Ask a New Orleanian which of the city’s neighborhoods has changed the most over the past 10 years and they’re likely to say Bywater Historic District, a roughly 120-block neighborhood running alongside the Mississippi River.
Although only a 15 minute walk from the bacchanalia of Bourbon Street, Bywater feels like a calm retreat, where you can once again hear the chatter of birds and the ticking of bikes bouncing over erratically patched cement. Bywater extends beyond the historic district, but opinions on its boundaries vary, even among locals. It is made up of a colorful architectural blend of one-story shotgun houses and Creole cottages packed cozily together. Along the river, worn wharves hint at the neighborhood’s industrial past when longshoremen lived there and unloaded tropical fruit. While the makeup of the neighborhood was racially diverse, “what most folks had in common was their economic class,” as working or middle class residents, said Richard Campanella, a geographer and author with the Tulane University School of Architecture who lived in Bywater for 15 years.
Through the years, Bywater’s population has been shaped by enslavement, migration and gentrification. By the late antebellum era, Black people who were free outnumbered the enslaved population by a three-to-one ratio. In the 1960s, integration of public schools triggered an exodus of white residents, and Bywater became mostly Black. In 2005, the neighborhood was largely spared the floodwaters of Hurricane Katrina, and this set the stage for the area’s ongoing gentrification. In 2000, 61 percent of Bywater residents were Black and 32 percent were white. By 2023, those numbers had nearly flipped, according to census data.
According to U.S. census data analyzed by The Data Center, a New Orleans-based independent nonprofit, from 2000 and 2023, the average household income in Orleans Parish (which includes New Orleans and Bywater) rose by about 18 percent, but in Bywater alone it rose by 85 percent, reflecting the dramatic shift in the demographics of the neighborhood.
Prospective residents are increasingly drawn to the neighborhood’s proximity to the city’s attractions without being overrun by tourists. Today, Bywater is an enclave of young artists, service industry workers, and hipsters, and is shape-shifting once again with the arrival of new housing developments, Airbnbs, and wealthy tech investment.
“Bywater is a beautiful neighborhood, it always has been,” said artist Brandan Odums, the founder of StudioBe, an art gallery in a former warehouse that focuses on local artists and New Orleans Black culture. But Mr. Odums, also known as BMike, is conscious of how Bywater has changed.
“StudioBe is an unapologetic reminder of Black presence in the neighborhood,” he said, “and painting Black faces on the outside of the building is one way that we make sure there isn’t a complete erasure of those voices.”
Several large housing projects are moving forward. Construction is expected to begin this year on a contentious housing project, 41 Bywater, with 82 affordable units. An abandoned, naval base on the neighborhood’s edge that has been a magnet for squatters may soon see new life as a mixed-use development, NSA East Bank Apartments, with approximately 1,000 affordable apartments.
What does a day in the neighborhood look like? A stroll to a corner bakery or coffee shop, followed by a climb over the Crescent Park Bridge, taking in a view of the Mississippi River.
A languid lunch in one of the neighborhood’s many restaurants and some shopping along St. Claude Avenue might follow. In the evenings, locals pack the dive bars, where regulars rule the roost and live music plays until the early hours.
Still curious about Bywater? Here’s more information to get you started:
Going Out and About
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Restaurants: Go to Elizabeth’s for breakfast, Bacchanal Wine for backyard concerts and charcuterie, St. Roch Market for a diverse food hall. For upscale dining there’s N7 for French cuisine, Saint-Germain for tasting menus, Bywater American Bistro (or BABs) for dishes by the celebrity chef Nina Compton.
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Bars: Bar Redux, BJ’s Lounge, Bud Rip’s, The Domino, Markey’s Bar, Parleaux Beer Lab, The Saturn Bar, Vaughan’s Lounge
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Culture: Music Box Village is an interactive outdoor sonic sculpture garden. Find authentic Cajun music at The Tigermen Den. Tour StudioBE, an art gallery focused on local artists and New Orleans Black history and culture. Tour Beanlandia’s collection of handmade Mardi Gras costumes.
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Recreation: Start a weekend morning with the drag brunch at The Country Club. Climb over the “Rusty Rainbow” bridge to explore Crescent Park along the Mississippi River.
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Groceries/Shopping: Hanks Supermarket is open 24 hours and Frady’s One Stop is a corner grocery. Dr. Bob Folk Art offers hand painted signs and Euclid Records, vinyl.
Getting There, Getting Around
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Local Buses: New Orleans Regional Transit Authority services Bywater. Most buses run from early morning to late night. The fare is $1.25; reduced fare is $0.40.
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By car: From the French Quarter, take Rampart Street east, which becomes St. Claude Avenue in Bywater.
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By Bike: Blue Bikes Nola, has bike-share stations in the neighborhood.
Housing
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Total housing units: 2,545
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Median gross rent: $1,584
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Median list price, (Jan. 31, 2025): $453,833
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More: Zillow
Schools
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Public Schools: New Orleans Public School System serves about 43,000 K-12 students and includes more than 65 charter schools. Frederick A. Douglass High School and New Orleans Center for Creative Arts serve upper grades.
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Higher Education: Bard Early College New Orleans, Delgado Community College, Dillard University and The University of New Orleans are nearby.
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More info: New Orleans Public School System
The post Bywater, New Orleans, a Once-Industrial Neighborhood With a Funky Vibe appeared first on New York Times.
