Kenner

Kenner is the sixth-largest city in the state and the largest city in Jefferson Parish, the parish (county to those from outside of Louisiana) adjacent to New Orleans.

Kenner offers its residents a wide range of housing options throughout its many neighborhoods. For example, a just-over 1,000-square-foot home in Greenlawn Terrace is $78,000 whereas a four-bedroom, almost-4,000-square-foot home in Place Pontchartrain is listed at near $625,000. And if you’re a frequent flyer, a four-bedroom house near the Louis Armstrong International Airport is listed at under $100,000.

Kenner is a family-oriented community and offers plenty of recreational opportunities for the entire family. Its athletic department sponsors basketball, football, cheerleading, basketball, volleyball and soccer teams plus tennis lessons. There are also adult leagues for men and women plus mixed leagues in cabbage ball.

Rivertown, a 16-block Kenner historic district, is a cluster of shops and restaurants and offers a host of cultural and family attractions. The Kenner Planetarium, the Space Science Complex, the Rivertown Theaters for the Performing Arts, the Castle Theater and LaSalle’s Landing all have entertainment and educational experiences for residents.

The Kenner Pontchartrain Convention and Civic Center, right on Lake Pontchartrain, is a multi-purpose facility with settings for concert and theatrical performances. It’s equipped with walls which configure into a variety of showcases including 46,080-square-feet of exhibit space for 280 booths as well as meeting rooms. It holds events such as the Globetrotters, wrestling and boxing matches, basketball and volleyball games. It also has space for Mardi Gras balls, weddings and parties in its Belle Grove Plantation Ballroom, complete with crystal chandeliers and a walnut parquet dance floor.

Kenner is also home to the Treasure Chest Casino with nearly 1,000 slot titles and 36 table games including blackjack, roulette and craps. Restaurants here include the Treasure Island buffet on its second floor and Café Pontchartrain with a variety of traditional New Orleans foods as well as hamburgers and salads. Its Caribbean Showroom offers world-class entertainment and shows. Hotels convenient to the casino include the Hilton Garden Inn, right next door, and the Crown Plaza Hotel and Suites. Both provide complimentary shuttle service to and from the casino.

Originally inhabited by the Tchoupitoulas Indians, this area along the Mississippi River was the first land in the New Orleans area on which Europeans set foot and was originally named from the French Cannes-Brûlées. René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle landed here in 1682. In 1855, Kenner itself was founded by Minor Kenner on land that consisted of three plantations that had been purchased by the Kenner family. At the time, all land north of what is now Airline Highway was swampland.

Between 1915 and 1931, a New Orleans streetcar line operated between New Orleans and Kenner. The line ran between the intersection of Rampart and Canal in New Orleans and the intersection of Williams Boulevard and Jefferson Highway in Kenner.

Kenner’s growth began in the late 1950s when developers began subdividing, draining and filling the swampland in the northern half of the city. During the 1960s, the construction of Interstate 10 and improvements to Veterans Highway aided the rapid development of Kenner as a suburb of New Orleans.

Kenner offers a wide price range of housing options in a family-oriented community. There are plenty of recreational and cultural opportunities in a suburban setting, yet it’s just minutes from central New Orleans.