Louisiana Move Advice - Totally Confused! (Monroe, Natchitoches: quiet, live, market)

[BRMan]

Originally Posted by LOUISIANA'SLEGEND

Thats just Baton Rouge, its the city for all the well off people and is a clean cut city like I said, but its a mess with traffic and the evacuees making it like Shreveport, OVERWHELMING AND DRAMATIC.

I disagree on this point - I'd like to see where these hordes of evacuees are. Unless they're behind the building boom which has accelerated since Katrina.

Yes, trraffic is worse, but there are shortcuts. Just don't make the mistake of coming into town on I-10 from the west after, say, 3PM

[BRMan]

Originally Posted by Caa

I agree with you 100 percent! Good to see some people see the good here in Baton Rouge!!

Hey, our fair city needs some love. It's come a long way in all the years I've lived here. I remember in the 80s when they had overbuilt and apartments were going belly up, retail was leaving town, there were about five decent restaurants, I-12 took six years to widen, I-10 near Port Allen was badly potholed, and the blue laws were very repressive. And former Gov. Edwin Edwards was stealing everything in sight.

[holloway1010]

Originally Posted by SBCmetroguy

Loops are sprawl magnets. It has taken a while but even our loop here is proving this to be true. Bossier's hottest retail area outside of the Boardwalk is at I-220/Airline Drive. If I-220 weren't out there I can assure you that north Bossier wouldn't have grown to what it is today.

You're exactly right... mass transit, HOV lanes, and yes even toll roads are all needed. That is, if our state would spend the toll fees where they are supposed to go.

Baton Rouge already got the sprawl. In our case the loop didn't attract the sprawl, the sprawl attracted the loop.

[SBCmetroguy]

Originally Posted by holloway1010

Baton Rouge already got the sprawl. In our case the loop didn't attract the sprawl, the sprawl attracted the loop.

Not quite so. Yes, Baton Rouge has the sprawl already, but have you seen the loop that's been proposed? For starter it's extremely unrealistic, but if it were to be built your sprawl problem would spread another 20-40 miles in every direction, so the loop would in fact make things much worse.

[enjoyingthescenery]

Originally Posted by IrishAprilFool

I'm applying to grad schools in Louisiana, so I started reading all the posts about the different towns/cities with the colleges (LSU and University of Louisiana) that interest me: Monroe, Shreveport, Lafayette, and Baton Rouge. I was feeling very positive about the move until I read all the negative information about these places from locals, i.e., Monroe smells and has terrible crime, Shreveport and Baton Rouge aren't safe, and Lafayette is expensive with terrible traffic.

Can I please get some objective feedback about where to live? I'm looking for a mid-sized town/small city that has character - vibrant downtown, artsy, friendly. I'm a SWF, so I want to be able to rent an apartment in a safe neighborhood, preferably within walking distance of school and/or stores, restaurants, etc., although I don't mind driving. I lived in Philadelphia for many years, so my view of "high crime rate" is probably a bit different than those who haven't lived in a big city.

Any suggestions and information would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much!

We live in Lafayette and I have lived in Baton Rouge also. Lafayette is by far the best "quality of life" town in Louisiana. It is progressive in its thinking when you compare it to other towns in the South. UL is a good mid-sized university and we have just appointed or hired a NEW PRESIDENT after 30+ years of the same one. I think we'll start getting more of the credit that we deserve. Good luck to you! Yes, rent is high but if you know ppl at the university or ask around enough I think you could find a cool place near UL - start early. Don't worry about traffic, you'll be around campus most of your time.

[holloway1010]

Originally Posted by SBCmetroguy

Not quite so. Yes, Baton Rouge has the sprawl already, but have you seen the loop that's been proposed? For starter it's extremely unrealistic, but if it were to be built your sprawl problem would spread another 20-40 miles in every direction, so the loop would in fact make things much worse.

Which proposal, the map that's always shown on the news looks like a giant spiderweb of possible corridors ranging from just outside the city limits, to as far away as Zachary to the North and Donaldsonville to the south. One thing I don't understand about this loop they want to build is that they have strongly considered using the existing bridge near Donaldsonville for the loop's southern river crossing, but they seem to be completely ignoring the new Audubon bridge going up north of the city, which when completed in 2010 will be up to freeway standards. They seem to want to build a second new bridge somewhere b/w 8/12 miles south of that bridge to use as the northern crossing. Idk that just seems like a big waste of money to me to save 10 minutes off of travel time. But yes there is no doubt wherever it is built sprawl will get worse than it is now.

[SBCmetroguy]

Originally Posted by holloway1010

Which proposal, the map that's always shown on the news looks like a giant spiderweb of possible corridors ranging from just outside the city limits, to as far away as Zachary to the North and Donaldsonville to the south. One thing I don't understand about this loop they want to build is that they have strongly considered using the existing bridge near Donaldsonville for the loop's southern river crossing, but they seem to be completely ignoring the new Audubon bridge going up north of the city, which when completed in 2010 will be up to freeway standards. They seem to want to build a second new bridge somewhere b/w 8/12 miles south of that bridge to use as the northern crossing. Idk that just seems like a big waste of money to me to save 10 minutes off of travel time. But yes there is no doubt wherever it is built sprawl will get worse than it is now.

I'm not sure, I saw it posted on another board but it was... somewhere around 80 miles long! It was insane...

[darylwi]

Check out Nashville's I-840 (or TN 840 depending on the maps). It's way outside of the city limits. But I guess if you're only wanting a bypass, and not a help for inner city traffic, then putting the loop way outside the city is a good thing. But it has to be at a good angle as not to add so much time to the trip, like Baton Rouge's probably will.

[Cookie0907]

I attended ULM for a little while and it was okay, not too much to do on the weekends, pretty quiet and peaceful. I heard there is a race issue in west Monroe though.

[Cookie0907]

LSU is pretty difficult and was once a party school. Not sure how it is now but thats how my brother flunked out. The people that I know who go to Lafayette like it a lot and also party a lot