Just got back from the Big Easy.
Actually, it seemed to me that the undesirable element was much reduced from my time there in the past.
No aggressive panhandlers. Could actually walk around City Park and the Garden District without fear of mugging. Quarter looked almost normal again post-Katrina.
St Charles trolley line only goes as far as Napoleon Ave before turning around while they continue to repair tracks post-hurricane (free bus transfer.)
If you aren't familiar with the N.O. tourism culture, DON'T schedule any have-to-see activities on Monday - many venues, stores, and attractions are closed on Monday. Always been that way, even worse now with employee shortages.
Anyway, don't know anything about the airports, but try to spend some time outside the Quarter. City Park has a nice art museum, sculpture garden, and botanical gardens. You can take the Canal Street trolley line from the riverfront to the front gate of the park. The riverfront aquarium has mostly recovered from the loss of almost 11,000 fish when the generators failed after the storm. There is the zoo out Magazine Street (take the trolley and bus transfer out St. Charles then a 1/2 mile walk south through Audubon Park.)
And IMHO you can have a great time without ever even setting foot on Bourbon Street itself, too many t-shirt shops and t***y bars (unless you go in for that kind of thing
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Two restaurant recommendations for some good food: Pascals Manale in up-town (fast becoming my favorite restaurant in NO, been there three times now), and the Pelican Club in Exchange Place alley at Bienville in the Quarter. Also if you like good hollandaise sauce you will enjoy Brennans breakfast (in the Quarter, on Royal Street.)