Moving to Austin from New Orleans. (Leander, Howe: low crime, neighborhoods, schools)

[fuadramses]

I'm a native Oklahoman (from the Tulsa area) but I have been living in Louisiana for almost four years - first in Baton Rouge , then in New Orleans.

My wife and I loved NOLA at first. The food is wonderful , the nightlife is beyond amazing , the architecture is beautiful , and the outright uniqueness of this place can not be matched by any other American city I have ever seen.

However , we recently had a child and have become very concerned about his safety . Crime in New Orleans is bad. Really bad. We live in the Ninth Ward (Poland and St. Claude area for those familiar with NOLA) and while this area is gentrifying , it is not happening quickly enough for us to consider staying . There are shootings here almost every day and even if we could afford to live in a "decent" part of NOLA , this city is such a checkerboard of crime that we would still be just a few blocks away from VERY bad neighborhoods. Also , the local schools here are terrible. My son is a few years away from school age , but we are looking for somewhere to live permanently - and NOLA is no place to raise a child.

Going back to Tulsa was not an option , since my family has since moved and retired in Florida. We chose Austin because it is closer to my wife's family and I have heard that it has a fairly low crime rate (correct me if I am wrong) when compared to other cities of it's size. We want to live in a city that has a lot of things to do as far as nightlife , restaurants , and culture - but with as little crime as possible.

I've visited Austin twice , but over 15 years ago , and I was never familiar with the city.

[JoninATX]

What's your budget? The cost of living in Austin can be expensive.

As far as safety? your correct, Austin does have low violent crime rate but does have pockets of high property crime.

[fuadramses]

Yes , I've heard that it is expensive . My wife has a professional job here in NOLA and makes around 45 a year . I , however , work in the service industry and rely on a decent hourly pay plus tips , which are pretty good in the area of town where I work (Irish Channel) . She has been offered a job in Austin that pays about the same as she is making here, but I will have to wait until we move before I can begin looking for a job. My pay fluctuates depending on the season but I generally make around 22-24 dollars an hour after wages and tips - and up to 30 an hour during special events like Mardi Gras , Jazz Fest , Voodoo , etc. I don't think I will find a service industry job that pays as well in Austin. We do have my wife's family ,who live in Leander, to help us until we can get on our feet.

As far as high property crime , I'm not too concerned about that after living in a place where I am afraid to walk around at night in my own neighborhood.

[RoadWarrior12]

You can pull 45-60 a year in the service industry.

[JoninATX]

That's great to hear. I'm glad you have people in the Austin area that are willing to help you and your wife out. I will say this Austin does have lots, and lots of jobs from techs to government but it can be very difficult to land one, even if it's not a job that you prefer as your in competition with 100 or more people that move to Austin daily. I'm not sure what they pay for special events here, but I'm sure that they will be needing people for events that are coming up like SXSW, & The X Games. Of course those are only temporary.

Best of luck.

[sxrckr]

The families I know from NOLA who were pushed out either by the crime or storm moved to Mandeville. On my visit to "downtown" Mandeville and Covington, I thought they were nice places.

[cBach]

I would second the idea to try the Northshore of NOLA first.

[CptnRn]

See Crime in Austin Welcome to Austin Info Thread...

[A-Tex]

Originally Posted by fuadramses

I'm a native Oklahoman (from the Tulsa area) but I have been living in Louisiana for almost four years - first in Baton Rouge , then in New Orleans.

My wife and I loved NOLA at first. The food is wonderful , the nightlife is beyond amazing , the architecture is beautiful , and the outright uniqueness of this place can not be matched by any other American city I have ever seen.

However , we recently had a child and have become very concerned about his safety . Crime in New Orleans is bad. Really bad. We live in the Ninth Ward (Poland and St. Claude area for those familiar with NOLA) and while this area is gentrifying , it is not happening quickly enough for us to consider staying . There are shootings here almost every day and even if we could afford to live in a "decent" part of NOLA , this city is such a checkerboard of crime that we would still be just a few blocks away from VERY bad neighborhoods. Also , the local schools here are terrible. My son is a few years away from school age , but we are looking for somewhere to live permanently - and NOLA is no place to raise a child.

Going back to Tulsa was not an option , since my family has since moved and retired in Florida. We chose Austin because it is closer to my wife's family and I have heard that it has a fairly low crime rate (correct me if I am wrong) when compared to other cities of it's size. We want to live in a city that has a lot of things to do as far as nightlife , restaurants , and culture - but with as little crime as possible.

I've visited Austin twice , but over 15 years ago , and I was never familiar with the city.

The good news is the violent crime rate is much lower in Austin and many of the schools are much better. The bad news is the cost of living is much higher. If you're struggling to make ends meet with your family of three at your current income level and there's not a lot of income growth potential for you in Austin, it's going to be a bigger struggle here.

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by fuadramses

I'm a native Oklahoman (from the Tulsa area) but I have been living in Louisiana for almost four years - first in Baton Rouge , then in New Orleans.

My wife and I loved NOLA at first. The food is wonderful , the nightlife is beyond amazing , the architecture is beautiful , and the outright uniqueness of this place can not be matched by any other American city I have ever seen.

However , we recently had a child and have become very concerned about his safety . Crime in New Orleans is bad. Really bad. We live in the Ninth Ward (Poland and St. Claude area for those familiar with NOLA) and while this area is gentrifying , it is not happening quickly enough for us to consider staying . There are shootings here almost every day and even if we could afford to live in a "decent" part of NOLA , this city is such a checkerboard of crime that we would still be just a few blocks away from VERY bad neighborhoods. Also , the local schools here are terrible. My son is a few years away from school age , but we are looking for somewhere to live permanently - and NOLA is no place to raise a child.

Going back to Tulsa was not an option , since my family has since moved and retired in Florida. We chose Austin because it is closer to my wife's family and I have heard that it has a fairly low crime rate (correct me if I am wrong) when compared to other cities of it's size. We want to live in a city that has a lot of things to do as far as nightlife , restaurants , and culture - but with as little crime as possible.

I've visited Austin twice , but over 15 years ago , and I was never familiar with the city.

austin does have a low violent crime rate, but our property crime is higher than average. Mostly because of the area around campus. The better schools are towards the suburbs.

Our worst areas are not violent at all. Getting a job here might be hard though. Our schools are very good with many areas to select from: eanes district (expensive!), cedar park, leander, RRISD and pockets of austin ISD are all good.

a restaurant job shouldnt be too hard to get and you should be able to make your target $. We get festivals like SXSW and ACL etc that bring people in like mardi gras. Soon we will have X games, there is formula 1 as well but so far downtown is dead.