Please tell me what Baton Rouge is like? (New Orleans, Lafayette: fit in, sales)

[darylwi]

Originally Posted by Ronald120

How you got away with doing that? Good references? Excellent credit? A forgiving landlord? Usually if you ain't making three times the rent, your options are extremely limited.

Good question. Actually, it's mostly due to the increase in rent.
If you take my gross income before taxes and deductions, approximately 41% of my income goes towards current rent. If you take that gross income versus the original rent I was paying before the hurricane, it's 30%.
And you know what, I never really thought about that until doing the math just now. I think I'm going to be sick.

[provincal b]

Originally Posted by darylwi

I can't answer everything about every part of town and contrary to how I sound, I do not know everything.

LOL, C'mon sure you can! You should really be getting a paycheck from the City/Parish for all the question anwering you do for newcomers. Darylwi is the unofficial on-line welcome wagon/info clearinghouse for Baton Rouge

[darylwi]

Originally Posted by provincal b

LOL, C'mon sure you can! You should really be getting a paycheck from the City/Parish for all the question anwering you do for newcomers. Darylwi is the unofficial on-line welcome wagon/info clearinghouse for Baton Rouge

Thanks for that compliment, provincal b. I'd love to give my insight to them concerning transportation matters that's for sure.

[Big L]

I wouldn't recommend Baton Rouge mainly due to the low wages in comparison to the rising cost of living.

I graduated from Southern and still have family in the area. Although I am originally from Los Angeles and currently live in Atlanta, I still have a good insight on BR as a whole. Since rent was brought up earlier, what people are paying for rent in Baton Rouge is actually in line with what people are paying for apartments here in Atlanta while earning high salaries. I am only paying $535 for a 1-bedroom in Marietta and, if I am crunching the numbers correctly, it appears that I make about $20K a year more than the poster that is paying $620. With my last pay raise, my rent is only about 17% of my pre-tax monthly salary. When talking to my friends and family in BR, I ofter wonder how they actually many to survive with what they are making down there. I hate to sound cynical, but there is now way in hell that I could imagine making $15K-$25K per year and still being able to have a decent quality of life.

I know a lot of natives have a different insight on the city. However, most of the people that I attended college with got out of BR shortly after graduation and never looked back. I am not trying to sway anyone towards Atlanta or any other city, but you have to look at the overall picture regardless of where you choose to move.

[Caa]

I for one, love baton Rouge. The one poster said so many true things about this area. We have a 5 year old daughter and she goes to a private school. he is right, the school system here in Br is the worst in the state, so unless you can afford private, do not move to Baton Rouge. Our family who has visitied here from Florida thought that Baton Rouge was going to be old looking, crime ridden and dirty. They all loved it here and I am trying to get them to move here.(No chance of that, they love south Florida, why, I don't know I hated it there). Anyway, there are festivals here galore. WE just went to the Super Readers(kids stuff) Storytelling festival downtown and then to Port Allen(a town close to BR) and enjoyed the Kite Festial! There seriously is a festival here almost every other weekend. If not a festival, then happenings going on at LSU or the River Center downtown. I am truly overwhelmed of all the things that go one around here. One day, I even picked up a paper and ended up going to two events that I did not even hear about. It is the most family friendly town I have ever lived in!
I love the weather here. I am from very southern Florida and I think the fall here lasts a long time and it is beautiful! The leaves changed colors and I just love it. I know many people disagree, but coming from a south Florida, where it is 90 all year, I love the cold here. It does get lower than 60 degrees. Must have been in the 50's for a quite few days and even in the 20's at night.
The people here are awesome. Some have gotten ruder to each other since the hurricane(more selfish on the streets while driving), but generally, they are pretty cool. I think driver courtesy is non existent here since the hurricane as far as waving when they get let in! What happened to that? When I first moved here, people would go out of their way to say thanks..anyway...
I think Baton Rouge is very green as far as folige. It is pretty, although I would love some more hills! I think it is pretty though.

The best thing about Baton Rouge is the neighborhoods. We live in a great neighborhood and know nearly every neighbor around our home, something that seems to be unusual in this day and age. The Halloween is like a huge party with everone outside and having fun and even making drinks and giving out food.. I love it here. There are many neighborhood to chose from, and many more being built. I heard that the real estate market is taking a hit now along with the rest of the country. It is a buyers market here now.
Best to you-hope to hear from you soon

[darylwi]

Big L, you're definitely right. It is ridiculous where the cost of housing has gone down here post Katrina especially. I imagine I could find somewhat cheaper properties further out or in the suburbs, but to me it's not worth it.

