The Marigny and the Bywater:
For the Young and Hip of Any Age

Years ago I lived in Boston. At that time an area of town called The South End, was exactly what The Marigny and The Bywater are to New Orleans today. They had a recent past history of neighborhood decay, followed by a great deal of renovation attracting young professionals, artists, and cool individuals of any age. The history of The Marigny and Bywater is all about neighborhood, at one time a significant number of Germans lived in that area. But the real interest is not so much in its history, but rather in its present, and future. The Marigny has a longer run of renaissance, and some folks in the Marigny look down upon the Johnny come lately Bywater. That’s just real estate snobbery as far as I am concerned because both have a great deal in common and share the same appeal.

What’s the big draw? Well, both locations have wonderful architecture, and an incredible sense of revitalized neighborhood. Both have a certain hip edginess created by its inhabitants, mostly off beat, interesting types, alternative lifestyle devotees, artists who found cheap digs, people who find Uptown and the Garden District to be boring and provincial, and anyone with a sense of romance about New Orleans. If you think the New Orleans of old is dead and gone, think again. It’s alive in the Marigny and Bywater!

The Marigny was the first to be redeveloped because the French Quarter became too expensive. So, various and sundry French Quarter types bought there, renovated cool homes, and settled in for the long haul. Once the Marigny began to gain in value, say around ten years ago, people started looking for cheap and interesting architecture further down the line in the Bywater. Exactly the same thing that happened in the Marigny, is now happening in the Bywater.

Recently, I jumped on my 1969 Triumph motorcycle and rode the vertical streets of the Marigny and Bywater, from Elysian Fields to Poland Avenue, and the horizontal streets from Chartres to North Rampart, which is one block in from Saint Claude. There are those who might say that for safety sake one needs to live between Dauphine and Chartres...that’s sheer nonsense, and more real estate snobbery. The truth is that both of these areas demand your personal vigilance, no matter where you are, but their increasing strength of neighborhood and an increasing number of renovations has had a direct and positive effect on both becoming, in the eyes of many, “more safe”. May I also point out that no place in New Orleans is devoid of crime, no place. You might want to take a look at the NOLA NOPD crime maps. You might be very surprised to note that both the Marigny and Bywater compare favorably to other so-called “safer areas” in town.

When I moved to New Orleans about six and a half years ago I knew nothing about the city. I was directed to an Uptown real estate agent who sold homes pretty much only in that area. I bought a great home in a very nice neighborhood; a short walking distance to Audubon Park, superb local restaurants like Clancy’s, Patois, and Martinique, and an easy hoof to Whole Foods, and St. Joe’s Tavern on Magazine St. How good does it get? But if I had to do it all over again, I’d have moved to the Marigny or the Bywater because that’s the New Orleans I’d thought I’d find when I moved here. Funky, interesting people, creative types, drop dead cool local bars and small restaurants, killer architecture, and a real sense of romance. The only thing the Marigny and Bywater lack is neighborhood grocery stores, but that is being worked on by urban planners as we speak.
Do not wait. If you have any inclination toward moving to either of these exceptional, real deal New Orleans locations, do it now. Properly priced homes in good locations, and condition, and architecturally interesting homes with real potential are being snapped up quickly, and prices are climbing. Five years from now, remember where you heard this advice.