Canal Street is a major thoroughfare in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana.Canal Street, looking away from the river, 1920s Canal Street, looking toward the river, December 2005 (post-Katrina) Forming the up-river boundary of the city's oldest neighborhood, the French Quarter (Vieux Carre), it formed the dividing line between the older French/Spanish Colonial era city and the newer American sector, the Central Business District.