Chapter 15 - California

The state of California and the city of New Orleans are both places where ethnic diversity provides a strong sense of cultural variety and blending. A multi-textured backdrop which makes certain areas in California such San Diego, Los Angeles and San Fransisco complex and vibrant with different types of  people living together in a cosmopolitan manner, bringing different food, languages and traditions into the mix and making these cities unique. California is the most popular  destination for immigrants with about half of all immigrants to the United States residing in California. Likewise, New Orleans has seen an influx of immigrants over the course of its existence that make it a unique melting pot as well.

Chinatown San Francisco   

Olvera Street Los Angeles



New Orleans, while originally settled by the French, has become home to a large number of ethnicity's. It is a place where Africans, both slave and free, and Native Americans shared their cultures and intermingled with  European settlers. Encouraged by the French government, this strategy for producing a durable culture in a difficult place marked New Orleans as different and special from its inception and continues to distinguish New Orleans today.

New Orleans, like early settlements along the Massachusetts Bay and Chesapeake Bay, served as a distinctive cultural gateway to North America where people  from Europe and Africa initially intertwined their lives and customs with those of the native inhabitants of the New World.  The resulting way of life differed dramatically from the culture that came out of the English colonies of
North America. After its founding, more French continued to come to New Orleans, as did Spaniards and Cubans. The largest waves of immigrants came from Ireland and Germany.  In certain neighborhoods, their descendants dialects make visitors feel like they are in neighborhoods in Brooklyn or the southside of Chicago. From 1820 to 1870, the Irish and Germans made New Orleans one of the main immigrant ports of the nation. Just before the beginning of the 20th century, thousands of Sicilians came into New Orleans and added even more complexity to its population.   The French, the blacks, the Spanish, the Germans, the Irish and the Italians constitute the largest ethnic groups to settle in New Orleans.

There are a number of smaller immigrant groups in the last century and in the present one which add to the diversity of the city, they are: the Jews, the Greeks, the Yugoslavs (Dalmatians, Slavonians), the "Arbreshe" or Albano-Sicilians, the Lebanese, the Filipinos, and the Chinese. More recent arrivals are the Koreans and Vietnamese, the Japanese and people from India.

A new cultural addition to New Orleans has come in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. There has been a huge increase in the number of Latinos moving to the city. Tens of thousands of Latinos moved to the city,which had never had a sizable Hispanic community. Since Katrina, whole neighborhoods have been transformed by the new Latino residents and businesses. In Kenner, near the city's airport, Hispanics now make up 22 percent of the population, up from 14 percent a decade ago.

New Orleans unique identity needs more explanation than a variant colonial past and a wildly diverse population. After all, California once belonged to Mexico, and today it draws more domestic and foreign transplants than any other place in the nation. Yet visitors seldom consider it "foreign". On the contrary, California has come to define what is quintessentially American. On the other hand, New Orleans has remained an American province with a vibrant way of life. What the cities citizens celebrate is less the Old World cultures of their ancestors, and more the new way of life that evolved in New Orleans. New Orleans is a place in the United States that feels like no other.

 Photo Sources: Google Images
Information Sources:

http://www.neworleansonline.com/neworleans/history/people.html

http://www.louisianafolklife.org/lt/virtual_books/guide_to_state/NOGroups.html

http://www.governing.com/topics/health-human-services/gov-new-orleans-latino-population-boom.html

Hardwick, Shelley & Holtgrieve. The Geography of North America: Environment/Culture/Economy .

Chapter 14- MexAmerica

The region of the United States know as MexAmerica is know for the Spanish influence on its culture.This influence is obvious in parts of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas where Spanish architecture, place names and foods are common.

Spanish Architecture in Texas

Spanish/Mexican Food

 



 New Orleans, while usually associated with French culture, has a strong Spanish influence as well. Evidence of this is clearly apparent when looking around the city, particularly in the French Quarter. Despite its name the Quarter and the city has a Spanish history which is apparent when one knows where to look:

 The architecture of the French Quarter is actually Spanish, despite the fact that the city's early residents were French. France gave up control of Louisiana to Spain to pay a war debt. Spain then controlled the colony from 1763 to 1803. During these years, several fires raged through the Quarter destroying the original French style architecture. The charming style that is admired to this day must be credited to the Spanish for it was Spain's administrators who rebuilt the city.

The flat-tiled roofs, tropical colors, and ornate ironwork of the French Quarter are Iberian touches brought from across the Atlantic. In order to prevent fires, the Spanish-controlled government mandated that stucco replace wood for construction material and that all buildings be placed near the street and each other. Where there used to be yards and open spaces surrounding the buildings, the French Quarter was now rendered both more intimate and more secretive, with continuous facades, arched passageways, and gorgeous rear gardens and courtyards hidden from street view.  Construction on the Cabildo and the Presbytere, the matching edifices flanking St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square, occurred during the Spanish era. The Cabildo served as Spain's administrative headquarters for Louisiana. Unlike other nationalities who immigrated to New Orleans, the Spanish never formed a cohesive community, and throughout Spanish rule, French Creole culture still dominated.                                                                                                                                   



The men who served under the Spanish crown didn't come to New Orleans  with their families, and they either married local women or eventually returned to their homeland. Any lingering Spanish influence dissipated once Louisiana became American. Still, one has to credit the Spanish with helping to establish New Orleans by improving infrastructure and giving the city decades of stability.  Walking  through the French Quarter one can find many plaques indicating the old Spanish names for streets, elsewhere in the city, street names honor historical figures from the Spanish era such as Galvez, Ulloa, Miro, and Gayoso. New Orleanians love fine European cuisine, so it's not surprising the city has several successful Spanish restaurants. Today Spanish influence in New Orleans is once again being reasserted through the city's relatively new but growing Hispanic community. After hurricane Katrina, many new residents to the city were of Hispanic ancestry.

