At the city's core is the Vieux Carré, a historic neighborhood also known as the French Quarter, which is the site of the original settlement. Exotic houses and wrought-iron balconies reflecting French and Spanish architectural styles dominate this unique district's narrow streets. The French Quarter’s central plaza is Jackson Square, which features a bronze statue of Andrew Jackson, who led the defense of New Orleans during the War of 1812 (1812-1815) and later became U.S. president. The square is surrounded by the Saint Louis Cathedral, built in 1794 and remodeled in 1851; the Cabildo and the Presbytère, former government buildings erected in the 18th century; and the Pontalba Buildings, large apartment buildings constructed in 1849. East of Jackson Square on Decatur Street is the French Market, home of numerous shops. On nearby Chartres Street stands the Ursuline Convent, which was founded by Ursuline nuns in 1734 and is thought to be the oldest building in the Mississippi Valley. On the eastern boundary of the French Quarter on Esplanade Avenue is the Old U.S. Mint, which was built in the 19th century and refurbished in 1981. A streetcar line parallels the Mississippi River and provides transportation from one end of the French Quarter to the other. Jazz is still a popular attraction on Basin and Bourbon streets, where this treasured American musical form first appeared and gained fame in the early 20th century.

On the western end of the French Quarter is Canal Street, the location of the U.S. Custom House, which housed the Union Army headquarters during the American Civil War (1861-1865), and the boundary between the French Quarter and the Central Business District, the city's commercial hub. Riverwalk, a large shopping center, and the New Orleans Convention Center, which holds hundreds of conferences a year, are the business district's most prominent buildings. Farther to the west lies the Garden District, a neighborhood of numerous beautiful 19th-century homes. Still farther west is Uptown, another fine residential neighborhood. The Old Carrollton Court House, now Lucher School, is its most notable structure. The Saint Charles Avenue Streetcar Line, a national historic landmark, connects Uptown and the Garden District to the Central Business District and the French Quarter. On the northern side of the city, in the Garden District, and adjacent to the French Quarter, are several cemeteries that are noted for their architecturally distinctive aboveground crypts of marble and granite. Of special interest is the Saint Louis Cemetery, which was unique in its day because it contained not graves but crypts and vaults, since the city’s mud foundations made underground burial impossible.

Since the opening of the Mississippi River Bridge in 1958, several communities on the west bank of the river have become similar suburban localities. These include Algiers, which was once a noted local center for shipbuilding and railroads and is presently the location of the Naval Support Activity, and the three communities of Harvey, Marrero, and Gretna in Jefferson Parish. Gretna is home to the David Crockett Fire Company Number 1, the oldest volunteer fire company in the United States. Chalmette, site of the 1815 Battle of New Orleans and also the location of Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Company, is a mixed residential-industrial area in St. Bernard Parish. Since 1960, due to the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, which opened in 1956, and Interstate 10, this burgeoning suburban sprawl has extended north of Lake Pontchartrain into Slidell, Mandeville, and Covington in St. Tammany Parish.

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