HELP! We need the inside scoop on Louisiana (New Orleans, Baton Rouge: relocating, military)

[nwgirl404]

Okay so here is the deal: We are cousins in our twentys relocating to louisiana for a change from Seattle, Wa. We have researched the heck out of Louisiana but still have come up short on the details we need for our move. Does anyone know of a city or place in Louisiana that is best suited for the younger generation. We need jobs available such as serving, or in the hospitality fields... we need an apartment that is suited for lower income applicants and also has forms of public transportation as well.

Thanks for any advice or warnings that you guys might have. We will be well prepared financially for the move, we just need to find a place that works without ever having lived in Louisiana we feel like we are shooting in the dark...

-Tiffany and Ashley

[SBCmetroguy]

I've already responded to your PM, but Shreveport-Bossier is huge on hospitality jobs thanks to the casino and hotel industry here, as well as our nightclubs which operate until 6am (in Shreveport, not Bossier.)

Wherever you decide, Louisiana isn't as bad as you might hear. It's really a nice, warm place.

[violet70]

Hummm... Shreveport seems like quite a change from Seattle... I'd visit first for sure! There is not much in public transportation anywhere in Louisiana. New Orleans, being the biggest city, has the best. It definitely has a lot of restaurants and fun things for the younger crowd. It's where I went after college, waited tables, had a lot of fun. I know a lot has changed since Katrina but I've visited a few times since and the 'core' of New Orleans is still there. Also, Lafayette has a small downtown area with lots of bars and restaurants. It's near the university there and there is a lot of student housing around. Public transport isn't great but walking is easy (downtown/uni area only). Both New Orleans and Lafayette are in southern Louisiana, what most people think of when they think of Louisiana... food, music, etc. Shreveport is way north and resembles more Arkansas or Texas, in my opinion. It's not that Cajun culture you get in the south, but more bible belt. Just my two cents, hope that helps.

[SBCmetroguy]

Originally Posted by violet70

Hummm... Shreveport seems like quite a change from Seattle... I'd visit first for sure! There is not much in public transportation anywhere in Louisiana. New Orleans, being the biggest city, has the best. It definitely has a lot of restaurants and fun things for the younger crowd. It's where I went after college, waited tables, had a lot of fun. I know a lot has changed since Katrina but I've visited a few times since and the 'core' of New Orleans is still there. Also, Lafayette has a small downtown area with lots of bars and restaurants. It's near the university there and there is a lot of student housing around. Public transport isn't great but walking is easy (downtown/uni area only). Both New Orleans and Lafayette are in southern Louisiana, what most people think of when they think of Louisiana... food, music, etc. Shreveport is way north and resembles more Arkansas or Texas, in my opinion. It's not that Cajun culture you get in the south, but more bible belt. Just my two cents, hope that helps.

There are churches on pretty much every corner in south Louisiana cities just as there are here. Shreveport is no more "bible belt" than Baton Rouge. It also depends on if the person wants Cajun culture or not. Personally I don't go to south Louisiana for Cajun culture, I go for New Orleans... voodoo, history, Bourbon Street, etc. Nothing Cajun about New Orleans either.

But if you do want Cajun culture and you're in Shreveport, we have the second-largest Cajun festival in the United States, and we do have quite a few Cajun restaurants owned by real Cajuns. I guess that would be hard to imagine from the post I quoted above. The great thing about the culture here is that we area good mix of Texas and Louisiana (not Arkansas.) We have the Texas dialect mostly, we have real cowboys, the Dallas Cowboys, and great barbecue. But we also have people who live on swamps outside of the cities, we have crawfish, and we have a huge fanbase for the New Orleans Saints as well.

But we also have two nice cities with a very dense urban core with the second-best nightlife outside of New Orleans. We're the only city in Louisiana whose nightclubs can stay open until 6am, and the only city who can top that is New Orleans. But if you must drink 24 hours, we have casinos which will keep feeding you free drinks as long as you're playing the slots.

People from south Louisiana always will try to feed outsiders with the same, tired "Shreveport is not Louisiana" rhetoric and it's simply incorrect. In fact Shreveport is Louisiana AND Texas combined into one and it makes for quite a nice cultural mix.

And if we were as much of a "bible belt" region as people from south Louisiana claim, we wouldn't have the most successful and profitable casino gambling market in Louisiana, nor all the strip clubs and night clubs that we have.

The military is also huge here, so a large percentage of our population is transplanted from other areas. I'm one of only a handful of people living on my street who was actually born and raised in Louisiana. We are also now home to the the Air Force's Cyber Command and if you have, or are planning to have, a degree in Information Technology you could have a really great career waiting for you when the Cyber Innovation Center opens in 2009.

For what it's worth I'm well aware that Shreveport and Seattle are nothing alike. But by that same logic there is not a single city in Louisiana that is even similar to Seattle, including New Orleans. I also must set the record straight that we do, in fact, have 24-hour mass transit in Shreveport-Bossier and it serves the vast majority of the urbanized area here.

[Xcaped NOLA]

You may want to avoid NOLA as the rental rates have skyrocketed and the only jobs that are prevalent are in construction. Baton Rouge IMO doesn't seem to have many hospitality jobs,mostly medical and oil/gas/industrial. I've not lived in Shreveport but I'd take the previous posters suggestions as they seem to know more than I do about that area. Good Luck!

[BRMan]

Originally Posted by Xcaped NOLA

You may want to avoid NOLA as the rental rates have skyrocketed and the only jobs that are prevalent are in construction. Baton Rouge IMO doesn't seem to have many hospitality jobs,mostly medical and oil/gas/industrial. I've not lived in Shreveport but I'd take the previous posters suggestions as they seem to know more than I do about that area. Good Luck!

You do have two casinos (and if Pinnacle gets their way, three) in town, so there's some jobs there. Plus, with two universities and a community college, you have young'uns here.

[Vampgrrl]

Rents arent too bad in NOLA really. They are only if you consider how depressed they were pre Katrina, and there are a good bit of jobs...really. Law firms, hospitality, IT, gov.

[toupsee]

Why in the world would you want to relocate from that BEAUTIFUL, BEAUTIFUL area. Vibrant, forward thinking....cool. And some of the friendlest people I've met.

[Drouzin]

Toupsee! Hey you! I know you LOVED Seattle, but ain't nothing wrong with backwards thinking, humidity, and fried oyster po-boys (hitting below the belt with your weakness). Heck if it wern't for backwards thinking, who wouldn't have gotten in the house because someone had the idea to go through the dog door? Besides, who always wants to come home?

[violet70]

SBCmetroguy, I didn't mean to step on your toes... I've heard there is lots going on in Shreveport these days with the filming there and all. I have friends from there and my sister went to school there, so I know it a bit. And I AM from south Louisiana (I know it's obvious), but I've lived and traveled all over the world: west coast, east coast, Europe, South America, and I can't imagine sending some young people interested in a 'different' experience to live in Shreveport... personally (and this is my opinion, this is why people use these boards, to see other people's opinions) I think New Orleans and even Lafayette have more to offer. Notice I never mentioned Baton Rouge (I went to LSU)... also another 'bible belt' town. From what you mentioned about Shreveport: casinos, strip clubs, night clubs, churches, military... it would be a very different experience that Seattle, and maybe that's what these women are looking for. It's up to them to choose. If they want a more progressive area, they should head south.