Lecture 14a
Urban Geography in
Louisiana
What is a city?
Urban Places are those
with greater than 5K.
Hamlet-(store/church)
Village-150 to 1K
town- 1K to 5K
City >5K
SMA >50K
New Orleans has 7
SMSA
may include outlying
towns and village that have an economic partnership/commuting arrangement with
the larger city.
62-3% of LA lives in an
SMSA
2% of land area
Function of Cities
1. Transportation Nodes
railroad towns
bridgeheads
navigation heads
Some were break of bulk
points or at portages
many of the oldest cities
are transportation cities along the rivers
first high ground
often were sited near
Indian villages.
Ridge junctures (RR or
Highway intersection)
2. Bedroom Communities
newer phenomena
post W.W.II, but some
developed during the interurban era
3. Military posts
garrison towns
defensive sites
4. Government
courthouse towns (square
or RR)
capitals
5. Natural and/or Cultural Resources
mining towns
resort spas
6. Sacred Spaces
not numerous in Louisiana
7. Places where people could be ‘improved”
Site-
factors that have only to
do with the physical amenities in place
New Orleans: High natural
levee
Situation-
factors that have to do
with the relative location of place
New Orleans: relative
location near the mouth of the Mississippi
Christhaller’s Central
Place Theory:
see overhead from Kniffen
p 196
overhead 10.5 and 10.2
from Johnson
Growth of Urban Areas in
LA
most of the growth came
from within the state/rural areas
greatest losses from hill
country and riverbottoms
overhead
changes in small town
life
political
educational
social/cultural
(nightlife)
commercial/economic
health care
most growth since 1940
urbanization,
agricultural decline
Resurgence in smaller
cities
exurban growth
industrial site location
choices
non union
hard working
low wage
transportation
opposite effect in bigger
cities..
return migration of
baby-boomers and retirees (blacks)
Lecture 14b
Louisiana Cities
grew slowly during the
1980s (1%), faster in the 1990s (3%) but nothing like the 1960s when growth was
over 10% and 70s -17%
inner city population has
decreased while urban population has continued to rise.
New Orleans
economics
traditionally the largest
city in the south.
Has always relied on its
location for its urban/civic/economic strength
trade is still an
important industry in NO (petrol and steel/iron most important imports)
grains are the biggest
export
still a top 10 port. Was once #1
wharf infrastructure is
old and being rebuilt east of the City.
Very little local product
for export...mostly just transshipment
Largest employer in the
region is Avondale Shipyards (5,000 employees)
15K total working in the shipbuilding industries
only 60,000 total
manufacturing employees..
15K work in the
petrochemical industries
a greater % than many
other cities working in service sector jobs, transportation, hospitality,
construction, banking, govt., health etc.
Has a history that ties
it more to decline in the northern cities, but has tourism, which makes it a
bit different.
tourism money
2.6 Billion annually
53,000 jobs
good/bad with tourism
top 5 travel destination
crime statistics
undermining tourism
Suburbs
the lack of good land
delayed NO entry into the suburbia world
canals (200 mi.) and (110
mi.) trolley cars set up to deal with the unique settlement pattern.
Immense pumping
capabilities opened up many more areas for settlement
highways in the post war
era made the land issue more moot.
1960 was the high water
mark for NO population
60% of the SMSA is in
suburban areas (Slidell, Covington)
inner city decline is a
matter of both numerical loss and purchasing power decline...spiraling effect.
Urban revitalization
began revitalizing
earlier than many cities
ordinances passed in 1936
designating the Vieux Carre a historical district. 9 others designated since
“gentrification”
not a return, but stayers
often initiated by
singles, gays and artist communities
good
brings money/tax base
back to the area
shoppes/art community
nightlife
building restoration
the focal point of
tourism
bad
tax base sometimes
overrated
displacement of low
income residents
destruction of urban
culture
segregation
not highly segregated as
many cities
many black neighborhoods,
instead of just one
no major racial crises in
the 1960s.
Partly due to the slow
growth in the black population and the lessened demand on housing.
62% black
20% including suburbs
Baton Rouge
founded at a painted or
rusty colored tree demarcated the hunting ground boundary between the Houma and
Bayou Goula tribes
was a garrison city to
begin with, but has become a transportation and a government city since
was a small city in
1940...only 35K people!
But then govt. kicked
in! Almost 600K in the metro area now
Huey P. Long- FDR of LA
Economy
state govt. is the
largest employer in state.
Plus LSU and Southern
lots of “multiplier
effect” with government spending
petroleum and
petrochemicals are very important too.
