In New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, "downtown" has historically referred to neighborhoods along the Mississippi River down-river (roughly east) from Canal Street, including the French Quarter, Treme, Faubourg Marigny, Bywater, the 9th Ward, and other neighborhoods. Contrary to the common usage of "downtown" in other cities, this historic application of the term excluded the New Orleans Central Business District. The term continues to be employed as it has been historically, although many younger people and migrants from other parts of the country will use "downtown" as it is used elsewhere; that is, to mean the Central Business District/Warehouse District area.
A legal definition of "downtown" New Orleans originated in 1974, when the Louisiana Legislature created the New Orleans Downtown Development District, a business improvement district (BID) bordered by Iberville Street, the Pontchartrain Expressway, Claiborne Avenue and the Mississippi River. This district is anchored by the CBD, but excludes the French Quarter. The DDD also incorporates the Warehouse District, as well as landmarks like the Louisiana Superdome, the New Orleans Arena, the New Orleans Morial Convention Center, Jackson Square, the Riverwalk Marketplace, the Crescent City Connection, and Canal Place.
In the 19th century, much of New Orleans' Downtown (down-river from Canal Street) was still predominantly Francophone. Downtown hosted the city's French-speaking Creole communities. There was a traditional rivalry with the predominantly Anglophone "Uptown New Orleans" on the other side of Canal Street. The broad median of Canal Street became known as the neutral ground, where partisans of the two sections of the city could meet for discussions and business without going into each other's territory.The city was for years divided into "Downtown" and "Uptown". Development of the low-lying Back of Town (the swamp and marsh extending northwards from the edge of development to the shores of Lake Pontchartrain) only began after 1900, as longstanding drainage issues were solved. While the Downtown/Uptown division of the city has sometimes been overstated (by the late 19th century there were already substantial numbers of people of francophone orientation living Uptown, and of anglophone orientation living Downtown), it continues to be a factor in New Orleans culture into the 21st century, marking, for example, the division of the Mardi Gras Indians into Downtown and Uptown tribes.