January 31, 2002

Never been there. But if it's worse than Philly, count me out.

posted by adampsyche at 02:18 PM on January 31, 2002

Everything he said was right. Everything. (Not that I'd know...) However, there are lovely parts..the garden district, the bayous, anything beyond a 3 block walk from Bourbon St. is great. I love the place. Ray Riotto of the SF Chron wrote a great article on this today. about why New Orleans is a perfect place for the Super Bowl but why would any city want it?

posted by aacheson at 02:52 PM on January 31, 2002

what city doesn't have scary parts where you may get mugged? i love new orleans. there is nothing like it. what simmons says is mostly true, but thats the charm IMO. sure, bourbon street gutter tea smells, but guess what ... 90% of that piss and barf came from from the bodies out-of-towners. and the soccor riot stuff ... well, i've spent 5 fat tuesdays on bourbon street, and like simmons says "for whatever reason, it never degenerates into disaster" -- it's just an amazing display of controlled anarchy, all the contradictions of that phrase delight my senses. what sucks about louisiana, besides the horrible weather from from may to nov., lies north of new orleans -- the 150 or so petrochemical plants on the Mississippi which benefit from the same lattitude afforded borubon st partiers but which leave a much nastier mess behind.

posted by danostuporstar at 11:13 AM on February 01, 2002

I think the article is fantastic, and captures the city perfectly. What I don't understand is people who come to New Orleans, visit Bourbon street for a day, and then tell everyone within shouting distance how 'dirty' the city is. Bourbon street is ONE street in New Orleans. The 'French Quarter' is ONE neighborhood in New Orleans, yet most people think a visit there equals a tour of New Orleans. I also think people are confused as to what the French Quarter encompasses, as the entire French Quarter in no way smells. There are beautiful parts of the French Quarter where foul smells are not found. The thing that most people don't seem to realize is the French Quarter is not Disney World, where the garbage is taken under ground and the crime hidden from view. It's a working, living community. What you see is what you get. As far as Bourbon street itself, it's probably the biggest party street in the U.S. How do expect it to smell at 4 am? If you want to go crazy, drink until you can't see, and be squeezed into a crowd much too big for the street, come to Bourbon street. If not, why are you there? I do think residents of New Orleans are a little too sensitive about the article. They themselves yearly vote Bourbon street as the worse smelling street in the city. They also seem to ignore positive comments like this: " I absolutely love being here right now -- New Orleans is just a quirky, goofy, crazy, endearing place, something I tried to capture in Tuesday's column (to mixed results). As I wrote then, only three cities in America pass the Movie Test, and this is one of them." New Orleans has amazing architecture, world famous food, is a musical mecca, the best bars in the america, and is like no other place you will ever visit. It's a city of extremes, and the extreme always makes an impression. Just as you see here, people love New Orleans, or hate it (although most who hate it never really saw it.). As for crime, I've spent many, many late nights in the French Quarter and have never felt unsafe. Like any other city, you have to know where to go, and where to avoid. And Mr. Simmons is right, when you're in New Orleans, you absolutely feel alive. I was there the tuesday before the superbowl eating lunch in the French Quarter, and you could feel the excitement in the air. Of course, that could have been mardi gras.

posted by justgary at 12:16 AM on February 08, 2002