Looking for nice place between Metairie & Houma (New Orleans, River Ridge: apartment complex, to rent)

[Doctorsteve]

Therein lies the problem, I can't get down for a week beforehand, so I'm relying on the kindness, opinions and experience of perfect strangers (Y'all) to help me out. I think I'll be focusing on Metairie, River Ridge, and I'll take another look at the warehouse district (but it seems ridiculously overpriced to me). Plus, most search places don't specifically list "Old Metairie", so it slows me down some to mapquest each listing to find out where it is. The house rental listings look way sketchy at best - and you bring up a good issue about the neighborhoods. I can see the house, but not what's around it... Thanks for the continued advice!

[Doctorsteve]

Anybody know anything about the apartment communities on Park Manor dr., by LaFreniere Park? Good area, bad area?

[nhahn]

Doctorsteve,
I have a 3br home in Metairie. In Bridgedale subdivision. I sent you my phone number. I actually live 4 streets over from this home.
nhahn

[nhahn]

Doctorsteve,
Bridgedale subdivision is a very safe neighborhood. My wife and kids and I have lived in this Metairie subdivision for 15 years. The neighbors around the home I am renting have lived there longer then me at an average 25 years. The only reason we moved is that we needed a bigger home.
nhahn

[rgreenkrb]

I re-read your earlier post stating that you were single, no kids, looking for a fun, bustling area. Metairie is a family oriented suburb; I don’t consider it a fun, bustling area for a single. If it’s within your budget, I would look at the warehouse/arts district again. Many of the complexes on W. Napoleon look low-rent based on the cars and tenants hanging around outside.

[Doctorsteve]

Warehouse district is too over-priced. Some might buy into paying too much just to say you live in a certain place, but not I. Pricing is a bit hard for me to swallow easily, it seems. As it so happens, my hometown was named by Money magazine as the #3 city in the US for affordable housing. A 3bd/2br ranch goes for $119,000. I've seen the new developments in Lafayette, and it made me ill to see that some houses, with marginally more square footage than some 2 or 3 Bedrom apts I've seen, are going for $325,000 and up.

a 1 bd in the warehouse district for $1,500? a 2 Bed for $2,200. Wow, I just don't have that much cash to flush. My apartments have included 2bed($425), 2bed($400), 1bed($550 all included), 1bed($430), 1bed($580 all included).

Don't get me wrong, I am not against paying some extra for a nice place, a nice new place is something I'm looking forward to. But, the Warehouse district is not something I can abide by. I'm just having a little difficulty paying more than 900to1000(gag) for a 2 bedroom without knowing it's a gem. At home, $1,000 gets you a personal butler to go with your apartment for cryin out loud (ok, that's stretching it, but I don't even think I could FIND a 1,000 apt at home).

I know, I know -not in Kansas anymore... but so far it seems that 1) The widely varying opinions on Metairie seem to say that there IS so much variety in Metairie that to go in blind would be a severe crapshoot. 2) The warehouse district is considered to be Good (but pricey). 3) River Ridge ain't the sticks, but it ain't downtown either and 4) any of the "Creeks" in RR would be pretty reliable to go in blind on.

Would anybody care to comment on, or add to, these generalizations??? Continued thanks for everybody's help. I do value each and every response I've gotten. (Now if only the other 1,840 viewers would help! Then we'd really be cooking!)

[Doogie]

Okay, Dr. Steve, you twisted my arm enough to respond. I'm one of the other 1840 viewers. I haven't up to this point because I'm not familiar with Metairie or RR a whole lot, especially info about apartments since I've never rented one there. I can say that RR is definitely not in the sticks. I can also say that there are some nicer areas in Metairie and some not-so-nice areas but the nicer outnumbers the not as nice. Comparing to N.O., not-so-nice is relative. The bad areas in N.O. are generally far worse than the bad areas in Metairie. As for apartments, I really can't say but I'm not aware of any that stand above and beyond.

I live on the west bank, which I'm most familiar with. I've seen several people rip the westbank on this forum but that's OK, they're entitled to their opinion. Some people probably don't even realize that many of the upper echelon of people in the city live on the west bank. Many of the pro athletes, coaches, CEOs and the like live in English Turn on the W.B. The rest of them live typically uptown or in Ormond - which adds another option to the list and it is more centrally located between Metairie and Houma. In fact, LaPlace may also be worth considering but I have no clue about the apartment scene there.

Excluding traffic, it takes me about 10 minutes to get downtown and about 12 minutes to get to Metairie. Traffic in the morning usually adds about 10 minutes or so to that. Be aware that traffic gets worse when school starts (late August) and usually lasts through fall but tapers off in winter again until the following August. I'm just about exactly one hour from Houma, which is probably real close to the same from Metairie. That one hour will vary a little (plus or minus) depending on what part of Houma you are going to. Be aware that the worst traffic is coming in to downtown is from the west so depending on what time you work or where you go in Metairie, LaPlace might put you right into the worst traffic. The further west in Metairie you would work the better.

My m-i-l rents in the Garden Lane apartments in Gretna and they are around $650 to $700 for 2 BR but the apartments are nothing special and the clientelle aren't exactly Dr. and lawyer types. There is one complex that you may want to check out on the W.B. at least for comparison's sake. It is called Calypso Bay. It is very nice and it is also very new. They start at $930 according to their web site but it looks like that one may require you to pay extra for a parking space which would put it right at $1000 (if I read it right). Others come with the parking included. Just click on the floor plan to see the rates.

I hate to throw the west bank into the mix but you asked for more feedback! If you're going to be working in Metairie it might be a stretch for you to drive even 15 minutes from the west bank but if you're willing to drive an hour to get to Houma, 15 minutes would be no big deal.

I'm not in the apartment world so take my opinion with a grain of salt, but I would say in general you are going to have a real tough time finding something in the $600 range that will knock your socks off. That's pretty much the bottom of the spectrum, especially after Katrina put upward pressure on prices. Trust me, you won't want to consider anything less than that and if you want something a little nicer, $600 is probably out of the question as well.

[Doctorsteve]

Halle-berry-luia. What a great addition to the great responses I've gotten so far. Thanks for the great info! That leaves only 1,839 of you left...

[LTF525]

Hi, I just wanted to suggest you check out HousingMaps it merges craigslist and google maps, and is a great way to find housing. You will definitely get more for your money if you rent a house from someone local as oppose to getting into one of those big complexes. If there is no way you can come down early to check out some houses I have 2 suggestions for you: 1) come down and stay in an extended stay hotel for a week or two and spend the weekend looking at different place or 2) If you have to sign a lease blindly (which i don't recommend under any circumstances) only sign something for 6 months. You don't want to be stuck in a bad neighborhood or bad housing for longer than you have to be.

[cwine]

Hi all,
I'm also one of the displaced people trying very hard to get back to New Orleans. Awaiting word of a transfer as I write. Therefore I also am searching for affordable yet nice housing. I really would rather not pay more than $800 for a 2 bedroom. Before katrina I lived in the Gentilly area paid $800 for a very nice 3 bdrm, planned to buy but it got damaged in the storm. Prior to that I live in the carrollton area, sold that property few months before katrina. I will have to sell my property here in Westlake(home away from home) upon word of a transfer, so anyone who knows of any affordable housing in the N.O. area fell free!!!