Started By
Message
What the heck happened to New Orleans???
Posted on 6/29/26 at 9:35 am
Posted on 6/29/26 at 9:35 am
… to cause it to not just stop growing… but absolutely purge population?
There are only 6 United States metro areas that have lost at least 100,000 residents and at least 10% of their population from the peak census year (using today’s metro area designations):
-25% Scranton, -196,605 people
Scranton peaked in 1930 (!) and has been on a major decline ever since.
-21% Youngstown, -112,325 people
Youngstown peaked in 1970.
-19% New Orleans, -222,082 people
New Orleans peaked at the time of thr 1980 census count
-16% Pittsburgh, -459,941 people
Pittsburgh peaked in 1960
-14% Buffalo, -193,558 people
Buffalo peaked in 1970
-10% Cleveland, -253,499 people
Cleveland peaked in 1970
Five of these six depressed metros are Midwest steel towns who lost factories and saw jobs shipped off to other areas. New Orleans is the only outlier here.
And before you say crime, that can’t be the sole cause. Memphis has just as much crime and its population is only down 4,000 people from peak. Same with Chicago…. It’s only down 15k from peak.
Also… it can’t be blamed on Katrina either…
The current counties in the New Orleans metro collectively lost 52,000 people between 1980 and 1990. The slide started way before Katrina, though Katrina definitely exacerbated the problem.
If you go back to the late 1970s / early 1980s, what caused the decline to begin?
Also this isn’t white flight. These population totals count the suburbs.
There are only 6 United States metro areas that have lost at least 100,000 residents and at least 10% of their population from the peak census year (using today’s metro area designations):
-25% Scranton, -196,605 people
Scranton peaked in 1930 (!) and has been on a major decline ever since.
-21% Youngstown, -112,325 people
Youngstown peaked in 1970.
-19% New Orleans, -222,082 people
New Orleans peaked at the time of thr 1980 census count
-16% Pittsburgh, -459,941 people
Pittsburgh peaked in 1960
-14% Buffalo, -193,558 people
Buffalo peaked in 1970
-10% Cleveland, -253,499 people
Cleveland peaked in 1970
Five of these six depressed metros are Midwest steel towns who lost factories and saw jobs shipped off to other areas. New Orleans is the only outlier here.
And before you say crime, that can’t be the sole cause. Memphis has just as much crime and its population is only down 4,000 people from peak. Same with Chicago…. It’s only down 15k from peak.
Also… it can’t be blamed on Katrina either…
The current counties in the New Orleans metro collectively lost 52,000 people between 1980 and 1990. The slide started way before Katrina, though Katrina definitely exacerbated the problem.
If you go back to the late 1970s / early 1980s, what caused the decline to begin?
Also this isn’t white flight. These population totals count the suburbs.
2
Posted on 6/29/26 at 10:36 am to AUTiger789
quote:
Also… it can’t be blamed on Katrina either…
Yes, it can. The downfall of New Orleans and Louisiana as a whole directly matches the rise of Houston and Texas. Katrina was the nail in the coffin. After Katrina, all the big oil companies permanently moved to Houston and haven't looked back.
New Orleans used to also be a major port city, but now everything just goes to Houston. New Orleans has had terrible leadership since the 1960s, crime steadily rose from then, and then Katrina forced the last major industry to leave the city. It's a place that peaked 100 years ago and has been steadily falling since, but unless you have lived there, you do not understand the total destruction Katrina left in its wake. It physically and mentally destroyed the city
This post was edited on 6/29/26 at 11:05 am
Posted on 6/29/26 at 10:39 am to AUTiger789
quote:
Also… it can’t be blamed on Katrina either…
That is the reason.
Posted on 6/29/26 at 10:50 am to VFL67
quote:
unless you have lived there, you do not understand the total destruction Katrina left in its wake. It physicsally and mentally destroyed the city
Very well said. I would add that the emotional impact was far worse than the physical or mental. The people from New Orleans were/are very proud of their culture and history. Katrina pretty much wiped a bunch of that away. It was total devistation to the city and the city may very well never recover from it.
Posted on 6/29/26 at 11:15 am to TigerLunatik
The fact that New Orleans even semi-bounced back from Katrina is very impressive. Imagine if Disney World had been put on the Northshore instead of Orlando, like it was supposed to, and if Katrina had not happened. Everything would be different
Posted on 6/29/26 at 1:05 pm to VFL67
No offense but your reply makes no sense.
You start off by saying it can be blamed on Katrina. But then go on about how the city peaked "100 years ago", has had bad leadership "since the 1960s", while mentioning crime and losing port market share to Houston as reasons for the decline. All of that was way before Katrina.
Houston itself did nothing to hurt New Orleans. A region the size of the South can have multiple large ports without one dropping off. Boston and Philly didn't suffer a catastrophic decline because New York happened to grow so big.
I agree that the decline of New Orleans started close to 100 years ago. But why? What specific policies / decisions caused a city to fall off so badly.
You start off by saying it can be blamed on Katrina. But then go on about how the city peaked "100 years ago", has had bad leadership "since the 1960s", while mentioning crime and losing port market share to Houston as reasons for the decline. All of that was way before Katrina.
Houston itself did nothing to hurt New Orleans. A region the size of the South can have multiple large ports without one dropping off. Boston and Philly didn't suffer a catastrophic decline because New York happened to grow so big.
I agree that the decline of New Orleans started close to 100 years ago. But why? What specific policies / decisions caused a city to fall off so badly.
This post was edited on 6/29/26 at 1:12 pm
Posted on 6/29/26 at 1:11 pm to TigerLunatik
quote:
That is the reason.
But it's not the reason New Orleans lost almost 5% of its metro population between 1980 and 1990.
The 1+ million metros to lose population in the 1980s were Pittsburgh, Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo, and New Orleans.
This had nothing to do with Katrina.
Posted on 6/29/26 at 1:41 pm to AUTiger789
You know the reason
Men squirt sperm into women they just met, then the men run for the hills. The product of their sperm grow up with no father, and the ensuing crime runs people out of the city
Men squirt sperm into women they just met, then the men run for the hills. The product of their sperm grow up with no father, and the ensuing crime runs people out of the city
Posted on 6/29/26 at 1:43 pm to State Bird
too lazy to put a condom on or pull out
Page 1 of 1
Back to top
Follow SECRant for SEC Football News