Live Between New Orleans and Baton Rouge (Laplace, Hammond: home, law school)

[LawSchoolBound]

Hello everyone,

I will be attending LSU law school, Baton Rouge, LA, in the fall. My husband and I are relocating from Georgia, and are unfamiliar with the area. My husband is a controller with a big company here in Atlanta, and is concerned he may not find a comparable position in Baton Rouge. New Orleans seems to have more positions suitable for him. This leads me to my question(s): What cities should we look at moving to, that will provide a tolerable commute for both of us? I really appreciate any guidance I can get!!!!

Thank you!

[Vampgrrl]

Laplace, LA maybe?

I wouldn't live too far in the middle because IMHO there is NOTHING between New Orleans and Baton Rouge.

[darylwi]

There literally isn't anything directly halfway between NOLA and BTR except for Blind River and the surrounding swamps. Your better choices are either Laplace (closer to NOLA) and Gonzales/Prairieville/Dutchtown (closer to BTR). Another option is Hammond. It's 30 miles to BTR (although the commute on I-12 can be murder during the typical rush hour so plan on an hour or worse if there's an accident) and it's a fairly easy drive south on 55 to I-10 before you'll have to deal with the Bonnet Carre. The causeway is always an option as well.

A note about Ascension Parish, I-10 traffic can be equally bad during rush hour but if you live in Dutchtown or Gonzales, you could always take LA-30 to LSU and vice versa. It's a nice alternative especially if you know ahead of time that there's something wrong on I-10.

[jpruett]

Is traffic really bad from St. James to Prairieville or from St. James to Gonzales. My family maybe moving there whe the new mill opens in St. James but I don't want to live in St. James. As a mom with school age kids I am looking into Prairieville maybe. I am not sure, we are thinking of visiting the area soon What schools do you recommend?

[darylwi]

You have a few options between Ascension (P-Ville and G-town) and St. James. You have Airline (US 61) and I-10. You could also use LA 73 to the River Road or La 44 to the River Road. The Burnside/Sorrento exit to the Sunshine Bridge (LA 22 & LA 70) is the easiest and probably the most used entrance from BTR into the plant area of St. James and West Ascension. I've never had any problems when I used that road as a route between Plaquemine and I-10 east of BTR. I've used that route a lot, but never during the plant rush hours. I imagine you wouldn't have much problem either.
Coming home you can come straight up Airline instead of I-10. Gonzales can be an issue sometimes, but depending on where you live, there are several roads that sort of 'loop' (for lack of a better word) around G-town and can get you to St. Amant and Port Vincent pretty quick, or go the other way and get over to Dutchtown. It just depends on where exactly you live which roads you'll end up wanting to take.
And I speak of all of these different routes because it isn't uncommon to have a day where I-10 or Airline get shut down somewhere between BTR and NOLA for some sort of reason (usually accident related).
I can't help much on school specifics, but I've heard relatively good things about most of the Ascension schools and people seemed to be flocking to that Parish as a alternative to EBR. Gas prices and the housing market may have crimped that just a little for now which may be a good thing for Ascension as it appeared to have been growing too much too quick. I'm sure there are some other people reading this that can give you a few more specifics.

[MetroBTR]

There are the usual choices. Laplace, Gonzales, St. Amant, Sorrento. It couldn't hurt to look at places like Gramercy, Reserve, and Garyville. These places are river towns and will probably not be terribly impressive, but they are probably much more affordable. I would hate to have to go back and forth between Baton Rouge and New Orleans all the time since traffic on I-10 in both cities is the stuff of legend.