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re: New Orleans gets a lead story in Daily Mail
Posted on 11/3/25 at 1:43 pm to rltiger
Posted on 11/3/25 at 1:43 pm to rltiger
quote:
The water table in NOLA is 2.5 feet and most is below sea level. Manhattan is solid rock and has subways and high rises. New Orleans is surrounded by water and swamp. There was never enough room, environment, or infrastructure to grow. The corruption in the top three cities, NYC, Chicago, and Los Angeles are as bad or worse and have been for 100 years. It was not corrupt politics that did NOLA in.
I remember as a kid around 1980 asking my dad why all the O&G companies are moving to Houston. Sure they have all their refineries and chemical plants up and down the Mississippi River from NOLA to BR but they are now mostly headquartered in Houston. At the time there was a general feeling that some of the majors wanted to make it work in NOLA but the corruption was too much of hurdle when Houston was so easy.
1
Posted on 11/3/25 at 1:48 pm to rltiger
quote:
The water table in NOLA is 2.5 feet and most is below sea level. Manhattan is solid rock and has subways and high rises. New Orleans is surrounded by water and swamp. There was never enough room, environment, or infrastructure to grow. The corruption in the top three cities, NYC, Chicago, and Los Angeles are as bad or worse and have been for 100 years. It was not corrupt politics that did NOLA in.
Between 1830 and 1840, NOLA was the 3rd largest city in the US, only NYC and Baltimore had more people. By 1960 is was still the 15th largest city. Now the large cities are magnets for people on government subsidies. NOLA has a chance to change things and make itself desirable as these large cities get worse.
There are thousands of abandoned homes on high ground in NOLA. You can’t make the argument that space is the problem until those homes at least are torn down and replaced; you just can’t. And the idea that the marshy ground prevents high rises is just not true. They muck out and drive piles to get to solid ground. Look at Lakeway Center or Galleria; they are not The Empire State Building, but if you put 100,000 buildings like that, which you could easily do, in New Orleans East, Metairie and Kenner you could house millions of people and have office space for them as well.
It’s true that other cities are corrupt, but there are two differences between the types of corruption. In those cities (I’m going back a generation; they are becoming more like NOLA now) they get things done while being corrupt. And they are still business friendly.
Posted on 11/3/25 at 1:53 pm to GumboPot
quote:
At the time there was a general feeling that some of the majors wanted to make it work in NOLA but the corruption was too much of hurdle when Houston was so easy.
It wasn’t just New Orleans, it was the State of Louisiana and the legislative people in Baton Rouge that continue to make it undesirable to do business in the state.
The damage that was done and corruption that was interwoven in Louisiana politics from Huey P on forward can’t be understated.
Posted on 11/4/25 at 7:13 am to Penrod
quote:
There are thousands of abandoned homes on high ground in NOLA. You can’t make the argument that space is the problem until those homes at least are torn down and replaced; you just can’t. And the idea that the marshy ground prevents high rises is just not true. They muck out and drive piles to get to solid ground. Look at Lakeway Center or Galleria; they are not The Empire State Building, but if you put 100,000 buildings like that, which you could easily do, in New Orleans East, Metairie and Kenner you could house millions of people and have office space for them as well.
Where are these abandoned homes? There is no “high ground” in NOLA. There is no reachable bedrock below, only compressed muck and clay. To get to anything considered solid would be close to 700 ft below the surface. It wasn’t economically feasible then or now. There are no areas outside of NOLA to develop for support with housing or industrial. NO East is sinking, Metairie and Kenner property is too expensive to develop on that scale, and you don’t have the infrastructure or space available to add it.
Posted on 11/4/25 at 7:23 am to rltiger
quote:
There is no reachable bedrock below, only compressed muck and clay. To get to anything considered solid would be close to 700 ft below the surface. It wasn’t economically feasible then or now. There are no areas outside of NOLA to develop for support with housing or industrial. NO East is sinking, Metairie and Kenner property is too expensive to develop on that scale
Your arguments are belied by the existence of 50 story skyscrapers in New Orleans.
Are we just going to pretend they don’t exist?
If there was demand for those buildings they would be built. The idea that Metairie real estate is too expensive for that is absurd. A building like that would cost about. $300 million. The Rault Building on Vets and the 17th Street Canal sold last time for $13 million. That is a very low cost for land to build a $300 million development. You’d probably need to buy 20 houses too, at about $300,000 each, so $6 million more. Peanuts.
This post was edited on 11/4/25 at 7:25 am
Posted on 11/4/25 at 8:46 am to Y.A. Tittle
quote:
quote:
You could easily drop five Manhattans in Kenner, Metairie and New Orleans East. Space was not the problem; it was corrupt politics.
Does basically every resident of Manhattan have to evauate and leave for about a week every 3-4 years or so?
