re: New Orleans….in your opinion, when did the wheels come off?

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Dude, those buildings from the Exposition were never intended to be permanent.

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I realize that's what we've all been told about this expo (as well as others), but does this account really make sense if we look in the rearview mirror? The account makes no sense.

in 1885, why would any organization build a "World's Largest Building" (33 acres, 'The Main Building') as just 'temporary," only to knock it and everything else down after six months? That would be madness. That's besides all the surveying & planning of the grounds, water fountains (still there btw) , the engineering, building, crafting, electrical & plumbing, etc.



To the point about when New Orleans began to degrade is ultimately left up to you who've lived / witnesses change. But once you look at city photos from the mid-1800s through early 1900s the city is a whole different spectacularly built out beauty.

My guess is the post-CW "Re-Construction" was anything but; its glory past "removed" forever.

When the first Landrieu was elected....

The blame falls squarely on the corrupt and incompetent Progressives, led by the Landrieu family and their ilk, who’ve run this city into the ground since Moon Landrieu took office in 1970. Since then, New Orleans has hemorrhaged people and economic power while other Southern cities have soared. The facts are undeniable, and they make your blood boil when you compare New Orleans to Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, and Miami.
In 1970, New Orleans had 593,471 people. By 2025, it’s a pathetic 351,399—a 40.8% plunge. Meanwhile, Atlanta grew from 496,973 to 510,823 by 2023. Houston nearly doubled, from 1,232,802 to 2,302,878. Dallas shot up from 844,401 to 1,302,868, and Miami climbed from 334,859 to 449,514. New Orleans’ metro area, at 1,030,000 in 2025, lost 4.3% of its population from 2020 to 2023, the worst drop among major U.S. metros. Compare that to Houston’s 7.3 million, Dallas-Fort Worth’s 8.1 million, and Atlanta’s 6.3 million. Progressives let New Orleans shrink while others thrive.
New Orleans’ economy is a disaster, and the Landrieu-led Progressives are to blame. The port, once a powerhouse, was gutted by automation and containerization, losing jobs while Progressives did nothing. The city’s stuck on low-paying tourism and healthcare, abandoning manufacturing and finance. In 2022, median household income was a measly $51,116, with a shameful 22.63% poverty rate. Atlanta? $81,446 and 17.7% poverty. Houston: $60,426, 19.8%. Dallas: $63,826, 17.6%. Even Miami: $54,858, 21.8%. New Orleans’ big industries—hotels, restaurants, education—pay peanuts, and tech or mining? Barely exist.
Atlanta’s a corporate giant with Coca-Cola, Delta, and UPS, boasting a $473 billion GDP in 2023. Houston’s energy and aerospace hub hits $633 billion, Dallas-Fort Worth’s tech and finance economy reaches $688 billion, and Miami’s trade and real estate deliver $447 billion. New Orleans? A pitiful $97 billion metro GDP. It has Entergy and some tourism cash—$10.05 billion in 2019—but that’s nothing next to its peers. The tech sector’s a joke compared to Dallas’ Silicon Prairie or Atlanta’s tech corridor. Progressives squandered every chance to compete.
Since Moon Landrieu’s election, Progressives have prioritized flashy tourism—jazz, Mardi Gras, Creole food—over real economic engines like Houston’s oil, Dallas’ tech, or Atlanta’s airport hub. They let the port decline, ignored infrastructure, and fumbled major projects like Formosa’s $9.4 billion complex, delayed and stalled. Post-COVID recovery? A total failure. New Orleans, once the South’s third-largest city in the 1800s, is now 53rd nationally, while Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, and Miami dominate. Progressives’ mismanagement turned a vibrant city into a shrinking, one-trick pony. New Orleans is on life support, and the Landrieu Progressives are the culprits. The population’s cratered, the economy’s a disgrace, and other Southern cities have left it behind. The numbers scream failure: $51,116 median income, 22.63% poverty, $97 billion GDP. Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, and Miami prove what’s possible with real leadership. New Orleans is a warning of what happens when corrupt, inept Progressives run the show, and it’s infuriating to watch it crumble.

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If you are wealthy, New Orleans is the best place in the world to live. Nobody can change my mind.

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Didn’t Gail Benson get car jacked?

It never did. Hipster neckbeard carpetbaggers saved it. We are so unique and special! Who dat! Did I tell you that we are unique and special?

The wheels were never on. Bienville stopped there, basically said, "Eh, this is good enough," and then decided to stick around after the settlement was wiped away several times in the first few years.

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Mid 80’s for me. Turned to shite on a steep downhill slide. What a shame.

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From his Wiki:

Carlos Joseph Marcello[1] (Sicilian Italian);[Mor-sel-lo] born Calogero Minacore [ka'l??d?ero mina'k??re]; February 6, 1910 – March 3, 1993) was an Italian-American crime boss of the New Orleans crime family from 1947 to 1983.

Many of his business dealings thrived on a robust tourist class, free-drinking, and free-spending. He did not tolerate the criminal element putting his cash inflow in jeopardy.

When they cracked down on the mafia controlling the quarter

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Statistically it was more dangerous then, but if you stayed away from certain neighborhoods and activities your odds of getting killed were lower back then.

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not even close to the truth but whatever…I guess we are at the just making shite up portion of this thread…just like the law and order mafia LOL

Then u missed 70s early 80s

No doubt but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t awesome in my glory days.