Help! Moving to New Orleans or Denver?! (living, cost, crime)

[avamarie123]

Hello,

I am living in NYC and moving to either Denver, CO or New Orleans, LA. I am 49 years young, active, was working in human resources in the restaurant industry however, considering changing careers and looking for a city that I don't have to move to, to have to jump into another stressful, 50-60 hour a week job in order to survive. I like nature but don't need to sky, kayak, etc like a true outdoors person, just enjoy hiking, running. I like to live in neighborhoods with a "village" feel, although not incredibly crowded like NYC.

New Orleans seems....
Cheaper to live
Humid as hell
Less work available however...
Less stressful
Love the "character" there

Denver seems....
extremely tight rental market and expensive
more work available
more stressful to live due to rental market
dry which I like much more than humidity
however the snow concerns me as it seems to snow a lot and I am not used to driving in it


Any ideas?

Thanks!

[LergsDerguson]

I have lived in New Orleans for 10 years. It's a beautiful city with a lot of culture but I won't lie when I say its a rough place to live. It's become extremely gentrified post katrina but there is still an extreme amount of violence compared to other cities. I didn't have one friend who lived there more than 5 years and had not been robbed. I personally was robbed at gun point in my own home by two men and got my elbow shattered with a baseball bat. Cost me about 100k in reconstructive surgery. Driving there is intense and living there for a long time will turn you into a confrontational animal. If you live in New Orleans you need to believe in your second amendment rights and I would strongly recommend getting a concealed weapons license. That being said, everything in life evens out so with all the extreme negatives there will be extreme positives. The culture is beautiful, music is great and there are sincerely great people who live there. There is no place in the world like New Orleans but i can't stress enough to not be naive to the darker parts of the city. I was when i first moved there and I really wish I hadn't been.

[avamarie123]

LergsDerguson: Thank you for the feedback, I posted that a while ago and ended up moving to Denver but still really love New Orleans. I was thinking again of moving there still, but it sounds like it's a tough place to live and I also am not sure how much work is there (I am in HR and recruiting).

Thank you for the feedback!

[Texas Ag 93]

I've lived in both cities. Denver very recently and New Orleans 20 years ago while in school at Tulane.

New Orleans- Unique, no place like it, some aspects of living there extremely frustrating (very slow, lots of poverty, poor city services). Lots of violent crime. Economy based on tourism and energy and not (currently) as thriving as Denver's. Hot and humid. Did I mention how unique it is, though? Been there recently and a lot has changed....but a lot has not.

Denver- great city. Perfectly sized and offers everything you need. Lots of transplants from elsewhere, and friendly on a superficial level, but a bit insular with people not as overtly friendly as the South. Great neighborhoods with lots of walkability. Active, healthy population. A four season climate with winters not that bad at all compared to the NE or Midwest.

At your stage of life, I would choose Denver, hands down.

Edit: Didn't realize the OP was old. I hope you are liking Denver

[i'm not a cookie]

Originally Posted by LergsDerguson

I have lived in New Orleans for 10 years. It's a beautiful city with a lot of culture but I won't lie when I say its a rough place to live. It's become extremely gentrified post katrina but there is still an extreme amount of violence compared to other cities. I didn't have one friend who lived there more than 5 years and had not been robbed. I personally was robbed at gun point in my own home by two men and got my elbow shattered with a baseball bat. Cost me about 100k in reconstructive surgery. Driving there is intense and living there for a long time will turn you into a confrontational animal. If you live in New Orleans you need to believe in your second amendment rights and I would strongly recommend getting a concealed weapons license. That being said, everything in life evens out so with all the extreme negatives there will be extreme positives. The culture is beautiful, music is great and there are sincerely great people who live there. There is no place in the world like New Orleans but i can't stress enough to not be naive to the darker parts of the city. I was when i first moved there and I really wish I hadn't been.

Where did you live?^ Irish channel? lol..My cousin lived there for 7 years and my friend lived there for 6 years and neither of them were robbed or beaten up while they lived there.