Alright, I'm sorry. I've realized that I made some major math blunders, hence the reason I'm not a banker.
When I was doing my math, I was taking into account my biweekly salary so I had to double it. In doing so, I doubled my rent as well. That's where 57% came from. So in honesty it does drop down to 28%. Whew! I don't feel so bad anymore, just stupid .

And the 60 degrees thing is the average usually in the dead of winter. We do have our cold days, but they really don't last that long. And one of the local meteorologists said recently that up to this date we had only had 9 freezing nights total for the season. That is half of normal. So who knows, next winter might be bitter cold, but I wouldn't hold my breath. People from up north love it down here because we're able to do outdoor activities pretty much all year. I imagine coming from further south it's probably a little reversed. Ya'll think it's cooler. It works for me, either way.

[Daniel_T]

Thanks for the replies. I figured the cost of living and the pay scale probably wouldn't measure out. It's kinda that way here in Tucson. The pay is still pretty bad and the cost of living is shooting up because of all the people moving here. Besides that, Baton Rouge sounds like a great place. Are there a lot of lakes or stuff within the area?

[darylwi]

I wouldn't say there are many recreational lakes around here, but Baton Rouge is not far from both The Basin (Atchafalaya River) and the Lake Pontchartrain Basin (including Maurepas, the Diversion Canal, Tickfaw, etc).
If you're looking for fishing or boating and in some cases swimming, both offer beaucoup opportunities. There are also various RV camps and such around each. You can put in a lot of places, but some are pay, others free. Many of the real large and quiet lakes can't be reached within the basin without a boat. Others might have one small narrow road getting you to places like Lake Verret or Lake Fausse Point.
Locally, City Park Lake, or the University Lakes offer a jogging or cycling track that stretches around all the lakes. Some people fish in the lake. Others take a canoe out there. Kids will play in it near the shore. Some times during the year, we'll see a huge flock of white pelicans come in.
There is a similar dedicated bike and jogging path now on top of the levee (MS River levee) b/w LSU and downtown. I imagine right now, the views are pretty cool with the high water. I've been taking pictures of the river rising at downtown. The Baton Rouge sign on the river side of the levee is half submerged right now.
Just to mention, it's about 3 hours south to Grand Isle for access to the gulf. Grand Isle is Louisiana's only inhabited barrier island and probably one of the better beaches in the state. Likewise it's about 2 hours across I-12 to Mississippi where US 90 practically hugs the coastline all the way across to Ocean Springs. It's about 4-5 hours 'depending' to Alabama's Gulf Shores or Pensacola Beach.
Baton Rouge lacks any real elevation, but about 80 minutes north around the MS state line there is Clark Creek State Park which offers a real hiking opportunity through MS hills, which can be steep (although not high, we're talking <300ft). And if you go after a rain event, there are several good waterfalls that you can view and/or let the kids or yourself play in.

[Daniel_T]

Great. Thanks much for that. Can you tell me what kind of development B.R. has going on? I like a city that is growing and keeping up with that. I don't like a place where things are let go (not taken care of) and renovated.

[darylwi]

Originally Posted by Daniel_T

Great. Thanks much for that. Can you tell me what kind of development B.R. has going on? I like a city that is growing and keeping up with that. I don't like a place where things are let go (not taken care of) and renovated.

Depends on where you look and what you're referring to, I guess. Like most other cities, Baton Rouge has a pretty diverse combination of new exciting development and some stagnant neglect. We're building new things pretty constantly now, but obviously that isn't everywhere. Just one example really, in the paper this morning is a report that we've received an earmark to extend the MS River Levee Bike Path. Not a big deal to most people, but there are a lot of people who utilize that path now. I'd like to see them create a nice dedicated bike and walk path around the university lakes. Part of it is dedicated now, but it's all old. I read somewhere that they are supposed to replace the network along Dalrymple, but I don't think that includes the entire length around the lake.
Most of the schools within the city need some serious renovation, and some are planned to get it, but it's slow coming.
Most things around here come down to simple funding.