Chapter 21

Urbanization and Population

By Jon Knight and Ashley Lord

Introduction

The main key to a city or a town is the amount of economic activity that is located within the city walls. These economic activities include commerce, education, entertainment, personal services, professions, etc. However, the difference between a city and a town is the degree to which these things are needed and how much of each of these is needed. A city boasts of many different activities that seem unnecessary in the confines of a small town setting. Likewise, the needs for a small town are usually unheard of and unthought of in the hustle and bustle of a city. In any case, both are founded on economic circumstances that run deeper than one might expect. The settlement of the location of a city or a town was a result of human perception of geography.  And after the settlement had been established and years had gone by, the population grew leading to a great change on the rural landscape of Louisiana.

Urbanization and Population

The urban populations of Louisiana are very similar in some ways, yet they are also extremely different in many other
characteristics. All of the cities experienced great growth in population and overall size beginning in the 1930s, but these surges
in size came from a few different sources. New Orleans and Baton Rouge relied grew and flourished from the production and
income of the mighty Mississippi River, which they are built around. On the other hand, Shreveport, Monroe, and Alexandria
prospered from the flat lands around them that have yielded cotton and other crops for many years. The last three metropolitan
areas, Lake Charles, Lafayette, and Houma, used their close geographic location to the Gulf of Mexico to bring in major oil
money. All of these cities have had different reasons for their growth, but all of them have made significant changes in the 1900s.

Between the 1930s and the 1960s, the population of every MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area) almost doubled, and in areas
such as Baton Rouge and Lake Charles, the population almost tripled. But in the thirty-year period from 1960 to 1990, only
New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Monroe came close to repeating their growth from the previous time period. This population
growth and stall can be seen at other MSA’s all over the United States, but there are a few distinct reasons for these traits
happening in Louisiana.

The people of New Orleans.

For New Orleans and Baton Rouge, there have been a few differences than in the rest of the state. Both of these cities are
based heavily around the river, both economically and geographically, which helped them sustain growth throughout the
twentieth century. The population of New Orleans has flourished around three major industries; tourism, the importing and
exporting of goods, and health services. Of the fourteen major industries in New Orleans, nearly 40 percent of the work force is in one of these fields. This quality also shows that the majority of the people living in the New Orleans MSA are middle class
and skilled workers. Also these three industries are located near the Mississippi River, meaning the majority of the population
lives within a small radius of the river. Baton Rouge is very similar in its growth pattern around the river, but the industries it
focuses on are manufacturing, trading, and education. Although the population grew quickly, their growth geographically
happened very slowly. Both cities are at or below sea level causing flooding to occur often in many areas, which slowed the
movement to the suburbs. Only recently have both of the cities begun to push the boundaries and spread into the surrounding
areas.

Houma, Lafayette, and Lake Charles all rely heavily on the oil industry and its ups and downs. All three are also the major
metropolitan access areas for their portion of the gulf coast. The petroleum companies have moved into these towns and
supplied many jobs, which has attracted a lot of people to move into these cities to be closer to the location of their job. This
major oil boom started shortly after World War II with the movement of some major oil companies into the area. The petroleum industry has allowed for additional types of businesses to prosper in these areas and has given the people reasons to come from miles around for jobs and for the many businesses.

Housing of many of the residents that live in the larger MSAs.

The Heymann Oil Center in Lafayette attracted a multitude of different types of industries such as law firms, exploration
companies, production firms, and shops and restaurants. Many other types of businesses have moved near this area so that they can attract more of the traffic that flows through and around the oil center. Geographically, this is bad for the historic downtown area because town’s center shifts to another point and leaves this area in the wake. But the problem is the roller coaster nature of the oil industry. In the 1960s and 1970s the population soared, but when the boom ended in 1981, the population and city growth turned into a decline. In the 1990s, the oil industry and Lafayette have rebounded, and the city is once again building new homes and bringing in new people.

