New Orleans City Planning Commission
Planning District Five
Quiet, secure neighborhoods, active community organizations, unique design features such as underground utility wires and service alleyways, and two major recreational areas-City Park and Lake Pontchartrain-make the Lakeview district a stable and comfortable place to live. The Land Use Plan seeks to preserve the district's residential and recreational character while reducing conflicts caused by commercial or institutional properties. The following land use actions would improve the quality of life in the district: limiting retail services to existing areas and to neighborhood stores, improving parking for commercial and institutional facilities, and providing landscape buffers to shield residential areas from commercial and institutional facilities and transportation corridors.Lakeview
Section I: Boundaries
The Lakeview Planning District is located in the northwest corner of Orleans Parish and is bounded by Lake Pontchartrain to the north, Bayou St. John to the east, the Orleans/Jefferson Parish line to the west and an irregular border to the south consisting of the New Orleans Country Club, City Park Avenue, Toulouse, North Carrollton, and Orleans. The planning district is made up of six distinct neighborhoods which cover approximately 4,763 acres and includes Lakewood/West End (1A), Lakeview (1C), Navarre (1D), Lakewood (1E), Lakeshore/Lake Vista (2A) and City Park (5A). (See the map which faces page 116.)
Section II: Development History
Prior to the 1920s, development in this district was limited primarily to the natural levees along the old bayous. Although most of the backswamp area of the city had been pumped dry by 1910, the expense involved in building on the newly dry soil, which was prone to subsiding and required considerable shoring up, prevented full-scale development of the district.
The 1927 land use inventory indicates that development was concentrated in the area bounded by City Park Avenue, Orleans Avenue, Florida Avenue, and West End Boulevard as well as along Pontchartrain Boulevard between Robert E. Lee and West End Park. Other parts of the district had scattered development, with the largest areas of undeveloped land lying between Pontchartrain Boulevard and the Parish line and in the area north of Florida Boulevard between Canal Boulevard and Orleans Avenue. The primary land use in the area was single-and two-family housing, with commercial uses limited to small, scattered neighborhood facilities. The few industrial uses were located between Harrison and City Park Avenues. Occupying the greatest amount of space were the West End Country Club, located to the west of Pontchartrain Boulevard, the cemeteries in the southwestern part of the district, the West End Shoreline Park and City Park, which at the time extended into the area that is now Delgado Community College, Delgado playground and Kirsch Rooney Stadium. The West End resort, located at the end of the New Basin Canal, was still operating.
The West End neutral ground area was the terminus of the New Basin Canal at Lake Pontchartrain and was the site of numerous resorts, businesses and activities during the 19th Century. The area was also the location for the West End Amusement Park, the point from which many citizens departed on sailing excursions from the lakefront. Over time, natural disasters and technology began to take its toll on visitation to the area and the canal was filled in the 1940s. The West End resort has not been redeveloped, although a plan was completed in 1992.
After 1927, two factors accelerated development in this district: the economic boom of the 1920s and the new seawall at Lake Pontchartrain. The original lakeshore extended to what is now Robert E. Lee Boulevard. In 1927 the Levee Board completed an ambitious seawall and fill project. The Board built a stepped concrete seawall approximately 3,000 feet out into the lake and filled in the enclosed area with material from the lake bottom. The seawall provided flood and hurricane protection for the area, and the fill project added 2,000 acres of prime lakefront property, half of which the Levee Board leased to LSUNO (now the UNO property) and the other half it sold to private developers to pay off municipal bonds used to finance the project. The resulting housing development, Lake Vista, is a carefully planned neighborhood in the "city beautiful" tradition ( based on the plan for Radburn, New Jersey), with rear-entry cul-de-sacs and houses facing common green space. Children are able to walk to school without crossing a single street.
Between 1927 and 1949 single-and two-family housing expanded to other areas of the district as well. As residential areas were built old industrial uses declined. Commercial development grew along Harrison Avenue, Pontchartrain Boulevard, and Canal Boulevard south of Florida Avenue. Other notable land use changes include the development of the Delgado Trades School, the construction of the Municipal Yacht Harbor and the parkway area along Lake Pontchartrain shoreline.
The District also contains some historically significant sites including West End Park and West End Lighthouse and the seafood restaurants found near the marina. These restaurants, built on pilings, are the few remaining examples of a building type formerly found throughout the lakefront region.
By 1965 very little land remained undeveloped in the district. Residential growth had continued at a steady pace throughout the late 1940s, and the area between Pontchartrain Boulevard and the Parish line had been substantially developed, as had the Lakeshore area. Existing commercial areas had expanded and new commercial activities began to occur on western portions of Harrison Avenue and at the intersection of Robert E. Lee and West End Boulevards. Other changes during this period included increasing development of public and semi-public land uses, particularly on eastern portions of Harrison Avenue and in the newly developed area west of Pontchartrain Boulevard.
Land use patterns for the district in 1976 reflect a continuation of those identified in 1965. The district has retained and strengthened its residential character, with limited commercial activities to support this population. By 1998, the district has almost completely developed with most new construction occurring in the form of infill and redevelopment. Such a project is the new residential development being built at the end of Pontchartrain Boulevard, near Robert E. Lee.
Overall the district can be characterized as being predominantly residential, consisting of homogenous single-family and two-family structures. Residents are served by neighborhood commercial as well as semi-public and public land uses; industrial uses have declined since 1927 (although they were never a strong presence in the district); the city's largest green space, City Park, is located within the district.
Section III: Population
The following tables provide demographic statistics on the population residing within the planning district as well as the total population of the city of New Orleans. The statistics provide information on each area for 1980, 1990, 1997 and 2002.