Community Overview
*Information obtained and shared from Wikipedia
New Orleans–Metairie Metropolitan Statistical Area, or the Greater New Orleans Region (as it is often called by the Louisiana Tourism Commission), is a metropolitan area designated by the United States Census encompassing eight parishes (the Louisiana equivalent of other states' counties) in the state of Louisiana, centering on the city of New Orleans.
The U.S. Census Bureau estimates 1,275,762 people were living in the New Orleans Metropolitan Statistical area (MSA) in July 2017, up 7.2 percent from 2010. According to 2017 census estimates, the New Orleans–Metairie–Hammond combined statistical area (CSA) had a population of 1,510,562.
History
| Historical populations - New Orleans Metropolitan Area | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1950 | 685,405 | — | |
| 1960 | 868,480 | 26.7% | |
| 1970 | 1,045,809 | 20.4% | |
| 1980 | 1,187,073 | 13.5% | |
| 1990 | 1,238,816 | 4.4% | |
| 2000 | 1,337,726 | 8.0% | |
| 2010 | 1,189,166 | −11.1% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census 2017 estimate |
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The New Orleans metropolitan area was first defined in 1950. Then known as the New Orleans Standard Metropolitan Area (New Orleans SMA), it consisted of three parishes – Orleans, Jefferson, and St. Bernard – and had a population of 685,405.[8][9] Following a term change by the Bureau of the Budget (present-day Office of Management and Budget), the New Orleans SMA was called the New Orleans Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (New Orleans SMSA).[10] By the census of 1960, the population had grown to 868,480, a 27% increase over the previous census.[9]
St. Tammany Parish was added the New Orleans SMSA in 1963.[11] The four-parish area had a combined population of 899,123 in 1960 and 1,045,809 in 1970.[9] By the 1980 census, the population had increased by 14% to 1,187,073.[9]
In 1983, the official name was shortened to the New Orleans Metropolitan Statistical Area (New Orleans MSA).[10] Two more parishes, St. Charles and St. John the Baptist, were added to the MSA the same year, making a six-parish MSA.[12] The newly defined area had a total of 1,256,256 residents in 1980, but that number had declined to 1,238,816 in 1990.[9]
The New Orleans MSA expanded to eight parishes in 1993 with the inclusion of Plaquemines and St. James.[13] The eight-parish area had a combined population of 1,285,270 at the 1990 census and 1,337,726 in 2000.
The MSA was renamed the New Orleans–Metairie–Kenner Metropolitan Statistical Area in 2003. St. James Parish was removed, and in 2015, re-aded to the defined metropolitan area.
The City of Kenner is the largest incorporated city located in Jefferson Parish, just west of the City of New Orleans. With a population at the 2010 census of 138,481, Metairie is the largest community in Jefferson Parish and the fifth-largest Census-designated place(CDP) in the United States. It is an unincorporated area that would be Louisiana's fourth-largest city if it were incorporated.
Geographic terms
In the New Orleans metropolitan area, the following geographic terms are used: Eastbank, Westbank, Northshore (or North Shore), and River Parishes.
"Eastbank" and "Westbank"
The Mississippi River, running from north to south, divides the United States into eastern and western halves. In southeast Louisiana, though, newcomers are frequently confused by the terms "East Bank" and "West Bank" since, due to the curves of the Mississippi River, what is called the "East Bank" is sometimes located geographically to the west of what is called the "West Bank" and vice versa. The banks also lie to the north and south of the river throughout most of the region. In southeast Louisiana, the term "East Bank" is often used to refer to any area that lies within the eastern half of the United States, as established by its location on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, while the term "West Bank" is often used to refer to areas along the opposite side of the river. These terms are used in urban, suburban, and rural parishes that are bisected by the Mississippi River, which include St. John the Baptist, St. Charles, St. James, Jefferson, Orleans, and Plaquemines.
In the New Orleans metropolitan area, the term "Eastbank" is a blanket term used to refer to all portions of metropolitan New Orleans south of Lake Pontchartrain and situated on the "eastern" bank of the river, while the term "Westbank" is used to refer to all portions of metropolitan New Orleans south of Lake Pontchartrain and situated on the "western" bank of the river. Somewhat perversely, while New Orleanians would never describe a neighborhood as being located north or south of the river, the West Bank is, in fact, as a whole located to the south of the Mississippi River, while the East Bank as a whole is located to the north – and is itself wedged between the Mississippi River and the southern shore of Lake Pontchartrain (the East Bank's northern boundary). The majority of the population of metropolitan New Orleans resides on the East Bank.
