All Eyes on Canal Street Thanks to One Local Woman
The largest thoroughfare in New Orleans, Canal Street is getting the attention it deserves thanks to an effort spearheaded by one local woman.
April 1, 2025
It doesn’t get more New Orleans than Canal Street.
Beginning at the Mississippi River and culminating at a collection of cemeteries, the 5 1/2-mile thoroughfare contains a sampling of everything the city has to offer, including key components of two of its top industries. Adjacent to the famed French Quarter, it is home to celebrated cultural and entertainment venues — including multiple theaters and the area’s only land-based casino — along with shopping and big-name hotels, including New Orleans’ only five-star offering.
Undoubtedly a tourism hot spot, Canal Street has also become home to two major hospitals and the city’s burgeoning “BioDistrict” and BioInnovation Center.
The street has long had its struggles, however. Once a center of commerce recognized worldwide in the late 1880s as one of the few streets in the world to be lit by electric lights (along with New York City, Paris and London), Canal Street’s light has dimmed over the years, as explained in the Canal Street Study conducted by the City of New Orleans in 2018:
“A survey of residents during the Unified New Orleans Plan resulted in the general view that Canal Street was ‘little more than an unattractive border between downtown districts.’ Many residents and visitors hold this opinion, and Canal Street has become a street that one must cross to get to the CBD or French Quarter, and not a street that people walk up and down for its attractions.”
In September 2024, at the same time the city launched its third study aimed at revitalizing Canal Street in three decades, local leader Sandra Herman held the first meeting of the Celebrate Canal! Coalition, a nonprofit group of dedicated citizens determined to make a difference.
“New Orleans attracts 6 to 8 million tourists per year.” said Herman. “We want everyone, including families, to put Canal Street at the top of their list. We want to bring all the people back.”
Working closely with the City Planning Commission, Downtown Development District, New Orleans & Co., New Orleans Chamber of Commerce, New Orleans Business Alliance and GNO, Inc., the Celebrate Canal! Coalition aims to bring together a cross-section of citizens, business owners and city leaders to breathe new life into the street.
Celebrate Canal! is led by an advisory board of 11 accomplished local women from a wide variety of fields, and a 24-member advisory committee that boasts prominent business leaders like Gayle Benson, Bill Goldring and Samir Mowad and city leaders like Mayor LaToya Cantrell and New Orleans City Council members Lesli Harris, Freddie King and Helena Moreno.
The coalition is currently forging ahead with projects that directly address the issues identified in the latest survey, including retail/business attraction, transportation/walkability, placemaking and safety.