Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
22
BYWATER: HIPSTERS' HAVEN
BOUNDARIES:
St. Claude Ave., Chartres St., Piety St., Montegut St.
DISTANCE:
1.29 miles
PARKING:
Free street parking
PUBLIC TRANSIT:
RTA Bus #5 (Marigny-Bywater)
A lot of words have been tossed about to describe the Bywater section of New Orleans,
and, well, most of them are true. The neighborhood along the Mississippi River between
Faubourg Marigny and the Industrial Canal is perhaps the funkiest, edgiest, most bohemian
'hood in New Orleans. And yeah, we may as well throw in the term
hipster,
too.
The evolution of Bywater as the city's “it” neighborhood began after Hurricane Katrina in
2005, and it has been exploding in popularity ever since. Because of its higher elevation
along the river, it escaped the flooding that destroyed so many other parts of town. As a
result, the so-called “Sliver by the River” became a magnet for folks looking for new
places to lay roots. Of late, Bywater has become a haven for newcomers, along with artists
and musicians.
The houses alone make this neighborhood something special. We're not talking man-
sions—we're talking Creole cottages and shotgun doubles painted in eye-popping shades
of purple, orange, and blue, and trimmed in equally vibrant colors. The houses are so much
fun to look at that one could easily miss everything else this neighborhood has to offer,
from restaurants and music clubs to arts venues and parks. Bywater's newest addition, as of
February 2014, is Crescent Park, a 1.4-mile linear park built along the river.
•
Start your walk at the corner of Montegut and Dauphine Streets. Walk to
3053 Dauphine, home of the Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos Catholic Church.
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the church opened in 1838
as St. Vincent de Paul Parish but was renamed in 2001 for Seelos, a Redemp-
torist priest known for his devotion to the poor and abandoned. Two years
later, the interior of the church was destroyed by a fire but has since been re-
stored. The church has stunning stained-glass windows and a massive pipe or-
gan donated by a group of Seattle-based churches whose volunteers had come
to New Orleans to help in the Katrina recovery. The church is also home to
the St. Gerard Community for the Deaf, which serves the spiritual needs of
the area's deaf and hearing-impaired Catholics.
