Baton Rouge Bound too (Shenandoah, Jefferson: rent, home, neighborhoods)

[rek171]

Originally Posted by BRMan

Word of caution about the eastern fringe of the parish - you have some decaying apartments in the area. You have (1) low/reduced income apartments (St Jean) at approximately O'Neal and Harrells Ferry, and (2) the area at O'Neal/Harrell's Ferry has garden homes that aren't well kept up - oftentimes, I'll drive by and see garbage and other items in the front yards.

Plus, the traffic in that part of town is bad, because you have a few roads (Harrells Ferry, Coursey/George ONeal, Tiger Bend, Jones Creej) to handle all of the traffic.

Having said that, there are nice houses in White Oak and Green Trails (the new subdivision, right ?).

Thanks for the responses! Also, sorry in advance for hijacking this thread, but the situation seemed similar so figured I'd add to it instead. One quick comment on the traffic - I'm not that concerned about it. I think people from Baton Rouge think this is bad from their perspective but I grew up in Chicago and have lived in northern Virginia (I-95 and I-66 are bad!) and most recently in the San Francisco Bay area. So traffic around here is tame to me!

Yeah, I saw the St. Jean apartments, they are about a mile away. The only thing across from Shadows Lake is the fire department, so it seems fairly secluded. Green Trails is part of the new stuff going up where the golf course used to be, that is correct.

You are sort of confirming my perceptions of that area, I only recall from my past being here was that it was a bit seedy down that way. Seems like developers snatched up land anywhere they could, and some of it is going to be adjacent to not so nice areaas. But it seems to be the same everywhere. We looked at the Lakes at Highland as well and that is spitting distance from Gardere (so are River Bend and University Club for that matter), so can it really be that bad?

So the areas that we've narrowed it down to are the following. Any further input would be very much appreciated!
- Anywhere off of Highland really (but mostly priced out of that area).
- Santa Maria (again, mostly priced out with a couple of exceptions).
- Tiger Bend/Shenandoah area (mostly beyond Jones Creek area only-within our price range and pretty nice).
- Shadows Lake (really nice, brand new stuff, in our price range, but questionable neighborhood?).
- Jefferson Terrace/Bluebonnet Terrace (great location, a bit less for the money but still in our price range).
- Woodridge (wife doesn't like the trailer park you drive past on Pecue and the industrial nature of the area, but I love the houses there).
- Prairieville (nice houses, affordable, but seems like everyone moved out there and it is pretty far).

We just want a safe area that is close to shopping, is that too much to ask?? Help! This has been really stressing us out, we are in a temporary apartment and really want to move soon.

rek

[BRMan]

Originally Posted by rek171

So the areas that we've narrowed it down to are the following. Any further input would be very much appreciated!
- Anywhere off of Highland really (but mostly priced out of that area).
- Santa Maria (again, mostly priced out with a couple of exceptions).
- Tiger Bend/Shenandoah area (mostly beyond Jones Creek area only-within our price range and pretty nice).
- Shadows Lake (really nice, brand new stuff, in our price range, but questionable neighborhood?).
- Jefferson Terrace/Bluebonnet Terrace (great location, a bit less for the money but still in our price range).
- Woodridge (wife doesn't like the trailer park you drive past on Pecue and the industrial nature of the area, but I love the houses there).
- Prairieville (nice houses, affordable, but seems like everyone moved out there and it is pretty far).

We just want a safe area that is close to shopping, is that too much to ask?? Help! This has been really stressing us out, we are in a temporary apartment and really want to move soon.

rek

Since you're taking traffic out of the equation

- Anywhere off Highland (south of LSU, of course ;0) is good
- Santa Maria houses are going for 500K+. There maybe a 350K house in there, but I'd be surprised
- Tiger Bend/Shenandoah has good choices, but I'd watch the duplexes/apartments on George O'Neal
- Jefferson Terrace has seen a fair amount of infill development and pricier homes being developed in the area. Plus, if you want to renovate an old house, you can get a nice yard. I'd definitely take a look. There are some questionable apartments at Jefferson/Airline, but it seems like the neighborhood is insulated from that. And you're pretty close to the Mall of Louisiana
- Woodridge I see as up and coming. Yes, Pecue has some crap along the way, but I think that will be squeezed out as time goes on.
- Prairieville to me is the place that peer pressure has dictated that you're supposed to live, but the zoning laws in Ascension Parish are weaker down there. Plus, the road infrastructure is worse than EBR's.

