The Bywater and St. Claude

The Mississippi River runs the length of the Bywater's boundary, and the bars and coffee shops scattered around the neighborhood's gritty and shiny parts alike combine elements of its working-class roots with the more recent influx of transplants to make for a lively experience. It doesn't have the head-turning array of sights you'll find in the French Quarter, but a visit to the Bywater gives you a feel for New Orleans as it lives day to day, in a colorful, overgrown, slightly sleepy cityscape reminiscent of island communities and tinged with a sense of perpetual decay. Northwest of the Bywayer (away from the river) is St. Claude, another section of the Upper Ninth Ward that often gets grouped together with the Bywater. The commercial and cultural heart of this neighborhood is St. Claude Avenue, a busy city throughway that's also home to art and dance studios, small shops and restaurants, and avant-garde entertainment venues.