If you’re thinking of moving but you’re not sure where to, we have an interesting suggestion for you. New Orleans, the largest city in the state of Louisiana, offers some unique advantages for all of its residents. Hopefully, after reading this article you’ll begin to understand why this city is such a great place to live in. So, let us begin explaining why you should move to New Orleans.
The food is amazing
New Orleans is well-known for its cultural diversity. Naturally, this extends to its cuisine as well. French, Spanish, English, Caribbean, African and some other styles as well all mix together to form an extremely diverse culinary culture. This means that if you’re a lover of food and you move to New Orleans, you’re bound to have a great time, no matter your taste in food.
Especially recommended are New Orleans’ beignets. In fact, the city is famous for its own version of this delicious pastry. If you’re moving in as a couple, you can take your significant other to Café du Monde in New Orleans, where best beignets are served. Then, there’s also tasty seafood. Whenever you’re in New Orleans, if you get the chance, you should try their renowned shrimp Po’Boy sandwiches. Then, there’s also the exquisite crawfish, as well as Creole dishes such as rice and jambalaya, and red beans.
There are great opportunities for higher education in New Orleans
According to city officials, many millennials have decided to move to New Orleans to study. That’s not surprising as New Orleans is home to high-quality colleges such as the Tulane University, the University of New Orleans, the Loyola University, and many great smaller colleges as well.
Tulane University is especially well-known. It was founded way back in 1843 and it has a long history of being among the best colleges in the USA. Another interesting university is the Xavier University of Louisiana. This university is traditionally aimed at by African Americans.
New Orleans is the birthplace of jazz
New Orleans is famous for being the birthplace of jazz music. The term “jazz” has first started appearing about a hundred years ago. It came into prominence because the musicians from New Orleans needed a name to distinguish the type of music they were playing from other genres of the time, such as ragtime. The earliest form of jazz is “dixieland”, sometimes going by the name of “New Orleans jazz” or “traditional jazz”. However, other forms of jazz have soon sprung from dixieland.
In New Orleans, jazz is still very popular. And what better way to cope with the stress of moving, then going out to listen to some high-quality jazz?
Famous jazz musicians from New Orleans
For those readers who are interested in the history of music, we’ve also prepared a list of the most influential jazz musicians hailing from New Orleans:
- The cornetist Buddy Bolden (1877 – 1931) was the first well-known jazz musician. He first started rising to prominence at the end of the 19th century, before the term “jazz” came into being. Respected for his harsh sound and improvisational skill, Bolden had a profound influence on many musicians of the era.
- The renowned jazz musician Louis Armstrong (1901 – 1971) was one of the musicians who admired Bolden’s music. The famous Satchmo was one of the most respected musicians in jazz, no matter the town, or even country. As much as he was loved for his trumpet-playing skills, he was also cherished for his masterful singing.
- Sidney Bechet (1897 – 1959) was a jazz pioneer who has, alongside Louis Armstrong, shifted the focus to soloing in jazz music. Before them, jazz musicians were improvising as a collective. After them, however, solo performances gained popularity.
- Jelly Roll Morton (1890 – 1941) was the first person to arrange jazz songs. The genre previously focused purely on improvisation. After Morton started notating the compositions, however, it became clear that jazz could both retain its improvisational spirit and have a more solid structure.
Diverse architecture is one of the reasons why you should move to New Orleans
Another aspect of New Orleans where one can easily see the influence of many different cultures is the city’s fascinating architecture. First of all, we have to mention the famous French Quarter of New Orleans. Ironically though, French Quarter’s architecture is actually Spanish! Luckily, this doesn’t change the fact that it looks beautiful and very poetic. This makes it a very appealing place, both for people who’d like to work there and for those who are looking to settle down in the French Quarter. Unfortunately, buying property there can be hard, but if you manage it, it’s definitely worth it!
Then, there’s also the Bywater district, filled with interesting shotgun houses. If you don’t know, these types of houses are very narrow. They’re usually not wider than 12 feet. Rooms are constructed one behind another, and there’s a door at each end of the house. Then, there’s also the Tremé district. If you’re a fan of HBO television shows, then you’ve probably heard of this district, as one of their shows bears its name. If you’re a fan of jazz as well, then you’ll love it in Tremé, as its history has strong ties with this type of music.
New Orleans is home to a large number of intriguing museums as well
Finally, there are a lot of fascinating museums in New Orleans as well. That’s especially true if you’re a fan of fine art. The New Orleans Museum of Art is one of the museums that all connoisseurs of art should definitely check out. Apart from the American and French art, this museum also hosts African and Japanese art pieces as well. As it was founded in 1911, over time the museum has accumulated an impressive figure of over 40,000 pieces. Also worth checking out are the Contemporary Arts Center, as well as the Ogden Museum of the Southern Art.
And if you’re not such a fan of art, but you do like history, then you should have fun at the National World War II Museum. If they move to New Orleans, history buffs will be able to visit this museum every day and unearth all of its secrets. And there are quite a few of them. For example, the museum will soon host an event dedicated to the 75th anniversary of D-Day. Such special events are held very often and are bound to keep history buffs interested for a long time.