[rek171]

Thanks BRMan. Reinforces my thoughts on those areas as well, seems like we are looking in the right spots at least.

Does anyone have any information as to what is being developed near Woordridge/Briarwood? I have heard that the golf course is going away to make room for the new women's hospital. I have heard that Pecue may be widen to a 4 lane road and have it's own exit off of I-10. Any other shops or anything going up around there? If this stuff is true, I'm a bit concerned about being in a construction zone for the next dozen years or so, especially since I need to travel up airline or I-10 everyday for work.

Thanks again,
rek

[BRMan]

Originally Posted by rek171

Thanks BRMan. Reinforces my thoughts on those areas as well, seems like we are looking in the right spots at least.

Does anyone have any information as to what is being developed near Woordridge/Briarwood? I have heard that the golf course is going away to make room for the new women's hospital. I have heard that Pecue may be widen to a 4 lane road and have it's own exit off of I-10. Any other shops or anything going up around there? If this stuff is true, I'm a bit concerned about being in a construction zone for the next dozen years or so, especially since I need to travel up airline or I-10 everyday for work.

Thanks again,
rek

The Womans Hospital we know and love is relocating from Airline/Goodwood to the Briarwood land. I once heard about plans to widen Pecue and give it an interstate exit, but not recently, though. They're also building (I think) a mixed unit development at Pecue/Perkins behind the Interstate. As well as a development along I-10 next to the Mall of Louisiana.

[darylwi]

As far as construction, there will be a reconstruction of the Pecue/Airline intersection and Pecue (or the new Stumburg Ext) and Stumberg at Jefferson Hwy. It will become one 4 lane road connecting all of those areas. Local officials want that project to start ASAP, mostly because of the hospital. (I'd guess within the next year or two) That will open the way for an eventual new interchange with I-10, but that part is probably 4-8 years down the road (from even starting) depending on funding and approval from the feds. The last time I checked, the I-10 Pecue interchange was within the 10 year TIP, but things change so much. It can be pushed back 5-10 years or moved ahead 5 years just because of funding and priority shifts. As an example, the Airline Hwy widening and the new I-10 expansion ended up happening way ahead of orginally planned. So don't be surprised if they start tearing up the road tomorrow.

[osunshine]

Great some of may questions were also answered !

[rek171]

Originally Posted by osunshine

Great some of may questions were also answered !

Nice! Again sorry to hijack the thread, but glad it can help both of us.

Thanks to everyone for the information!

rek

[samjames]

I have lived here for 27 yrs, and y'all are looking in the same areas of town my wife and I are looking in. Good Luck in the house hunt, we are running our real estate agent ragged looking at houses.

[brmove]

I am also going to hijack this thread and ask for input on the following areas - we are relocating to BR and are having a hard time deciding what the best subdivision would be for our family.
Thanks!!

Woodridge - not crazy about location
Oakridge - love location but high end of our price range
Laurel Hill - somewhat of a far distance
Greentrails - very knew what will it be like in the future?

Any input on these areas would be greatly appreciated

[BRMan]

Originally Posted by brmove

I am also going to hijack this thread and ask for input on the following areas - we are relocating to BR and are having a hard time deciding what the best subdivision would be for our family.
Thanks!!

Woodridge - not crazy about location
Oakridge - love location but high end of our price range
Laurel Hill - somewhat of a far distance
Greentrails - very knew what will it be like in the future?

Any input on these areas would be greatly appreciated

Woodridge - not crazy about location either, but I see this as "up and coming" - especially if/when they develop the interchange to I-10 from Pecue. Of course, where you work in relation to this neighborhood is important.

Laurel Hill - not crazy about this one, because traffic is an issue along the Coursey/Tiger Bend/anything east of Airline parts of SE Baton Rouge. And, this subdivision is still at the "end of the earth" for a lot of things.

Green Trails - If this is the subdivision that was developed from the defunct Shenandoah golf course, I'm not a big fan of this, because Jones Creek traffic is bad, and I see Shenandoah starting to decline because parts of it are 30+ years old and are near some seedy duplexes and apartments.

Again, depending on where yiou live, why not look at subdivisions in the Highland/Perkins corridor ? There's a mixture of old and new, city and suburban. And you mostly don't have apartments popping up left and right.