Local geographer Richard Campanella has spent the last 20 years studying the city's topography and says that, unlike other cities, New Orleans' highest and lowest points are man-made creations.
The low points are formed from pumping and dredging of the land, whereas high points have come from piling up marshy mud. Here enters Monkey Hill, the subject of Campanella's "Cityscapes" Nola.com piece this month. The man-made high point is one of the essentials of a New Orleans childhood.
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