Largest cities in Louisiana

[Mikejesmike]

I just read a new report that has the population of Jefferson estimated to be 443,000, up from 411,000 in January, of course it depends on where people are settling in the parish. I haven't been to Jefferson in well over 6 months, but have you? Is it a noticeable increase on the amount of people running around there? Slidell for a while was absolutely packed with traffic, but it's noticeably better now.

[NCB]

I just read a new report that has the population of Jefferson estimated to be 443,000, up from 411,000 in January, of course it depends on where people are settling in the parish. I haven't been to Jefferson in well over 6 months, but have you? Is it a noticeable increase on the amount of people running around there? Slidell for a while was absolutely packed with traffic, but it's noticeably better now.

I'm in Jefferson Parish nearly every day, unless I head into/out of the city through Slidell. And many parts of Jefferson, especially Metairie-Kenner, are definately more packed than they were pre-Katrina. Even before Katrina, traffic was absolutely horrible in Metairie-Kenner, and it's even worse now. There are still many residents that have not returned to some parts of Jefferson, but it seems like residents from other parts of the area have moved to Jefferson and made up for those residents, and sometimes it seems like everyone that moved to Jefferson, moved to Metairie-Kenner.

Imagine 20,000 people suddenly leaving west Saint Tammany, and then soon after that 25,000 people move into Slidell. Overall, the parish doesn't see a huge increase in population, but Slidell does, and it is packed. That seems to be the situation in Jefferson Parish and Metairie-Kenner, only on a larger scale.

[Mikejesmike]

I looked at some figures at the census bureau and based on bedrooms and assuming every residence has 1 married couple, or partnership, and every other bedroom has 1 person in it, then these are the numbers these places can at least hold before they start getting overpopulated based on a lack of bedrooms. Of course the numbers could go slightly higher but this is about where they get overpopulated.

Kenner-94,836

Metairie-228,101

At one point I wouldn't have been a bit surprised is Slidell doubled it's population in the months following Katrina.

[NCB]

I looked at some figures at the census bureau and based on bedrooms and assuming every residence has 1 married couple, or partnership, and every other bedroom has 1 person in it, then these are the numbers these places can at least hold before they start getting overpopulated based on a lack of bedrooms. Of course the numbers could go slightly higher but this is about where they get overpopulated.

Kenner-94,836

Metairie-228,101

At one point I wouldn't have been a bit surprised is Slidell doubled it's population in the months following Katrina.

I wouldn't be at all suprised if Metairie was actually closer to 200,000 than the majority of the estimates show, it's just packed to the point where you can't go anywhere or do anything without being around huge groups of people. Same thing in Kenner and a 100,000 population figure.

And as for Slidell, it was absolutely horrible after Katrina, and it is still very packed. Traffic is noticeably lighter, but it's still very heavy. As for west Saint Tammany, especially Covington, the traffic is even worse now than it was directly after Katrina, and the population of this area has at least doubled since Katrina. Roads are being widened everywhere, and new roads are being planned all over the area, but the traffic is still terrible.

[dimebag1980]

Actually, as of 2000 Metairie was the 5th largest unincorporated Census Designated Place in the U.S.:

1. Honolulu, Hawaii- 377,260

2. Paradise, Nevada- 186,070

3. Arlington County, Virginia- 189,453

4. Sunrise Manor, Nevada- 156,120

5. Metairie, Louisiana- 146,136

Hololulu!?!?!? I'd have never guessed.

[NCB]

Hololulu!?!?!? I'd have never guessed.

Same here, though I'm still trying to find some more info on that. I've always heard that Honolulu is an actual city and not just a CDP.

[dan326]

Speaking of population, I read that in the 1950-60's they had planned for Baton Rouge to have a population of 450,000+ , but then the oil buisness fell through and the city stopped growing as fast.

[NCB]

Speaking of population, I read that in the 1950-60's they had planned for Baton Rouge to have a population of 450,000+ , but then the oil buisness fell through and the city stopped growing as fast.

