Greater New Orleans
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The New Orleans Metropolitan Area or known locally as Greater New Orleans, is the largest metropolitan area in Louisiana, centered around New Orleans. The 2000 U.S. Census official designation of the area as the New Orleans-Metairie, LA MSA with a population of 1,337,726 spread among some 7 parishes located in southeastern Louisiana.
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Parishes
- Jefferson
- Orleans
- Saint Bernard
- Saint Charles
- Saint James
- Saint John the Baptist
- Saint Tammany
- Tangipahoa
Cities
Primary Cities
Suburbs with more than 50,000 inhibitants
Suburbs with between 10,000 and 50,000 inhibitants
- Gretna
- Chalmette
- Meraux
- Slidell
- Marrero
- Mandeville
- Hammond
- La Place
- Destrehan
- Terrytown
- River Ridge
- Jefferson
- Westwego
- Luling
Suburbs with less than 10,000 inhibitants
- Belle Chasse
- Harahan
- Saint Rose
- New Sarpy
- Norco
- Covington
- Hahnville
- Boutte
- Lafitte
- Ponchatoula
- Lacombe
- Barataria
- Bridge City
- Avondale
Geographic Divisions
Unlike many of the nation's other major metropolitan areas, Greater New Orleans is divided into 3 primary areas mainly due to the presence of Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi River. The 4 main divisions of the region are name respectively: East Bank, West Bank, North Shore, and the River Parishes. The layout of the given names of the East Bank and West Bank are unusual because the Mississippi River actually meanders through the region in a more east-to-west orientation rather than a north-to-south. However, the reasoning behind the given names of the 2 regions is the fact that the East Bank is on the side of the Mississippi with the Eastern half of the United States. The same reasoning is behind the naming the West Bank.
East Bank
The "East Bank" is home to the majority of the City of New Orleans and the most densely populated portion of Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, as well as many of the region's major suburbs. The many of these suburbs includes Metairie, Kenner, Jefferson, and Harahan on that side of the river.
Further down the river the much smaller suburbs of Arabi, Chalmette, Meraux, Pointe a la Hache, and Violet. All of St. Bernard Parish and the eastern portion of Plaquemines Parish is located on this bank. Most of these suburbs and parishes make up the southeastern portions of the Greater New Orleans area.
West Bank
The West Bank is home to other Jefferson Parish communities of Gretna, Terrytown, Harvey, Marrero, Westwego, Bridge City, and Avondale. The western portion of Plaquemines Parish is also located here along with Belle Chasse, connected to the other suburbs by the Belle Chase Highway. The New Orleans communities of Algiers, Aurora Gardens, Cutoff, Stanton, Tall Timbers, are located across the Mississippi from CBD on the West Bank, but has long maintained their identities of separate entities.
North Shore
The North Shore is home to the bedroom communities in Saint Tammany Parish for commuters since the construction of the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway bisecting the center of Lake Pontchartrain. These communities includes Slidell, Covington, Mandeville all of which are rapidly-growing.
River Parishes
The other communities are located in the river parishes of Saint Charles, Saint James, and Saint John the Baptist, which are located further down the Mississippi River between Lake Maurepas and the Arcadia Country. Some of these other communities include La Place and Reserve.
Transportation
The Louis Armstrong International Airport is located in western part of Jefferson Parish in the city of Kenner.
External links
- East Jefferson Online Community (http://www.eastjeffersonparish.com) - Includes current events, history and organizational information.