That's proably as a big a deal that will hamper any attempt to foster New Orleans as a place to "do business" for outside companies as anything. The corruption is just the icing on top.
3-4 years? GMFB
Posted on 11/4/25 at 8:54 am to rltiger
Why wouldn't you do a simple search about the topic before posting your "700 ft." nonsense. I've designed and built major factories all over the world and knew right away this was BS.
Search results.....
The solid ground suitable for tall buildings in New Orleans lies deep beneath the city, typically starting at depths of 30 to 50 feet (9.1 to 15 meters) below the surface in the Mississippi Delta region, where the underlying sediment has been stable for thousands of years.
However, the city's surface is built on thousands of feet of soft, water-saturated sand, silt, and clay, which are prone to compaction and subsidence due to natural consolidation and human activities like groundwater pumping and drainage.
To support tall structures, buildings are constructed on pilings driven deep into this more stable, deeper earth to avoid the sinking surface layers.
This engineering approach is essential because the ground surface in many areas is already sinking at a rate of about 1 to 2 inches per year, and much of the city lies below sea level.
Search results.....
The solid ground suitable for tall buildings in New Orleans lies deep beneath the city, typically starting at depths of 30 to 50 feet (9.1 to 15 meters) below the surface in the Mississippi Delta region, where the underlying sediment has been stable for thousands of years.
However, the city's surface is built on thousands of feet of soft, water-saturated sand, silt, and clay, which are prone to compaction and subsidence due to natural consolidation and human activities like groundwater pumping and drainage.
To support tall structures, buildings are constructed on pilings driven deep into this more stable, deeper earth to avoid the sinking surface layers.
This engineering approach is essential because the ground surface in many areas is already sinking at a rate of about 1 to 2 inches per year, and much of the city lies below sea level.
Posted on 11/4/25 at 4:13 pm to Victor R Franko
The pilings for one shell square are over 200 ft deep. You tell me, how much taller can you go on pilings? Bedrock, is close to 700ft.
Posted on 11/4/25 at 4:18 pm to real turf fan
I don't see how people afford the homes there with the lack of great jobs.
Posted on 11/4/25 at 4:39 pm to JackieTreehorn
This is unrelated but I have always been fascinated by the decline of buildings, malls and commercial real estate. The idea of seeing an abandoned or near abandoned place, that you know used to be full of people and life, is just crazy and fascinating to me.
Place St. Charles is the biggest example IMO in the CBD. That place essentially had a small mall and food court on the first two floors. They even attached a Hampton Inn to it that also ended up being attached to a JoS. A. Bank. The place would be very music back in the 90’s.
You saw the retail part start to slowly die out in the late 2000’s and early 2010s. The Jos. A. Bank closed. The Hampton Inn is still there but walled off. 2020 and the pandemic finished off what little was left of Place St. Charles.
I actually was walking by there when I was in the city in June. There’s some exterior facing retail but not much. I actually tried to go inside to the old mall area. I got two pictures before security asked if they could help me. I just said I was getting out of the heat for a minute and then got out of there. But they legit weren’t letting anyone inside. 3 of the 4 entrances were locked, only 1 (the one I used was open). Food Court on the second floor completely closed and cut off. Escalators and elevators were not accessible.
Place St. Charles is a perfect example of the decline of New Orleans. Did any of you all work there in its heyday? Would love to hear other perspectives.
Place St. Charles is the biggest example IMO in the CBD. That place essentially had a small mall and food court on the first two floors. They even attached a Hampton Inn to it that also ended up being attached to a JoS. A. Bank. The place would be very music back in the 90’s.
You saw the retail part start to slowly die out in the late 2000’s and early 2010s. The Jos. A. Bank closed. The Hampton Inn is still there but walled off. 2020 and the pandemic finished off what little was left of Place St. Charles.
I actually was walking by there when I was in the city in June. There’s some exterior facing retail but not much. I actually tried to go inside to the old mall area. I got two pictures before security asked if they could help me. I just said I was getting out of the heat for a minute and then got out of there. But they legit weren’t letting anyone inside. 3 of the 4 entrances were locked, only 1 (the one I used was open). Food Court on the second floor completely closed and cut off. Escalators and elevators were not accessible.
Place St. Charles is a perfect example of the decline of New Orleans. Did any of you all work there in its heyday? Would love to hear other perspectives.
This post was edited on 11/4/25 at 4:41 pm
Posted on 11/4/25 at 4:46 pm to rltiger
You don't have to take to bedrock. There is a piling type that works like a bundle of straws. As the bundle goes down the straws fan out to support the load. Not the traditional continuos column most are used to. That's one way.
New Orleans already has skyscraper buildings as show in photos by another poster. It has been done already regardless of how.
New Orleans already has skyscraper buildings as show in photos by another poster. It has been done already regardless of how.
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