Luling, LA

Luling is a St. Charles Parish community on the west bank of the Mississippi River, upriver from New Orleans. The river, levees, chemical industry, and parish schools shape much of daily life here. Luling is home to a major Bayer chemical facility, and it also hosts the annual Alligator Festival, a very Louisiana kind of local marker. It feels residential and industrial at once, with bayou-country food, river traffic, refineries and plants nearby, and New Orleans close enough to influence the rhythm.