After Hurricane Katrina destroyed much of New Orleans in 2005, several commentators nicknamed that city “Baghdad-on-the-Bayou.” The comparison was with Baghdad, Iraq, where a war was being fought.
 
The short story writer O. Henry (1862-1910) had called New York City “Bagdad-on-the-Subway” in the early 1900s, referring to the hustle and bustle of both cities.
   
San Francisco columnist Herb Caen (1916-1997) would later call his beloved city of San Francisco “Baghdad-by-the-Bay.”
 
Houston has long been called the “Bayou City,” but is also sometimes called “Baghdad-on-the-Bayou.”
 
Other New Orleans nicknames include “America’s Most Interesting City,” “Big Crescent,” “Big Easy,” “Big Greasy,” “Big Sleazy,” “Birthplace of Jazz,” “Chocolate City,” “Chopper City,” “City of a Million Dreams,” “City of Yes,” “City That Care Forgot,” “City That Forgot to Care,” “Convention City,” “Crawfish Town,” “Creole City,” “Crescent City,” “Erb City,” “Gateway of the Mississippi Valley,” “Gumbo City,” “Hollywood South,” “Jump City,” “Mardi Gras City,” “Metropolis of the South,” “N’Awlins,” “Necropolis of the South,” “Nerlins,” “No Orleans” (after Hurricane Katrina), “NOLA,” “Northernmost Banana Republic,” “Northernmost Caribbean City,” “Old Swampy,” “Paris of America,” “Queen City,” “Saint City,” “Silicon Bayou,” “Silicon Swamp” and “Sweet Lady Gumbo.”
   
 
Patrick Finley Memorial Fantasy Baseball League
Friday, September 02, 2005
THE SAME THING EVERY OTHER BLOG IS ABOUT TODAY
KATRINA: THE SNOTTY TAKE
(...)
A major American city has deteriorated into a raw, anarchic Baghdad-by-the-Bayou. 
   
Time magazine
Like Baghdad on the Bayou
Saturday, Sep. 03, 2005 By BRIAN BENNETT/NEW ORLEANS  
 
Baghdad-by-the-Bayou (September 4, 2005)
OPERATION ZERO TOLERANCE
IN NEW ORLEANS
 
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From: “GWhyte”

Date: Sun, 4 Sep 2005 09:29:22 -0400
Local: Sun, Sep 4 2005 9:29 am
Subject: Like Baghdad on the Bayou
 
Web Exclusive | Nation
Like Baghdad on the Bayou
Iraq-war correspondent Brian Bennett joins an Air Force Katrina rescue team
over New Orleans
By BRIAN BENNETT/NEW ORLEANS
 
Counter Punch: Scott Boehm
December 26, 2005
Christmas in New Orleans
(...)
Indeed, popular T-shirts sold on Bourbon Street call New Orleans “Baghdad on the Bayou.”
 
City Journal (Spring 2007)
Baghdad on the Bayou
Nicole Gelinas

To recover from Katrina, New Orleans must defeat the criminals who terrorize its streets.