charles Avenue and Magazine StreeRead More ... t are all areas left largely untouched by Katrina. In other devastated areas, mostly residential neighborhoods, recovery remains slow, but steady. The city's 2004 population was 462,269, and based on U.S. Census Bureau figures released in 2007, the New Orleans area has recovered to 288,113. Although New Orleans mourns what was lost, it does so with confidence of a rebirth. A rising spirit of renewal is evident there, and most businesses have reopened. According to the New Orleans CVB, there are 970 restaurants open in the metropolitan New Orleans area, including eateries in the French Quarter, Central Business District, Warehouse Arts District, Garden District and Uptown New Orleans. The vast majority of popular tourist restaurants are back, although a few may have limited staff and shorter hours. More than 200 of the area's lodging options are available, with more than 33,000 hotel rooms available.
Even Hurricane Katrina couldn't get in the way of the city's favorite celebration, Mardi Gras. The 12-day festivities culminate on Fat Tuesday, with dozens of parades following the traditional Uptown route down Napoleon Avenue to St. Charles Avenue and Canal Street. Although the Mardi Gras schedule was a bit shorter the first year after Katrina, it's now essentially back to normal.
New Orleans is an extraordinary city, and with its unique culture and history, it has long enchanted a wide variety of visitors with a penchant for the romantic, the spiritual, the beautiful or the unusual. (In what other U.S. city would a voodoo priestess be buried next to the mayor's family, or funerals be celebrated with a jazz band and a processional?) That feeling of enchantment still exists, although post-Katrina New Orleans is changing, moment by moment.
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