Baton Rouge? (New Orleans, Shreveport, Monroe: appointed, apartment, crime)

[disappointed]

[b]
Hi,

I may be relocating to Baton Rouge and would like people's honest opinions about the city. I am moving from Chicago and would like info. on the schools, which areas to avoid, single scene, the weather. Thank you in advance for you feedback.

[Lee75]

Hello
I'm from BR so of course, naturally I like it. About the weather, hot as hell (and humid) in the summer. The winters are mild and i remember on occasion wearing shorts on Christmas day. Big college town and LSU is a great school. The singles scene will depend on your age. If you are 30 or older and single, it's not the best place to live. However, if you are college age, you'll probably love it. I have been gone for 2 yrs and BR has grown a lot since I left so there may be more for older singles now. Check out the Chime's on LSU campus; great restaurant/bar. Nice places to live.....bluebonnet, Perkins Rd, Highland Rd, College Dr area, Southdowns area. Avoid Gardere area, Florida Blvd, Plank Rd. Hope this helps.

[kathleeng64]

This is my personal opinion.I have been living in B.R. for 7 years now,and would like to move like yesterday.Rotten place to raise children.Forced to go to schools across town so that the community can mingle and be connected.If you are single,then that is a different story.This is a college town.Nothing but LSU freaks.Really sickening.If you watch the local news there is a shooting almost everyday it seems.Like I said,this is my opinion.I'm just being honest.Also the area leans toward the black community.Alot of prejudice.

[disappointed]

Thanks for the feedback!

[p3andcalsmom]

I just moved to Baton Rouge this past year and I so far, I like it. I come from NY, so the city atmosphere doesn't bother me. The traffic is heavy (I hear due to Katrina) and housing prices are high. I was warned to put my Kindergartener into private school, but he was put into the Baton Rouge gifted program, which is housed in a regular ed school, and so far the school doesn't seem too bad. (looks bad from the outside and area is poor, but teachers and principal seem nice) I am enjoying it and the people, so far!

[tangiriver]

I was born, raised & spent most of my life in Baton Rouge. Baton Rouge has grown a tremendous amount in the last 30 years, and since "Katrina" has doubled in size the past year. Now the largest city in Louisiana. If you like urban living you'll probably like it. If not there's a place just 80 minles up river from Baton Rouge that has it all; Natchez, Mississippi. There is a website that might help, removed

[girlnoire]

Originally Posted by disappointed

[b]
Hi,

I may be relocating to Baton Rouge and would like people's honest opinions about the city. I am moving from Chicago and would like info. on the schools, which areas to avoid, single scene, the weather. Thank you in advance for you feedback.

I have lived in Baton Rouge since 1990. Moved here from Bastrop-near Monroe. I left BR for Chicago in 2000 and lived in Hyde Park for 4 years. I have since moved back to Baton Rouge and have been here for almost 2 years. Here is my take.

You will find nothing like Chicago here in Baton Rouge. The closest city atmosphere was in New Orleans. And now...well I'm sure you saw the news.

What Baton Rouge will give you is a sense of community. You will know your neighbors. Maybe not by name but we are friendly folk who love to speak to everybody.

If you still need that city semblance and by that I mean the congestion, shops and some rudeness then Perkins, Bluebonnet and the Highland Road areas are your best bet. These areas are full of restaurants. Seriously full of them. The best mall in the city, The Mall of Louisiana, is on Bluebonnet and is very up to date. As a matter of fact, a very lovely strip mall is being built directly up the road which will house some specialty stores that you won't find in any mall in Baton Rouge.

If you desire a less congested area then you may want to look in the Baker, Port Allen, and North Baton Rouge areas. Granted you have people that will shun you from these areas (North Baton Rouge atleast) because this is where your biggest population of African American's live, eat and play. For some reason people are scared of these areas but if you look up the crime statistics you will find that more crime is in South Baton Rouge where the more affluent areas area. But crime is everywhere.

