Moving To Baton Rouge (New Orleans: crime rate, job market, transfer)

[sept2786]

I might be moving to Baton Rouge in a few days from Houston Texas. The main reason being that I cannot find work in Houston. A friend of mine has suggested that I come stay with him in BR.

Are there quite a few jobs available for general labor positions or entry level jobs? Just wanted a little heads up before I make a life changing decision and pick up and leave.

Also I've read a lot of posts about the high crime rate in BR. Houston has quite a bit of crime too, but it sounds more violent down there.

I would be staying near W. Garfield Street. Yay or nay? Stay where I am?

Any opinions are welcome!
Thanks.

[BRMan]

Originally Posted by sept2786

I might be moving to Baton Rouge in a few days from Houston Texas. The main reason being that I cannot find work in Houston. A friend of mine has suggested that I come stay with him in BR.

Are there quite a few jobs available for general labor positions or entry level jobs? Just wanted a little heads up before I make a life changing decision and pick up and leave.

Also I've read a lot of posts about the high crime rate in BR. Houston has quite a bit of crime too, but it sounds more violent down there.

I would be staying near W. Garfield Street. Yay or nay? Stay where I am?

Any opinions are welcome!
Thanks.

Depends on the type of work you want. There have been a couple of layoffs here and there (Dow, the local newspaper, etc). But there is still construction activity (particularly road projects), so there are still things going on here.

As to the crime thing, this can be a sore subject for some, but I'll repeat what I said in other posts - crime is 90% of the time being in the wrong part of town. Most of the time, it's not an issue, and I know the town well enough to stay away from the problem areas. W Garfield Street is pretty much a "nay", by the way - the areas north of LSU and Government (or Florida, depending on the part of town) are generally the bad ones.

[geiacarter]

I went to LSU and I stayed Highland/Lee. I like Baton Rouge, personally. Crime is everywhere you go. When I graduated from LSU I moed to Houston to work. I stayed there for 5 years. I liked houston as well. Of the 2, I guess I prefer Baton Rouge based on it's quaintness and close proximity to nola and the northshore...

I am in Nola now. Recently, I have had the hardest time finding a job in NOLA and was considering moving back to Houston because the job market is so vast there compared to nola and BR. Strange that you weren't able to find a job out there... But, as luck would have it, I found what i was looking for in the nick of time and decided to remain in NOLA.

Let's keep in touch. I'd love to hear how things have turned out for you...

[MetroBTR]

W. Garfield is a thumbs down.

As far as entry level positions, it really depends on what field you are looking for.

[BuckRun]

"Crime is Everywhere" should be the city slogan for Baton Rouge because people there say it so often.

Yes crime is everywhere, but shrugging it off or continuing to live with it is really sad. There is crime where I live certainly, but the moment to moment unsure feeling for my safety and the things I owned has never been as low as it was in Baton Rouge and New Orleans. (Everybody trot out Katrina statements about post-storm improvements in crime numbers now that I've mentioned New Orleans.)

Southeast Louisiana has over the top crime, The End. Get your population stats out, say over and over that crime "is actually down if you look at per capita," whatever. Crime is high there, period. Blame anything.......storm, economy, racial, drug, housing, traffic. It doesn't matter. Crime is high in Baton Rouge.

[MetroBTR]

Originally Posted by BuckRun

"Crime is Everywhere" should be the city slogan for Baton Rouge because people there say it so often.

Yes crime is everywhere, but shrugging it off or continuing to live with it is really sad. There is crime where I live certainly, but the moment to moment unsure feeling for my safety and the things I owned has never been as low as it was in Baton Rouge and New Orleans. (Everybody trot out Katrina statements about post-storm improvements in crime numbers now that I've mentioned New Orleans.)

Southeast Louisiana has over the top crime, The End. Get your population stats out, say over and over that crime "is actually down if you look at per capita," whatever. Crime is high there, period. Blame anything.......storm, economy, racial, drug, housing, traffic. It doesn't matter. Crime is high in Baton Rouge.

Well I live in Baton Rouge and I have lived here for over 30 years. Never had a problem with crime. I am, however, sick of my city getting a bad rep because some ididots think its cool do buy/sell drugs and get their head blown off because of it. If you aren't a druggie or just some idiot who is smart enough to leave their iPod laying on the front seat of their car in Tigerland...it's business as usual. There are more people on this forum who will testify to that that there are who will deny it.

[Caa]

Originally Posted by MetroBTR

Well I live in Baton Rouge and I have lived here for over 30 years. Never had a problem with crime. I am, however, sick of my city getting a bad rep because some ididots think its cool do buy/sell drugs and get their head blown off because of it. If you aren't a druggie or just some idiot who is smart enough to leave their iPod laying on the front seat of their car in Tigerland...it's business as usual. There are more people on this forum who will testify to that that there are who will deny it.

I agree with this poster. I have been here 5 years and never, ever felt 'scared' excpet one time along Plank Road when I was lost (when I first moved here). That being said, I lived in cape Coral, Florida for 10 years(one of the safest cities in the US) and the first 4 months i lived there, my car was broken into twice and this was in a nice section of town. Of course, crime is everywhere, but I, too, am sick of people saying how bad it is here. If it is so bad, then why do thousands of people make the decision to move here? Job transfer or that kind of thing doesn't count, many people choose this area becasue it is nice, the weather is great, the people are awesome and the list of things to do goes on and on.
96 percent of crime is in the black areas anyway. I feel for those families that live there!