Just Be Thankful for Faubourg St. John
Sometimes, it’s important to simply enjoy what you’ve got
“I ARISE IN THE MORNING TORN between a desire to improve (or save) the world and a desire to enjoy (or savor) the world,” wrote the essayist E.B. White, “This makes it hard to plan the day.”
That’s the dilemma. You live in a nice place. But, it could be nicer if only the park were fixed up or the traffic slowed down, if the schools were better or the business district brighter. So what to do first? You’d like to plop down on a bench for a while, soak up the sunshine, listen to the birds sing or kids play, and just watch the world go by. But you really ought to be organizing a meeting, handing out flyers and enlisting volunteers for the big event.
It’s important to do both. Without taking time to truly savor your neighborhood, you lose touch with why you love it in the first place. Soon, all you see is what’s wrong. And that quickly diminishes your effectiveness as community advocate. No one is inspired by harried, humorless, negative leader who would really rather be doing something else.
On a strategic, as well as a personal level, it’s smart to take a long stroll every evening, linger at the sidewalk café, stop for a chat with neighbors, and just generally revel in all the great things your community offers. Otherwise, what’s the point of living in Faubourg St. John?
Faubourg St. John, established in 1708, is a neighborhood located just north of Broad Street at the intersection of Orleans Ave.
It is approximately 75 city blocks in area and has an average elevation of about 1 foot above sea level. Not bad when you consider about half of New Orleans is several feet under sea level. More than 4,000 residents call Faubourg St. John home.
One of New Orleans’ finest neighborhoods, Faubourg St. John is famous for its stately trees, abundant parks, spectacular homes, world-class museums, vibrant bayou, excellent restaurants and fine shops throughout the neighborhood especially along its business districts on Ponce de Leon and Broad Streets.
Faubourg St. John contains the full range of residential uses, fun and friendly business districts, office space, a wide range of medical services and a small amount of light industrial property. This full range of land use, plus the economic and ethnic diversity of the neighborhoods’ population qualifies Faubourg St. John as a premier destination.
FAUBOURG ST. JOHN
“Where Big Dreams Grow!”
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