New Orleans is a Popular Place For Tourists Essay Example

Why is New Orleans such a popular place for tourists to visit? An idea that strikes foreigners as different in New Orleans is the culture, which has to do with the interesting geography. Having close proximity to water and fertile soil and land makes New Orleans a unique place to live and visit. New Orleans has and continues to attract many trading opportunities because it is a port city. When products need to be transported to the United States, the goods are shipped to New Orleans, and then dispersed throughout the country. The shipments coming to New Orleans are not just from countries near it, some shipments are coming from places far away, like the Dominican Republic, proving that New Orleans possesses an extremely crucial trading port. The "Map of Banana Trade" confirms this argument. In addition, with the large amount of products being shipped to New Orleans, there was a great need for more workers. These job opportunities interested many foreigners. With people coming from all different countries, New Orleans was greatly effected and influence by the mixture of different cultures, interbreeding with the culture already established in New Orleans, creating the exuberant lifestyle seen today. As referenced in At the Gate of the Tropics, many aspects of New Orleans are very similar to those of other countries. Another unique aspect of New Orleans is the differing elevations throughout the city. Many areas are below sea level, explaining why the city flooded so easily before levees were installed. For this reason, many of the first settlers rooted themselves on "The Sliver by the River." This is the area closest to the Mississippi River. "The Sliver by the River" was so popular because it was by a major trading sight, but also because it was one of the highest elevated points in the city. People were not found of having their belongings flooded on the regular. Lastly, New Orleans used to be an extremely popular place for slavery. The fertile soil made it a great area to have a successful agricultural business, but there were not many people already in the city willing to help out. This encouraged the owners of the farms to seek out slaves to maintain the crops. Without the fertile land, New Orleans would not have been able to market themselves as having a strong agricultural business, and slavery could have been erased from its culture and story. Conclusively, a main portion of the customs in New Orleans have to do with its adjacency to water. Without having a close source of water and rich soil, New Orleans would lose a large part of what it is known for today, tourism, and it would lose its uniqueness of being a prominent port. Ultimately, these two points have greatly shaped what New Orleans it today, and without them, the city would be a very different place with very different values.