The closest thing to Hyde Park is an area called the Garden District. Being from Chicago, you will love this area. It is reminiscent of Hyde Park and Lincoln Park to me. It is a great area. It is near a major university and you don't have far to drive to catch the interstate.

Baton Rouge is a college town. You have the flagship school which is Louisiana State University. This school is a party school. Great academics but a party school nonetheless. LSU brings a lot to its surrounding communities so check it out. I agree with the person that says stay away from Gardere Lane. STAY AWAY FROM GARDERE LANE. Unfortunately, this is a great crime area. It has subsided some over the years. I mean it's nothing like it was from 1995-2002.

Then you have the largest historically african american university in the United States-Southern University A&M College. Can you tell this is my alma mater? Anyway, you won't find the communities around Southern so appealing but there are plenty of diamond in the rough neighborhoods in this area as well.

Baton Rouge is now the largest city in the state. And as a result, there is so much industry coming to our city. I mean until New Orleans is back on its feet Baton Rouge is it. Unless you move to North Louisiana and then you have Shreveport, which is the second largest city in Louisiana since HK. That's short for Hurrican Katrina.

Baton Rouge is a hot spot for the movie making business. Glory Road was filmed here. All the King's Men, Fantasia-Life is not a Fairytale (filmed in New Orleans this year); There is always a call for extras. Louisianians really are getting some good roles. I was cast as an extra in a movie. It was great.

So my point is you will definitely miss Chicago but Baton Rouge will be what you make of it. Remember, we have an airport with flights to the Chi. The nearest Amtrak train can be caught out of Hammond, LA-a 30 minute drive from Baton Rouge.

Oh I nearly forget you will hate the public transportation. You know how you can walk out of your apartment building and catch the #6, #55, #12, and the South Shore buses all on one block (just my buses)? Well you won't find that here. You know how if you came out of your apartment and you missed the bus there was no problem b/c another one was coming in less than 10 minutes? You won't find that here. You know how you could walk a block or two depending on where you lived and catch a commuter train or the el? That won't happen here. You need a vehicle for this city or you will hate it here. Trust me. You will hate it without a car or access to it.

The upside to having a car is you don't have to do the on street parking, there are no city cops waiting to ticket you b/c you parked to close to the curb or a hydrant. And get this, there is no "boot" man to run from.

There you have it. I hope this was as unbiased as possible.

[Kimbercuddles]

Much more racist than I ever dreamed....but not whites towards African Americans. It is the other way around...it is a fact of life here and if you don't like it, move to Denham Springs where the the demographics are closer to 80% white.

[staceyalvin]

If you are moving to Louisiana, I will say be prepared. I am white and my husband is black and it is very unaccepted here, bi racial couples. It does depend where you are but it is the same most everywhere alot of stares, alot of un necessary comments and alot of evil looks. We r from California, the south is very different from other parts of the country and some things are not accepted here. So if you do decide to move here I will say think it thru before moving here cause we didn't and regret it now. We live in Shreveport which is like living in the country. We wish you luck

[SBCmetroguy]

Originally Posted by staceyalvin

If you are moving to Louisiana, I will say be prepared. I am white and my husband is black and it is very unaccepted here, bi racial couples. It does depend where you are but it is the same most everywhere alot of stares, alot of un necessary comments and alot of evil looks. We r from California, the south is very different from other parts of the country and some things are not accepted here. So if you do decide to move here I will say think it thru before moving here cause we didn't and regret it now. We live in Shreveport which is like living in the country. We wish you luck

Living in a combined city of 260,000 is like living in the country?? Compared to a city like Los Angeles, maybe, but your description is a bit of a stretch.

Just out of curiosity, why didn't you move to New Orleans? Lots of things are accepted down there that aren't accepted in most other Louisiana cities. It's a MUCH more accepting atmosphere in New Orleans all-around.