Lakeview, New Orleans
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Lakeview is a section of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the north west of the city.
It was first developed upon drained swampland and is bordered by water on three sides. By Lake Ponchartrain in the north, by the 17th Street Canal on the West side, and by the Orleans Avenue Canal on the East side. Major north-south roads are Pontchartrain Boulevard, West End Boulevard, and Canal Boulevard; major east-west roads include Harrison Avenue and Robert E. Lee Boulevard. The greater Lakeview area is divided into various neighborhoods, with Lakeview proper in the north east quarter, West End to the north west, Lakewood to the south east, and Navarre to the south west.
With its easy access to the waters of Lake Pontchartrain, Lakeview has a large sailing and boating community and is served by two yacht clubs, the New Orleans Yacht Club and Southern Yacht Club. The neighborhood is dominated by two large parks, New Basin Canal Park and City Park. Lakeview also incorporates the historic and recreational West End neighborhood.
[edit] History
In the 19th century and early 20th century, the area was mostly undeveloped swamp. The New Basin Canal was cut through the area in the early 19th century.
Large scale residential development of most of the area began after World War II with the predominant housing style being bungalows. It has always been one of the few predominantly caucasian neighborhoods in New Orleans. Originally it was mostly middle class, but became more economically upscale. In the late 20th century, many McMansions replaced older more modest homes in much of Lakeview.
[edit] Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina hit south east Louisiana at the end of August 2005. As the waters of Lake Pontchartrain rose with the storm, a section of United States Army Corps of Engineers designed and built levee floodwall collapsed catastrophically on the 17th Street Canal a short distance off the lake. This was one of multiple levee failures which put the majority of the city under water. Lakeview was one of the most severely devastated sections of the city. Floodwaters from the levee failure inundated the neighborhood in a matter of minutes, uprooting trees, and even completely washing away some houses upon impact. Some areas received as much as fourteen feet of floodwater. Fortunately, most of the residents had the means to escape the city before the storm came ashore, but their homes were not so lucky. When the water was pumped out, the scene became even more grisly, as there was more furniture in the streets than in most houses, and despite beliefs that everyone in the neighborhood had left, decaying bodies were found in the attics of several houses, additional corpses were discovered as late as March of 2006. Despite all of this, most people say that they will repair and restore their homes and try as hard as possible to rebuild their lives just as they were pre-Katrina.
By early 2006, only a handful of homes had been restored. A number more of the 2 story homes had been reoccupied in the upstairs once the flooded downstairs was gutted to the studs to remove flood trashed possessions and infestations of mold.
By spring of 2007, Lakeview was showing significant signs of life again. While vacant buildings are still common, many of the most severely damaged were demolished. As in much of the city, FEMA trailers dot the area providing temporary housing during ongoing repair and rebuilding of homes. The first handful of business have reopened, including some retail stores and restaurants.
Army Corps of Engineers repair work on the 17th Street Canal floodwalls in Lakeview is still ongoing as of May 2007. Some houses on property near the canal have been expropriated by the Corps. Proposals to expropriate more, including a number of homes that have been repaired and reoccupied, have generated controversy in the area.
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