Moving to Baton Rouge-- Need Some Advice (New Orleans, Hammond: section 8, for sale by owner)

[pinklime]

Hi all,

Well, I will be relocating to Baton Rouge this summer, and I have some questions.
I know that the crime rate is high, which I don't look forward to at all. I am a young woman who has had some traumatizing experiences in the past, so it is vitally important for me to feel safe in my house and neighborhood. I do intend to install security systems and whatnot, but I would still prefer to live in a relatively safe area. No kids, so I don't care about the schools in the area.
I also don't care about how expensive the rent will be, and I don't care a bit about snobby neighbors. I just want to be able to walk my dog after dark without being paranoid.
Where should I look? Where should I avoid? Are there any places that I shouldn't even drive through?
I would also appreciate any information about the Baton Rouge area and culture.

Thank you so much in advance.

[Xcaped NOLA]

My family is also planning to move to BR in the summer. There's East Baton Rouge and West Baton Rouge (LSU area). We have visited about 4 times as I was originally from New Orleans and bought a home there in EBR. I would suggest that you visit if you can before you move because we had t o as we had no idea what the city was like. We were also looking for a crime free area. We found a home in a nice area in the Goodwood/Broodmoor area. I've read on these posts to steer clear of areas North of Florida Ave, also Plank Road, Gardere area. Its been said that the North Baton Rouge is a bit rough. I've been there and it is. When we first looked for a home that we saw online, we went looking and wound up there. Im not sure about WBR as we never went there. If you read previous posts on here about where to live and where not to they will give you alot of info. Also, a realtor would be able to steer you into a great area since they live here and know what areas are safer than others

[aldo]

I recommend living near where you work. If you're looking in south east of Baton Rouge, Woodridge subdivision (off Pecue Lane) is an excellent multicultural neighborhood that has been safe (so far). Also has easy access to Airline hwy and I-10.

If you are looking for a house in this neighborhood look at the ERA Stirling Website as they have several at reasonable prices.

[CindyM]

I second Aldo's suggestion to consider locating near your place of work. Where will that be? Traffic in BR can be a nightmare. Keeping your daily commute as short as possible will make you much happier. I live in the SW part of the city and can offer suggestions around here.

[pinklime]

I will be commuting to LSU. I grew up in a big city, so I don't mind traffic as much.

[CindyM]

Let me rephrase that. Here you do a lot of sitting in traffic. It can be very aggravating sitting through the same red light 4 or 5 times.

I'm only a couple miles from LSU. A lot of older neighborhoods around here include College Town, Southdowns, University Gardens, University Acres. All of those would be south of Perkins Road. To the north of Perkins you'll find Zeeland Place, Hundred Oaks, Capital Heights, Garden District. I'll link the local For Sale By Owner site. Look in Area 5 for the closest proximity to LSU.

www.fsbobr.com

[BRMan]

Originally Posted by pinklime

Hi all,

Well, I will be relocating to Baton Rouge this summer, and I have some questions.
I know that the crime rate is high, which I don't look forward to at all. I am a young woman who has had some traumatizing experiences in the past, so it is vitally important for me to feel safe in my house and neighborhood. I do intend to install security systems and whatnot, but I would still prefer to live in a relatively safe area. No kids, so I don't care about the schools in the area.
I also don't care about how expensive the rent will be, and I don't care a bit about snobby neighbors. I just want to be able to walk my dog after dark without being paranoid.
Where should I look? Where should I avoid? Are there any places that I shouldn't even drive through?
I would also appreciate any information about the Baton Rouge area and culture.

Thank you so much in advance.

I've lived in BR most of my life, and feel fairly safe. Now to answer your question: areas to avoid: (1) Anything north of Florida or within a few blocks of Florida, (2) Gardere Lane (it's a bunch of apartments that went Section 8 in the 1980s and is suburban blight, although they're building nice condos/houses around it now, (3) Anything between Acadian/Stanford and downtown - it's ghetto or close to ghetto, and (4) Old Hammond between Sherwood and Millerville - these apartments went downhill in the 1990s.

Since you're young and single and $$ is not an issue, there are several more pricey complexes you'd probably like: (1) Parks in the Mansion - Perkins at about Kenilworth, (2) Parks at Bluebonnet - BLuebonnet at Perkins, (3) any of the apartments on Corporate between Citiplace and Jefferson - these are all upscale.

BR itself has some culture (not like in bigger cities, though) and what culture there is is probably connected to the downtown area and/or LSU.

[CindyM]

Originally Posted by BRMan

...(3) Anything between Acadian/Stanford and downtown - it's ghetto or close to ghetto...

You're off on #3. Lots of nice areas north of Acadian/Stanford ... University Gardens, Hundred Oaks, Capitol Heights, Zeeland Place, Garden District.

Pinklime, are you looking for a house or apt.?

[BRMan]

Originally Posted by CindyM

You're off on #3. Lots of nice areas north of Acadian/Stanford ... University Gardens, Hundred Oaks, Capitol Heights, Zeeland Place, Garden District.

Pinklime, are you looking for a house or apt.?

No, please recall that I said "it's ghetto or close to ghetto" - those areas you listed are all within several blocks of the bad parts of town. As in there is a ghetto is across Park, in Valley Park, or near the Perkins overpass.

[CindyM]

Originally Posted by BRMan

...those areas you listed are all within several blocks of the bad parts of town...

The Valley Park area is low-income and predominantly black, but I'd hardly classify it is "bad part of town." The Gardere area and parts of north BR would fit your criteria.