Exxon has a 500K barrel a
day facility there
economies of
agglomeration-infrastructure sharing
‘break of bulk’
city...where ocean vessels can no longer navigate up the Mississippi. Makes establishing manufacturers that
combine two raw materials cheaper at this location to avoid transshipment
costs.
Five busiest ports in the
USA in terms of tonnage.
Also well served by R.R.
and highway connections and it’s not a detour like NO can be, its en route esp.
to Houston and destinations eastward
Shreveport
historically a cotton
town, remained so up into the mid 20th c.
200k in the city, nearly
400K in the 3 parish Metro area
more diversified economy
than others in the state, which should make it more recession proof, but the
reliance upon petroleum has been troubling and the deterioration of the
manufacturing base has made Shreveport sort of rust-beltish.
Manufacturing was once very important 21k still work in it.
. AT&T was the
largest employer, telephone manf.
Retailing the highest employment % @ 17%
Monroe
Founded at Ft. Miro in 1790
(garrison town)
Named later after the James
Monroe, the first steamboat to visit the city
Primarily functioned as a
regional service center for the export of cotton and other agricultural goods
produced in its immediate hinterland
Called the worst city in
America by New Yorker magazine.
Service Industry
Retailing is the largest
employer, which is suggestive of its economic role and the importance of central
place factors in its growth and stability.
Wal-Mart-ization of the
American economy
The other large employers
in the area are also service workers, govt., warehousing, medical, insurance
etc.
Industry
Carbon Black production,
used for chemical manufacturing.
Apparently not as much
demand or supply of Carbon Black today.
Swartz and Carbon black (35
plants?)
Forestry, wood and paper
products
Chemical manufacturing
Urban Problems
Population decline in the
inner city
Urban renewal projects in
the downtown area
Highly segregated
residential pattern
Has Enterprise Zone
designation
Block grant programs
No riverboat gambling.
Alexandria
Services dominate
Like Monroe, it serves
mostly as a service center and retailing center.
Highest percentage of
service sector employees
22.6% of the people in the
city were below poverty level.
Did have an USAF base, but
it was closed in the mid-1990s (4,000) jobs lost plus multiplier effect.
Process of conversion has
been relatively successful
Health care and prisons!
Transportation
Transportation
infrastructure is poor
Was once a portage town,
but the removal of the knickpoint and the collapse of the steamboat era,
Alexandria’s fortunes have dwindled.
River is now navigable
again to Shreveport, but limited growth has occurred consequently.
Better Interstate access
now that I 49 is complete.
Was supposed to attract
20,000 jobs!?
Some growth, but far short
of projections
Manufacturing
Processing of forestry and
cotton and catfish products
Makes snow skis from local
hickory (or did)
Limited manufacturing
possibilities
Social Problems
Racial tensions
50% African American
increasing white flight
north-south split across
the river
neighborhood turnover in
formerly white neighborhoods
block busting/red lining
Lake Charles
Settled later than many
other Louisiana cities
Did not grow really until
it became a railroad town.
Many Midwesterners lured
there by a local booster
Became rice and lumber
town, but the lumber is largely gone now.
Still the major rice port
in the country
Petroleum centered
Not well diversified
Gets hammered during oil
slumps
1/6th of work
force directly tied to oil
more chemical plants moving
in, which is good, but still complicates the diversity issue somewhat.
Not much government, but
some defense work
Other industries may stay
away from Lake Charles because of their wage and union structure.
Transportation
Locational disadvantage
because of central place, but
Has easier deep water port
access and less congestion than NO or BR.
Gambling
Close to Houston, the
biggest source of gamblers for LA
4,000 employees
$55 million in revenues
Houma/Thibodaux
Social and economic
integration between the two cities
Strong ties to the
petroleum industries
Terrebonne Parish and Houma
are consolidated
Lafayette
f. 1824 on the Vermillion River
began to grow after arrival
of railroad in 1878-81.
16K people in 1930 and
about ~350K people today
Was the heart of the
French-Cajun cultural region
Benefited economically from
its special cultural advantages
Petroleum industries
Post war oil boom
Around 10% of workers
directly employed in petroleum
Locational advantage near
oil fields and on “high ground”
Cumulative growth theory
Industrial park style
agglomeration economies in Oil Center
Has developed into a
specialized ‘edge city’
Boom and bust cycles
intense-50% office space abandoned in the late 1980s.
Misc.
Have also done a
city-parish consolidation
ULL has 16K students and
represents a major employer in the area.
Has better than average
tourism potential because of its unique cultural amenities