Poydras Street: The Power Corridor
Poydras Street is where New Orleans does business. This wide boulevard cutting through the Central Business District is lined with skyscrapers, law firms, oil company headquarters, and the Superdome—the largest fixed-dome structure in the Western Hemisphere. If the French Quarter is the heart of the city's culture, Poydras is the heart of its commerce. It is also, every January, the most festive business district in America when the Saints make the playoffs and the entire street turns into a black-and-gold block party.
History
Poydras Street is named for Julien de Lallände Poydras, a French-born poet, planter, and politician who served as president of the Louisiana Senate in the early 1800s. For much of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Poydras was a modest commercial street. Its transformation began in the 1960s and 1970s with the construction of the Superdome and the development of the modern CBD. Oil companies, banks, and law firms built towers along the corridor, turning Poydras into the closest thing New Orleans has to a traditional American downtown skyline.
The Neighborhoods
Poydras runs from the Mississippi River through the CBD, past the Superdome, and into the neighborhoods beyond Claiborne Avenue. The river end is dominated by the Hilton and convention center hotels. The middle stretch is canyon-like—glass and steel towers on both sides, with the energy companies and legal firms that drive the Louisiana economy. Past the Superdome, Poydras transitions quickly into residential neighborhoods, crossing Claiborne and Broad before eventually petering out in Mid-City.
Key Landmarks
The Caesars Superdome dominates the Poydras landscape—home to the Saints, the Sugar Bowl, multiple Super Bowls, and the shelter of last resort during Hurricane Katrina. One Shell Square at 701 Poydras was the tallest building in Louisiana when it opened in 1972. The Hyatt Regency connects to the Superdome and serves as the hub for conventions and major events. Mother's Restaurant at 401 Poydras has been serving po-boys and debris since 1938. And during Saints season, the neutral ground on Poydras becomes a gallery of oversized Saints helmets on every light post—a tradition that turns the business corridor into a temple of football worship.
Game Day on Poydras
On Saints game days, Poydras Street transforms completely. Office workers are replaced by tailgaters. The skyscraper canyon fills with the sound of brass bands and Who Dat chants. The walk from the CBD hotels to the Superdome becomes a parade unto itself. For a city that knows how to throw a party, Poydras on game day might be the best one of all—tens of thousands of people in black and gold, streaming toward the Dome with the kind of joy that only a long-suffering fanbase can truly produce.
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