New Orleans vs Richmond

USA · North America

New Orleans

is Bywater
USA · North America

Richmond

is Jackson Ward

Both cities carry real history in their bones and wear it loudly. But New Orleans and Richmond are pulling in opposite directions. New Orleans, specifically Bywater, is slower, stranger, and more willing to let a Sunday disappear into Bacchanal's backyard. Richmond's Jackson Ward has sharper edges - iron porches, Mending Walls murals, Ethiopian coffee next to soul food next to GWARbar. One city wants you to melt into it. The other wants you to walk every block. Pick New Orleans if you're running from something. Pick Richmond if you're looking for something.

The Brooklyn of

New Orleans is Bywater.

Bywater is where New Orleans gets weird on its own terms. Shotgun houses painted in sherbet colors, backyard wine bars that turn into full-blown concerts, and nobody rushing anywhere. The creative energy here is real, not performative. Walk Chartres Street on a Sunday morning and you'll feel it in your chest.

Spread across roughly 120 blocks, Bywater packs in more than a dozen independent bars, live-music wine gardens, and folk-art studios within easy walking distance of the Mississippi.
The Brooklyn of

Richmond is Jackson Ward.

Jackson Ward was the Harlem of the South long before anyone started making comparisons to Brooklyn. The historic Black business district along 2nd Street still pulses with soul food joints, Ethiopian coffee, and weekend crowds that spill onto Broad Street. Iron-laced porches line every block.

The Mending Walls project spans 16 murals created by 30 local artists across a 42-square-block neighborhood that once housed over 100 Black-owned businesses.
The numbers

At a glance.

New Orleans Richmond
Region North America North America
Country USA USA
Neighborhood Bywater Jackson Ward
Currency USD USD
Language English English
Cost level $$$ Moderate to expensive $$$ Moderate to expensive
Best months Late October to early December and mid-February to April October, then April and May
Local time UTC-5 UTC-4
Plug US plug US plug
Emergency 911 911
Vibe overlap

What they share, and what they don't.

Both

New Orleans only

Richmond only

The verdict

It depends on the weekend.

New Orleans wins for live music, late nights, and a pace that makes you forget your agenda entirely.

Richmond wins for neighborhood history, walkable street art, and a food scene punching well above its size.

Read New Orleans in full → Read Richmond in full →
Common questions

New Orleans or Richmond, answered.

Is New Orleans or Richmond better for live music?
New Orleans, specifically Bywater, wins for live music. Backyard wine bars there turn into full concerts on any given Sunday, and late nights run on their own clock. Richmond's Jackson Ward has a live-music streak too, but it shares the spotlight with galleries and street art. For nights that disappear into sound, Bywater is the pick.
Is New Orleans or Richmond better for street art?
Both lean into street art, but Richmond's Jackson Ward makes it walkable. Murals line a district you can cover on foot, alongside iron-laced porches and a dense food strip. Bywater's creative energy is real but slower and more scattered across sherbet-colored shotgun houses. Want to walk every block of art - choose Jackson Ward.
Which is cooler, Bywater or Jackson Ward?
Depends on the day you want. Bywater is slower and stranger, built for letting a Sunday vanish into a backyard concert with nobody rushing anywhere. Jackson Ward has sharper edges - the Harlem of the South, with soul food, Ethiopian coffee, and murals packed block to block. Bywater if you're running from something, Jackson Ward if you're looking for something.
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