The Eastbank of Greater New Orleans includes the portion of Jefferson Parish that lies on the eastern bank of the river (including the suburbs of Metairie, Kenner, River Ridge, Harahan, Elmwood, and Jefferson) and most of Orleans Parish (including the majority of the city of New Orleans). Also, further down the Mississippi River are those suburbs of New Orleans that are located in St. Bernard Parish, which include Arabi, Chalmette, and Meraux as well as Violet and Poydras. All of St. Bernard Parish is located east of the river, extending from the eastern bank of the river back into the marshlands.
The Westbank of Greater New Orleans includes the portion of Jefferson Parish that lies on the western bank of the river (including the suburbs of Waggaman, Avondale, Bridge City, Nine Mile Point, Westwego, Marrero, Harvey, Gretna, Terrytown, Jean Lafitte, Lafitte, Crown Point, Barataria, Estelle, Timberlane, and Woodmere) and a portion of Orleans Parish (including the New Orleans communities of Algiers and English Turn). Further down the Mississippi River is the suburb of Belle Chasse, which is located on the western bank of Plaquemines Parish. Plaquemines Parish both encompasses and is bisected by the final leg of the Mississippi River before it enters the Gulf of Mexico. Downriver from Belle Chasse, Plaquemines Parish has numerous rural communities scattered along both banks of the river, but none of these communities have a population greater than 5,000. The terms "Eastbank" and "Westbank" are spelled as one word in local/official terminology when being applied to the Greater New Orleans area.
"Northshore"
The term "Northshore" or "North Shore" refers to areas that lie on the northern shore of Lake Pontchartrain and includes St. Tammany Parish. The Northshore includes the communities of Mandeville, Covington, Madisonville, Abita Springs, Lacombe, Eden Isle and Slidell. Hammond and Ponchatoula, in Tangipahoa Parish, and Bogalusa and Franklinton, in Washington Parish, are also considered to have economic ties to Greater New Orleans although those parishes are frequently not included in the statistics for the New Orleans Metropolitan Area. The Northshore region is also part of the Florida Parishes, dating back to the time when the Spanish territory known as Florida extended westward all the way to the Mississippi River, including portions of what are now Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. St. Tammany Parish is the most affluent parish in metropolitan New Orleans and is also the most politically conservative.
"River Parishes"
The term "River Parishes" refers to those parishes along the Mississippi River between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. The three River Parishes nearest to New Orleans are St. Charles (including the cities of Destrehan, Luling, St. Rose and Hahnville), St. John the Baptist (including the cities of Laplace and Reserve) and St. James (including towns of Lutcher, and Gramercy).
Principal city
Satellite Cities (Places with over 50,000 inhabitants)
Places between 10,000 and 50,000 inhabitantsPlaces with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants
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Economy
Greater New Orleans is home to one of the busiest ports in the world. Greater New Orleans' single Fortune 500 company is Entergy. Other companies headquartered in the area include, Globalstar, Textron, Receivables Exchange, Tidewater Marine, and Intralox. Other companies with large operations in the New Orleans MSA include DXC Technology, Folgers, and GE Capital to name a few.
The New Orleans area has 88% of the nation's oil rigs off its coast, and is in the top three in the country in oil and gas production. The region boasts a civilian labor force of over 650,000 and there are over 65,000 students enrolled in the region's nine universities and eight community/technical colleges as well as thriving film, technology and healthcare industries.
- Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport hosts 15 airlines, 54 nonstop flights, and connects to all U.S. hubs; new, ground-up terminal under construction for 2019 completion
- Port of New Orleans and the Mississippi River – more than $296 million capital infrastructure investment for quick container turnaround, increased capacity
- Connection to all 6 Class One Railroads via the Public Belt Railroad makes shipping to any point in the U.S. possible by rail
- $1.2 Billion in public transit projects in progress and planning
- #1 City for creatives, City of New Orleans/ SmartAsset, 2016
- 9 Lowest Startup Costs/ SmartAssets, 2018
- #2 Percentage of Millennials living within three miles of downtown/ U.S. Chamber of Commerce, “Innovation That Matters,” 2016
Enormous industrial projects, especially in St. James Parish, will help the New Orleans metro area add 4,600 jobs in 2018 and 7,600 in 2019, according to an annual economic forecast. The New Orleans economy also will benefit from expansions in the health care sector and the National World War II Museum, as well as airport construction.
Growth is expected to accelerate in 2019 because it will be late 2018 or early 2019 before construction begins on the biggest of some announced projects. Those include Formosa Petrochemicals' $9.4 billion complex in St. James Parish and Venture Global's $8.5 billion liquefied natural gas export facility at the Port of Plaquemines.[14]
From 2007 to 2016, employment in the New Orleans metro area's health-sciences sector grew by 27 percent, beating the national growth rate of nearly 10 percent and surpassing New Orleans' pre-Katrina pace. Also to thank for the quick pace: Ochsner Health System, the state's biggest nonprofit health care company, which added more than 4,400 jobs over the past five ye
