Gentilly, New Orleans

Gentilly is a broad, predominantly middle-class and racially diverse section of New Orleans, Louisiana. The first part of Gentilly to be developed was along the Gentilly Ridge, a long stretch of high ground along the former banks of Bayou Gentilly. A road, originally "Gentilly Road", was built on the ridge, and formed the eastern path into the oldest part of the city, today's French Quarter to Chef Menteur Pass. The high ground became Gentilly Boulevard and U.S. Highway 90, part of the Old Spanish Trail from St. Augustine, Florida to Los Angeles, California.

Settlement was originally mostly confined to along the long narrow ridge, plus Milneburg, built on elevated piers on the shore of Lake Pontchartrain. Most of the ground between the ridge and the lake was swampy. The first residential section in back of the ridge, "Gentilly Terraces", was built by piling up earth in shallow swamp to create blocks of land where houses could be built at the start of the 20th century. With the development of improved drainage pumps (see drainage in New Orleans) and reclaimed land and higher Lakefront levees, the land from the ridge to the lake was developed by mid century, and the entire area came popularly to be known as Gentilly.

By city neighborhood definition, the Gentilly neighborhood is bounded by Lake Ponchartrain to the north, Peoples Avenue to the east, the Bayou St. John to the west, and the Louisville and Nashville Railroad to the south. The major north-south streets are Franklin Avenue, Elysian Fields Avenue, St. Anthony, St. Bernard, St. Roch, Paris, Wisner, A.P. Tureaud (London)Avenue and Press. The east-west streets are Lakeshore Drive, Leon C. Simon, Robert E. Lee, Prentiss, Harrison, Filmore, Mirabeau, Hayne, Chef Menteur and Gentilly.

Some traditional definitions include a somewhat wider area. One wider version is shown on the map, extending the neighborhood into the Upper 9th Ward. Some older New Orleanians extend the definition even further, including the section of old Gentilly on the east side of the Industrial Canal, now part of Eastern New Orleans.

Gentilly was badly damaged following Hurricane Katrina in 2005 when the London Avenue Canal levees breeched in two places. Gentilly's population has slowly returned, with most homes requiring major gutting and repair work before they could be reoccupied. As of the start of 2007, the area is moderately populated with something less than half of residents and businesses returned.

Due to extensive hurricane damage and insurance losses, the Archdiocese of New Orleans decided to close Redeemer-Seton High School while building a new campus for Holy Cross High School on Paris Ave.

Bus Service

Bus service from the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (NORTA):

*50-St. Bernard via Senate, which ran from Canal to St. Bernard it ended two blocks from the St. Bernard Projects
*51-St. Bernard via Lake Vista, which ran from Canal to St. Bernard before going down Paris to Lake Pontchartrain.
*52-St. Bernard via L.C. Simon, which runs from Canal St, to Claiborne, to St. Bernard turned on Paris to Mirabeau to St. Anthony and ended in front of Ben Franklin High, now it travels onto the campus of the University of New Orleans.
*54Cartier which ran from JFK High down St. Bernard before turning on Mirabeau and ending at Franklin Ave In 2004 it changed its name to the Mirabeau bus.
*55-Frenchmen bus line, which moved to Elysian Fields and became the Elysian Fields.
*57-Franklin Avenue bus, which originally was the Gentilly streetcar line.
*90-Carrollton, which ran on Gentilly from Dillard to Desaix, Wisner, and Carrollton.
*97,98,99-Broad bus, which ran on Gentilly to Broad.

Area Neighborhoods

Neighborhoods in the area include:

*Edgewood: Gentilly to L&N (Now CSX) tracks, Elysian Fields to Peoples Avenue
*Gentilly Terrace: Gentilly to Dreux, Elysian Fields to Peoples Avenue
*Gentilly Heights: London Ave. Canal to Elysian Fields, Norman Meyer to Filmore
*Gentilly Woods%2C New Orleans/Pontchartrain Park: From L.C. Simon/Haynes to Chef, Peoples to Industrial Canal
*Lake Oaks-From Leon C Simon to the Lake and Elysian Fields to Franklin Ave.

chools

Schools in the area:

*Benjamin Franklin Senior High School
*Holy Cross School
*Gentilly Terrace Elementary School
*Pierre A. Capdau School
*McDonogh #39 Elementary School
*Francis Gregory Middle School
*JFK High School
*Parkview Fundamental Elementary
*Brother Martin High School
*Redeemer-Seton High School
*St. James Major
*St. Raphael
*St. Frances Cabrini Elementary

External links

* [http://www.gnocdc.org/orleans/6/28/ Gentilly Terrace Neighborhood] – Greater New Orleans Community Data Center
* [http://icpd.dartmouth.edu/ Gentilly Neighborhood Mapping] – Post-Katrina Community Restoration Mapping (Dartmouth College and Dillard University)