 

Photo Sources: Google Images

 

Information Source:

http://www.neworleansonline.com/neworleans/multicultural/multiculturalhistory/spanish.html



Chapters 12 & 13: Rocky Mountain Region and the Intermonte West

The Rocky Mountain Region and the Intermonte West area are in close proximity to one another and for purposes of this post will be compared with New Orleans in regards to the various natural hazards that threaten those regions.

The weather patterns in the Rocky Mountains and the Intermonte West make for very changeable weather. Winter storms can lead to flooding and avalanches. Spring and summer thunderstorms lead to crop and property damaging hail and potentially deadly lighting strikes.

 

 

New Orleans is considered part of the Coastal South.  This region is North America's most thunderstorm-prone area. Hurricanes are perhaps the climatic hazard that, since landfall of Katrina in 2005, are most brought to mind when New Orleans is mentioned.

 

New Orleans has a long history with damaging hurricanes.  Statistically, New Orleans is affected by a hurricane (either brushed or hit) every 2.24 years. The longest gap between storms was a 7 year period (1936-1944). The average number of years between direct hurricane hits ( hurricane force winds for a few hours) is once every 15.67 years. The average MPH of hurricane hits (based on sustained winds, not gusts) is 107 mph.  New Orleans was last affected by a hurricane on August 29th, 2012. Hurricane Isaac passed 45 miles to the southwest with 80 mph winds while moving slowly north/northwest causing surge flooding in surrounding areas with 5 dead in Louisiana.

 

Weather warning flag meanings:

 





Hurricane Katrina must be addressed when discussing natural hazards in regards to New Orleans.
An estimated 1,836 people died in the hurricane and the flooding that followed. Millions of people were left homeless along the Gulf Coast and in New Orleans, which experienced the highest death toll. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration , Katrina was the most destructive storm to strike the United States. It ranks sixth overall in strength of recorded Atlantic hurricanes. It was also a very large storm; with, at its peak, maximum winds stretched 25 to 30 nautical miles and its extremely wide swath of hurricane force winds extended at least 75 nautical miles to the east from the center.

 Originally formed as a tropical depression over the Bahamas, it was a slow moving system. By the time it made its way to southern Florida Katrina was a moderate Category 1 hurricane. It weakened over land, but gathered strength once back out onto the Gulf of Mexico. It re-intensified as a Category Five storm with winds blowing at 175mph. As it turned to the Louisiana coast, it weakened to a Category 3 storm before making its second landfall along the Louisiana-Mississippi border on the morning of Aug. 29th.

Several levees in New Orleans collapsed and the city began to flood. Thousands sought refuge in the New Orleans Convention Center and the Superdome, which were overwhelmed. The National Guard was called in to help with evacuations.

Ultimately 80 percent of New Orleans and large portions of nearby parishes became flooded, and the flood waters did not recede for weeks. While many of the tourist areas such as the French Quarter have recovered, there are still neighborhoods just a short ride from the city where the effects of Katrina can still be seen.

Superdome Before and After

 

 



Levee and home NOLA Before and After

 

Photo sources: Google Images
Information Sources:
http://www.livescience.com/22522-hurricane-katrina-facts.html
http://www.hurricanecity.com/city/neworleans.htm
The Geography of North America: Environment/Culture/Economy Hardwick, Shelley, Holtgrieve

Chapter Eleven- The Great Plains

The Great Plains and the area of New Orleans have something in common. Energy production in the form of oil is a  primary-sector activity they both share. According to The Geography of North America , oil and natural gas fields are plentiful in the southern Plains. Oil production has increased dramatically in the Williston Basin of eastern Montana, western North Dakota, and southern Saskatchewan. Northern Alberta contains what may become the largest reserve of petroleum outside the Middle East.In 2008, according to the United States Geological Survey, cited in the textbook, there was an estimated 3 billion barrels of recoverable oil in the Willston Basin, with more than 2 billion in the North Dakota portion alone.

                         



 



 

The oil and gas industry is an important part of New Orleans economic base. Major U.S petroleum companies located in New Orleans include Shell, Exxon, Mobil, and British Petroleum (BP).

 

Louisiana as a state is critical to US energy operation. Some facts:

 

* Louisiana produces 11 percent of U.S. petroleum

*19 percent of the country's reserves of natural gas

*Louisiana is a primary source of the nation's crude oil

*Louisiana is second in production of the nation's natural gas

* Second in total energy production

*25 percent of America's petrochemicals, including basic chemicals, plastics and fertilizers

*Second-highest mineral producer in the U.S

 









The oil industry in Louisiana has had a negative effect on the state and the city of New Orleans as well. Essential plants of the Mississippi delta have been profoundly impacted by the industry. For vegetation to have high productivity, it needs natural and regular flow of sediment. Levees and canals have diverted this flow. As a result, a phenomenon known as depressurization  has lead to subsidence, a fancy word for sinking. In other words, the delta is like a glass with soda pop in it and a drinking straw is similar to an oil-drilling pipe. Suck on the straw and your soda pop, or your oil comes to the surface. However, when that happens, the level of the liquid drops as the pressure underneath is lessened. As oil is pumped from the ground, New Orleans is sinking.  Subsidence in the Mississippi Delta is thought to be around 10mm per year.   

 

 

 

 

Information sources: http://www.city-data.com/world-cities/New-Orleans-Economy.html

Also:   http://www.neworleansonline.com/pr/releases/releases/Why%20New%20Orleans%20is%20Important%20to%20America.pdf

And: The Geography of North America: Envirnment/Culture/Economy, Hardwick, Shelley, Holtgrieve

Photo Sources: Google Images