Houma is like Lafayette in many ways, but there are a few differences. Houma does rely heavily on the oil industry, and it suffers from the same roller coaster problems that affect Lafayette. Houma is different in the fact that it is spread over two parishes instead of just one. Terrebonne and Lafourche are combined into one parish, as far as statistics go, because of the many people that travel between the two parishes to work and for other reasons. The two parishes share the economy and the land to make Houma a thriving city.

Lake Charles, like Houma and Lafayette, is very dependent on the petroleum market and also has the same problems because
of the boom and bust nature of the oil industry. After the rapid growth in the early part of the century, there have been short
spurts of both growth and decline according to how the petroleum market is going at the time. But Lake Charles has one major
difference than the other two petroleum-based MSA’s. Lake Charles brought the gaming and river boat casino industry into the city to diversify its economy, which has made growth and income more steady for the city.

The last group of MSAs is Shreveport, Monroe, and Alexandria, and they are very different from the other two groups. All three of these cities rely on the area around them and their agricultural production. But the cities all depend on different aspects of what the earth gives to them. Like the other metropolises of the state, all of these cities experienced huge growth in the middle part of the century, but they have also slowed down in later part of the century.

Shreveport is the most diverse of the three because of where it is located in the state. Like Lake Charles, it brought in the casino industry to provide jobs for more people and also to create a more steady income. Many of the people around Shreveport are cotton farmers and they also harvest various other crops. Shreveport’s regional location allows it to benefit in many ways, such as bringing crops to market from the four state region, people coming in for the casinos, and it hosts many different types of conferences. Shreveport is the state's most diverse economic center and is one of the most culturally diverse also.

Monroe is not nearly as diverse in its economic world, but it has sustained a much higher growth rate than Shreveport, and most of Louisiana's other MSA's. Monroe is the economic and social base for almost all of Northeast Louisiana. There are two basic industries, manufacturing (both mechanical and agricultural) and retail, that has helped Monroe’s growth over the course of the last hundred years. There are all the other basic industries in the city, but these two supply most of the jobs around town. But the regional location and commerce is the reason for Monroe’s MSA status.

Alexandria is the last MSA in this group of agriculture-based cities, but it also uses a few other economic characteristics to attract people and income. Its central location in the state allows for a lot of state wide conferences to take place within the city. Also, it creates a central land harbor for many state shipping companies and the railroads. Alexandria uses the vast forests that surround it to benefit economically and it also has strong ties with other types of crop production. The city relies mostly on the retail industry, because of the lack of industry, and also the lack of another sizable city within the area.

All of the major cities benefit from their geographic locations. They are all close enough to be able to interact with each other, but they are also far enough away that they do not have to fight over the same income base of people. Each city is also strong in an individual area of industry allowing them not to compete against each other for national business. Louisiana also has many different types of industry throughout the state that attract people for many different reasons.

Small Towns and Rural Change

Many of the small towns surrounding the larger cities tend to become dependent on them and they also learn how to provide the industries that the large MSA's forget to include in their urban plans. The small towns closest to the MSA's grow as the city grows, because of the numbers of people moving from the city to live in the smaller town. These people often still work in the city, but they prefer the safety and social atmosphere of the smaller town. This creates somewhat of a hierarchy between the
cities of the state, both socially and economically. The business men of the smallest towns go to the next larger town, and then to the next larger town, and so forth. These towns that are slightly smaller than the MSA’s tend to develop close to them so that they may benefit from some of their more specialized services.

Conclusion

Louisiana has been growing at a steady pace over the twentieth century, from the large metropolitan areas to the small rural
settings. Because of the many advances in all types of industries, people have begun moving in different directions all over the
state. Farmers no longer have to be close to the city, but many other professionals have to be close to where the industry they
are skilled in are. With so many large cities over the state, many people are tied to one of the MSA=s, allowing them to benefit
from the different types of services that it offers. Louisiana is a state on a move in the right direction.

Links: Louisiana State Demographics
Maps: Louisiana Population in 1990(map from Louisiana state web site)