I grew up in Jefferson Parish, and I worked there too. Back in the day, “Fat City” in Metairie was the nightlife district in da Parish, a hotbed of clubbing, massage parlors, music clubs and restaurants. It was considered to be the “French Quarter” of Jefferson Parish. After a while though, the area turned nasty, with a lot of strip malls, drugs and some violence.

The Meters even played in Fat City in the 1970's, here shown at the Showboat Lounge.

There are still quite a few bars there, but the area lost its appeal and luster a long time ago. Councilwoman Cynthia Chen-Lee proposed a clean-up of the area that would include revived shopping, dining and residential developments, more consistent with a sort of typical “Main Street” type of design. The proposal also included an ordinance that would close the bars at 1 a.m. (yes, Jefferson Parish bars also have a 24-hour drinking policy, like New Orleans).

The bars in Fat City put together a widely-televised campaign that contended that if the bars closed earlier, people would get drunker, and more drunk-driver fatalities would occur (Wha?? One of the screwiest back-asswards arguments I’ve ever heard).

It all passed the Jefferson Parish Council without a hitch, so it looks as though Fat City will become a “last call,” which in a lot of ways will probably help New Orleans bars, who still honor the drink ‘til you drop party mentality.

Maybe the revised Fat City will also add a few music clubs, too. Hope that happens so local musicians would have more places to play. Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter what you do to Fat City, it’ll never be New Orleans. The vibe just isn’t there.

And God knows, a lot more people are going to be involved in drunk driving accidents now that they’re shutting down the Fat City bars at midnight or 1 a.m. (on weekends!). Oh, the horror!