Wow, that's something I had never heard, though it's really not suprising considering how fast everything around here was growing when oil ruled all. In 1965 New Orleans had over 700,000 people and was one of the fastest growing cities in the country, almost 100% because of the oil industry.

[UptownNewOrleans]

Makes me miss the oil industry. New Orleans would be in the top 10 largest cities if the oil industry was still booming.

[NCB]

Makes me miss the oil industry. New Orleans would be in the top 10 largest cities if the oil industry was still booming.

If New Orleans had continued growing at the rate it was in the 50's and early 60's, the population would be above 2.2 million today. Of course eventually we literally would have run out of room in Orleans Parish.

[NCB]

Alright, based off of some population estimates that I've seen around the internet and heard over the last few days, the estimated population for Metairie is somewhere around 175,000 right now.

Also, we could be seeing some big development news coming out of Metairie over the next few months. Jefferson Parish recently made appropriate amendments to their laws and zoning regulations in the "Fat City" section of Metairie to allow new types of residential development, specifically high-rise development. I've been hearing that we may see some towers as tall, or possibly even taller than the 403 foot Three Lakeway Center along the lakefront or in the Fat City section of town proposed within the next few months-year.

[dimebag1980]

Alright, based off of some population estimates that I've seen around the internet and heard over the last few days, the estimated population for Metairie is somewhere around 175,000 right now.

Also, we could be seeing some big development news coming out of Metairie over the next few months. Jefferson Parish recently made appropriate amendments to their laws and zoning regulations in the "Fat City" section of Metairie to allow new types of residential development, specifically high-rise development. I've been hearing that we may see some towers as tall, or possibly even taller than the 403 foot Three Lakeway Center along the lakefront or in the Fat City section of town proposed within the next few months-year.

Is Fat City Metairie's version of a downtown?

[NCB]

Is Fat City Metairie's version of a downtown?

Well, not really. Fat City is a few square blocks of Metairie mostly located behind Lakeside Shopping Center. During the 80's Fat City was a thriving entertainment district, filled with bars, clubs, restaurants, and other nightlife spots. Though since then, it has really gone down the tubes and not many good things have happened to the area over the last decade.

[dimebag1980]

Well, not really. Fat City is a few square blocks of Metairie mostly located behind Lakeside Shopping Center. During the 80's Fat City was a thriving entertainment district, filled with bars, clubs, restaurants, and other nightlife spots. Though since then, it has really gone down the tubes and not many good things have happened to the area over the last decade.

Ahh I gotcha! There's a little bar in Old Bossier that's called 'Fat City' and has a cool urban skyline painted on the side of it that you can see from the road.

[richyb83]

I've been hearing that we may see some towers as tall, or possibly even taller than the 403 foot Three Lakeway Center along the lakefront or in the Fat City section of town proposed within the next few months-year.

That would be great to see Metairie getting some more high-rises.

[NCB]

That would be great to see Metairie getting some more high-rises.

Yea it will be nice to see some new towers in Metairie. And with 175,000 people right now, all Metairie can do is build up. There will literally be no more land to spread out on soon, and I mean very soon.

[Mikejesmike]

So which is it-175,000 or 275,000? Metairie should hold 175,000 comfortably as that's only about 2.7 people per residence.

[NCB]

So which is it-175,000 or 275,000? Metairie should hold 175,000 comfortably as that's only about 2.7 people per residence.

Oops, sorry about that, it's 175,000.

[Mikejesmike]

I just wanted to be sure in case the first number was a typo and it really is at about 275,000. You know what I bet might be really packed? Harahan and River Ridge. From what I understand they didn't flood. So I can imagine any available housing being snatched up like it was in Slidell.

I personally think all of East Jefferson should consolidate into one city.

[NCB]

I just wanted to be sure in case the first number was a typo and it really is at about 275,000. You know what I bet might be really packed? Harahan and River Ridge. From what I understand they didn't flood. So I can imagine any available housing being snatched up like it was in Slidell.

I personally think all of East Jefferson should consolidate into one city.

