Cityscapes of New Orleans - by Richard Campanella (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Exploring the Crescent City from the ground up, Richard Campanella takes us on a winding journey toward explaining the city's distinct urbanism and eccentricities. In [his book], Campanella ... reveals the why behind the where, delving into the historical and cultural forces that have shaped the spaces of New Orleans for over three centuries"--Amazon.com.

Book Synopsis

Exploring the Crescent City from the ground up, Richard Campanella takes us on a winding journey toward explaining the city's distinct urbanism and eccentricities. In Cityscapes of New Orleans, Campanella--a historical geographer and professor at Tulane University--reveals the why behind the where, delving into the historical and cultural forces that have shaped the spaces of New Orleans for over three centuries.

For Campanella, every bewildering street grid and linguistic quirk has a story to tell about the landscape of Louisiana and the geography of its bestknown city. Cityscapes of New Orleans starts with an examination of neighborhoods, from the origins of faubourgs and wards to the impact of the slave trade on patterns of residence. Campanella explains how fragments of New Orleans streets continue to elude Google Maps and why humble Creole cottages sit alongside massive Greek Revival mansions. He considers the roles of modern urban planning, environmentalism, and preservation, all of which continue to influence the layout of the city and its suburbs. In the book's final section, Campanella explores the impact of natural disasters as well-known as Hurricane Katrina and as unfamiliar as "Sauvé's Crevasse," an 1849 levee break that flooded over two hundred city blocks.

Cityscapes of New Orleans offers a wealth of perspectives for uninitiated visitors and transplanted citizens still confounded by terms like "neutral ground," as well as native-born New Orleanians trying to understand the Canal Street Sinkhole. Campanella shows us a vibrant metropolis with stories around every corner.

Review Quotes

Campanella understands that New Orleans is a city of distinct and flavorful neighborhoods, and in this book he captures their essence. By combining history, geography, and architecture, he is able to convey the rich culture of the city. This is a fascinating and loving book that will delight both natives and visitors.--Walter Isaacson

In Cityscapes of New Orleans, Richard Campanella applies his extraordinary knowledge of and enthusiasm for New Orleans to a detailed and illuminating chronicle of places and architectural types and styles within many of the city's seventy-three named neighborhoods. He is a spry, articulate, popular scholar who intrigues by tracing these spaces through geography, history, and social culture. He explains that beyond the city's marshy soil, three elements--hurricanes, yellow fever, and fire--have controlled New Orleans's development, underscoring the roles of disasters and recovery. A glance at the extensive table of contents confirms that this is a smorgasbord of regional and urban evolutions that will appeal to a plethora of readers nationwide.--Mary Louise Christovich, chair, board of directors, Historic New Orleans Collection

About the Author

Richard Campanella, a geographer with the Tulane School of Architecture, is the author of eight books about New Orleans, including Bourbon Street: A History, Bienville's Dilemma, and Geographies of New Orleans. A two-time winner of the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities Book of the Year Award, Campanella has also received the Louisiana Library Association's Literary Award, the Williams Prize for Louisiana History, and the Monroe Fellowship from Tulane's New Orleans Center for the Gulf South.