Metairie, Louisiana

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Metairie (local pronunciations /ˈmɛtəɹi/, /ˈmɛtɹi/) is a suburb of New Orleans. Although it has a population of 146,136 (census 2000), Metairie is not legally a city as it is unincorporated (and thus designed as a CDP). Metairie is the largest community in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana.

View of Veterans Higway, Metairie's main commercial thoroughfare, looking Lakeward

1 Namesake
2 History
3 Geography
4 Transportation
5 Demographics
6 Education
7 Notable residents and former residents
8 External links

[edit] Namesake

The original spelling, Métairie, is a French language term for a tenant farm which paid the landlord with a share of the produce (sharecropping), as this was the main activity of the area in the early 19th century.

A true-color satellite image of Metro New Orleans taken on NASA's Landsat 7

[edit] History

Metairie was first settled by the French in the late 18th century along an area known as Metairie Ridge, natural levee formed by a bayou. This became "Metairie Road". An electric streetcar was installed running along Metairie Road in the late 1910s, opening the area to greater development. Upscale housing tracts were constructed off the Road in the 1920s; this area is now known as "Old Metairie." It is today the most prestigious area of Metairie. Most of the rest of Metairie was not developed until after World War II. Much of this growth was a result of white flight, as white New Orleans residents left New Orleans during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's and after integration of New Orleans schools. One district of Metairie elected "white nationalist" David Duke to the Louisiana State Legislature in 1989.

"Veterans Boulevard" was laid out along side a drainage canal, and became a commercial center of the region. The Central Business District of Metairie is located on Causeway Blvd near the lake. Metairie also has one of the handful of major malls located in the New Orleans metro area. Lakeside Shopping Center is the highest grossing mall in the New Orleans metropolitan area. In the 1970s and early 1980s an area of bars and nightclubs opened in a section of Metairie that is known as "Fat City." Metairie has a large Mardi Gras season that known as the cleaner, more family-friendly version of the New Orleans Mardi Gras.

[edit] Fort Lauderdale Hurricane

The 1947 Fort Lauderdale Hurricane with winds of 125 MPH directly hit Metairie. Much of the community was under six feet of water.

[edit] Hurricane Betsy

Hurricane Betsy, a category three storm, hit the area in 1965, causing extensive wind damage and moderate flooding.

[edit] Flood of 1995

The May 8th 1995 Louisiana Flood, which dumped upwards of twenty inches of rain into Metairie in a twelve hour period, flooded some parts of the region, especially areas south and west of Metairie, including Kenner, Harahan, and River Ridge.

[edit] Hurricane Katrina

The intersection of Clearview and Veterans the day after Katrina

Evacuees at Causeway and I-10 waiting to leave several days after the storm

On August 29, 2005, Metairie was hit hard by the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina, including widespread wind damage and flooding. There were 29 reported deaths related to Katrina in Metairie. According to satellite images and flood maps, upwards of 75% of Metairie flooded. Initial insured damages in Metairie are between 3 and 5 billion US dollars. The death toll and damage were less in Metairie than in bordering Orleans Parish, largely because the Metairie side of the 17th Street Canal did not breach.

Residents were given a mandatory evacuation on August 28, 2005, the first time one has ever been ordered. Residents were not allowed to return until September 4. However, residents were only allowed to quickly visit their homes or business between 7AM and 6PM. Residents were not allowed to return after that until September 15, 2005. This period of over two weeks in exile angered many residents, especially those whose homes flooded because they were unable to empty the house of water, which led to worse damage.

Metairie was used as a staging area to evacuate people out of New Orleans. The most organized effort took place where Causeway intersects 1-10. There evaucees gathered, were brought, and wandered to wait for buses.

The flooding in Metairie had three causes:

Lake Ponchartrain Backflow into Canals. Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard evacuated all pumping station operators from their posts to spots over one hundred miles away in Washington Parish in anticipation of the hurricane. Normally, the machines would be on, not only preventing the Lake from flowing into the drainage canals, but also pumping the rain waters out. This largely resulted in the severe flooding of Metairie in most areas north of Interstate 10.
Rain Waters. Because almost all of Metairie is between two and seven feet below sea level, all rain water was captured in the Metairie "bowl." Unable to return for nearly two days, the pump operators could not turn the pumps on to pump out any of the rain water or backflow.
17th Street Canal Breach. There was no breach on the Metairie side of the canal, however, water crept into Metairie through Airline Highway. The narrow high ground of Metairie Road and some elevated railroad tracks partially contained the area of flooding. This water largely caused the flooding in the southern part of Old Metairie. The majority of looting in Metairie occurred in Old Metairie.

Many Metairie residents are joining a class action lawsuit against Aaron Broussard because of his removal of pump operators. Other residents have attempted to recall and remove Broussard as Parish President for what they see as negligence.

See Effect of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans

[edit] Geography

Metairie is located in eastern Jefferson Parish and its boundaries include New Orleans to the east, Kenner to the west, Lake Pontchartrain to the north, and Airline Highway to the south. South of Airline Highway from Metairie are River Ridge, Harahan, Elmwood, and Jefferson.

The 17th Street Canal forms the border between Metairie and New Orleans to the east.

The zip codes that serve the community are 70001-70006 and 70062.

Metairie is located at 29°59′52″N, 90°10′39″W (29.997797, -90.177473)^GR1. According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 60.2 km² (23.3 mi²). 60.1 km² (23.2 mi²) of it is land and 0.1 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (0.22%) is water.

[edit] Transportation

The most common method of transportation within Metairie is the automobile; there is relatively little mass transit. Interstate 10 runs east-west through Metairie. Major east-west roads (starting from north to south) include West Esplanade Avenue, Veterans Boulevard, West Napoleon Avenue, West Metairie Avenue, and Airline Drive (which is part of U.S. Highway 61). Major north-south roads (starting from west to east) include David Drive/Power Boulevard, Transcontinental Drive, Clearview Parkway, Causeway Boulevard, and Bonnabel Boulevard.

[edit] Demographics

As of the 2000 census^GR2, there were 146,136 people living in Metairie. The racial makeup of Metairie is:

86.53% White

7.25% Hispanic or Latino of any race

6.83% African American

2.77% Asian

1.91% from other races

1.68% from two or more races.

0.27% Native American

0.02% Pacific Islander

Population History

1970....136,477

1980....164,160

1990....149,428

2000....146,136

Source: the U.S. Census Bureau

Other statistics: There were 39,073 families residing in Metairie. The population density was 2,431.0/km² (6,296.7/mi²). There were 67,225 housing units at an average density of 1,118.3/km² (2,896.6/mi²). There were 63,741 households out of which 25.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.1% were married couples living together, 11.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.7% were non-families. 32.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 2.93. In Metairie the population is spread out with 20.6% under the age of 18, 8.4% from 18 to 24, 29.6% from 25 to 44, 24.9% from 45 to 64, and 16.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 91.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.1 males. The median income for a household in Metairie is $41,265, and the median income for a family was $52,555. Males had a median income of $37,371 versus $27,057 for females. The per capita income for Metairie is $24,771. About 6.2% of families and 8.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.2% of those under age 18 and 7.2% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Education

Metairie's public schools are operated by the Jefferson Parish Public School System. There are two public high schools in Metairie: East Jefferson High School and Grace King High School.

Private schools include Ridgewood Preparatory School, [1]St. Martin's Episcopal School, Metairie Park Country Day School, Ecole Classique, Archbishop Rummel High School, Lutheran High School, and Archbishop Chapelle High School along with many others.