Now that I think about it, I haven't been through Harahan and River Ridge for awhile now, I'll need to at least drive through the area and see what's going on. Though you're right about most of that area not flooding, and I've also heard it was packed right now. I've never really thought about consolitading all of east Jefferson into one city, but I have thought about doing that with just Metairie and Kenner. If that were to ever take place, it would be one city of at least 260,000 people, and would become the second largest city in Louisiana. Though Baton Rouge may still be up around 300,000 right now so it could also be third.

[Mikejesmike]

I have a step sister that lives in Harahan, but I never thought to ask her how it is. I vaguely recall her and her boyfriend commenting on how bad traffic is in Metairie. I would imagine it's at its previous peak of 13,037 or higher.

It's funny I never really realized how urbanized and dense for a suburb, especially in the south, Kenner and Metairie were. I spent the first 8 years of my life there,and then moved around the nation living in either suburbs or cities that mimic suburbs. Usually going no higher than 3,000 people per sq mile. Then I head back around the mid 90's to visit and this is when I'm interested in cities because of Simcity, so I begin to notice things I never noticed growing up there, and I couldn't get over how many apartments and attached condos there seemed to be there. I remember it seemed off one major street in Metairie every side street had apartments going down them and in Kenner it seemed there were apartments and condos only minutes apart. from each other. I might be exaggerating but I definitely noticed it.

Also if there were a consolidation it would probably be only Metairie,River Ridge, Elmwood and Jefferson.

[NCB]

It took me awhile to realize just how dense this area is, both in terms of population and infrastructure, as well. I always knew that most of New Orleans was already more dense than many cities in the country, especially in the South. But I had never thought about just how dense the entire Southshore really is. I mean just looking at the Southshore on Google Maps is impressive, IMO.

[Mikejesmike]

I did some more research and it looks like these are the numbers when River Ridge, Harahan and New Orleans are on the verge of being overcrowded.

Harahan-15,283

River Ridge-22,988

New Orleans-626,300

I was checking out the census and found that the census tract in Kenner I lived in had a density of 7,915 and an area of about 1.01 sq miles. In Metairie it was 7,322 and 0.65 sq miles.

[Mikejesmike]

Here are the population per sq. mile figures according to the census tracts. The map of the city is color coded starting at light yellow, then darker yellow to green then on to dark green. I use the color green as a baseline. If you see the map and you see any shade of green (3 shades) then you'll that area has at least the number of people per sq mile I've listed for instance if you see any green on the New Orleans map that area has at least 8,086 people per sq. mile.

New Orleans

Lowest-34

Highest-40,317

Green starts at 8,086

Baton Rouge

Lowest-430

Highest-7,081

Green starts at 2,254

Shreveport

Lowest-13

Highest-6,351

Green starts at 2,357

Metairie (includes Elmwood)

Lowest-1,174 (Elmwood)

Highest-16,773

Green starts at 6,450

Lafayette

Lowest-169

Highest-6,607

Green starts at 2,086

Lake Charles

Lowest-166

Highest-4,285

Green starts at 1,660

Kenner

Lowest-1,674

Highest-10,384

Green starts at 4,751

Bossier City

Lowest-63

Highest-4570

Green starts at 1,417

Monroe

Lowest-101

Highest-3,794

Green starts at 1,347

Alexandria

Lowest-20

Highest-4,189

Green starts at 1,010

Marrero

Lowest-896

Highest-8,757

Green starts at 5,328

New Iberia

Lowest-123

Highest-7,327

Green starts at 1,790

Chalmette

Lowest-273

Highest-11,274

Green starts at 4,544

Houma

Lowest-23

Highest-2,882

Green starts at 826

Laplace

Lowest-22

Highest-4,017

Green starts at 986

Slidell

Lowest-73

Highest-3,519

Green starts at 1,196

Terrytown

Lowest-3,183

Highest-9,470

Green starts at 6,199

Opelusas-no listing

Harvey

Lowest-2,229

Highest-6,661

Green starts at 3,089

Ruston

Lowest-27

Highest-2,870

Green starts at 353

[NCB]

Just look at the infrastructure density on the Southshore of Lake Ponchartrain, amazing, IMO, especially for a Southern city.