Possible relocation to Alexandria - HELP! (crime, investment, park)

[la-meplus3]

I'm not a member yet, but am going this weekend to sign up. Mostly for the kids to have a safe place to swim. But I'm hoping it is not over crowded, probably won't be. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to do too much fitness club related activity in years...one b/c of the 2 and 4 year olds-busy, busy, and two b/c of a very high heart rate and neck problems, I have been restricted. I'm hoping to start back slow and maybe do some aquatic classes and then back to yoga.
Anyway, there is the Alexandria Aquatic Club which is near the mall. Right off Memorial Dr., I think the street name is Brentwood. They have 2 or 3 outdoor pools, I've been to a birthday party there. But you would really need to check it out, I don't really know what kind of people are there regularly.
There is also the Alexandria Golf and Country Club but I don't know that they have a pool. They have a website too if you haven't checked them out yet.
BTW, when I mentioned the event a few posts earlier for World Breastfeeding Week with the activities for kids, I think that I forgot to say it is at the Alexandria Zoo. It is an annual event,there a a few non-profits there with booths for the kids, and they only thing about breastfeeding is related to the zoo animals. (that mammels nurse there babies) Just wanted to add that, I thought you had a younger child too....

[Flapple]

Hi all-

Thinking of moving to the Pineville area. Looking for a safe, friendly neighborhood around there. Also, I have taught here in Pinellas County, FL for the last 15 years and wondered if anyone can tell me about teaching jobs in the area - either at public or private schools.We will not be moving for at least another year. Just found out I have a sister there after 49 years!

Thanks,

Kelly

[la-meplus3]

Honestly, I can't think of many areas of Pineville that are not safe and friendly. It is a pretty quiet place, so far. The questionable neighborhoods would be Smithville, Wardville, and the neighborhoods around the downtown area. Right off, that is all that I can think of. Ball, which is another small town in the area is very quiet too.
I hope those of you moving here from Florida won't be disappointed, I would move there in a second if I didn't have ties to here.
For teaching, you should visit the Rapides Parish Schoolboard website. You can get info on all the schools there. If you need info on a particular school, I can tell you what I know. There are also great websites to rate the schools. There is a private Montessori school here and two public ones. Also, quite a few other private schools, most in churches. Country Day School is a very popular, expensive, good private school. The people that I know who send their kids there are very pleased. Hope this helps!

[tbayle]

My son picked out a small rural school called Oakhill. It goes from K-12 and is out in the country. Know anything about it???

[la-meplus3]

I've heard of Oakhill, but do not know much about it. My husband knows about most of the schools in the area b/c he is in and out of them a lot due to his job. I will ask him later and get back to you. BTW, did you happen to look into the Courtyard Health Club? They are in Alexandria and do have an outdoor pool. I've known people who have been members there and were satisfied.

[Lady_October]

Just a bit of encouragement . . . Alexandria is great.

Its grown a lot over the years, so it no longer has that 'one-horse-town' feel to it. There are great schools and the housing market hasn't tanked, so you should be able to find something decent.

The cons are . .
*Its going to feel REALLY small if you're moving from the Dallas area.
*HUGE pentecostal church there (I lived there for years. Literally every day of high school someone would tell me that I was going to hell because I wear pants. Its quite ridiculous at times. I'm pretty liberal/non-religious and get annoyed by things like that; hence the fact that I moved to a bigger city!)
*As a general rule, the further south and the smaller the town . . . the more racist people get. Confederate flags, etc.
*The weather is a nightmare (heat) . . but thats all of Louisiana!
*Pineville . . . trust me, its a con.

The pros . . .
*Little to no traffic
*Growing downtown area
*Great schools (relatively speaking . . it IS Louisiana, after all.)
*More and more shopping (every time i visit home there is a new store!)
*Some really beautiful homes. My parents house is just gorgeous and they have a big yard. You don't see as much of the huge-houses-and-no-yard trend there, which is great.

Generally speaking its a big little city thats growing without losing its dignity.

[TexasMama]

*Its going to feel REALLY small if you're moving from the Dallas area.


That is fine by me! I did find it strange to not see miles and miles of nothing but houses like it is here. I really liked it though! I've never understood those people who pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for a house that is so close to your neighbor you can carry on a conversation through the kitchen window. I would say 90% of the new homes in the DFW area are this way.

But I have to say, I LOVE the traffic in Alexandria! I work 20 miles from home and it takes me 45 minutes to an hour ONE WAY on a good day. If it's storming or there is a wreck, add on another 20-30 minutes.

There are just too many people in this area now, and I think we will be just fine in Alexandria.

[Rmaf623]

Originally Posted by la-meplus3

I would stick to Pineville if you can find a house there. It is a much nicer area and not so many bad spots.

Yes, Pineville is generally much safer than Alexandria. Alexandria does have a number of attractive neighborhoods, but there are more bad and questionable areas than there are good areas. The vast majority of violent crime occurs in the bad areas of town. The good areas are mostly safe although occasional crimes (mainly minor) do occur here.

[happychic]

Hi TexasMama. There are lots of good areas out here, but one thing I've noticed in Alexandria (I'm not from LA originally) is that if turn a wrong corner you may be go from a good neighborhood to a bad/questionable neighborhood in the blink of an eye. The zoning is strange here, at least from the other 3 states I've lived in (CA, AZ, and WA). However there are several really good neighborhoods in Alexandria, most realtors here will help you find just what you're looking for. I live in Pineville and I like it alot. Very peaceful, and it feels like I'm far out of town, but I don't even have to go across the river to Alexandria for anything really.

If you want to go further out of Alexandria/Pineville there's also the Deville area, which can be very nice but it's mostly white (and the residents know it), so obviously depending on your feelings about that you may like the area or not. I hope I don't offend anyone by saying that, but I realize everyone is different - I'm white but I didn't like living in a non-diverse area.
Then there's also Pollock, I've heard it's nice but have no personal experience to base it on. I think someone else mentioned Woodworth already: it is nice as well, although the police there tend to be a little "trigger happy"...I don't mean this literally, they just like to stop people for no reason and write tickets.

Schools: the 3 best elementary schools in Pineville/Alexandria ARE: Pheonix Magnet (Alexandria), JI Barron (Pineville), and Peabody Montessori (Magnet). My daughter goes to Peabody and we love it. The teaching method is a little different (not for everyone), but it allows kids to move at their own pace, and to learn hands on so the lessons are understood better. Slower kids can go slower, faster kids faster, etc. They also have a great art program. We also know some kids who go to Pheonix, and it actually has the best test scores in the area for elementary, but they have alot of homework (I've heard), and really push competitive attitudes, which they don't do at Montessori. It all depends on what you want for your kids. JI Barron is zoned for Pineville, so you can just sign up there, but Peabody and Phoenix you have to put your name in and they randomly pick students based on the number of openings. Of course if your child goes one year they'll have a spot for them the next. Buckeye elementary, in Deville, is also very good, it is probably the 4th best elementary school in the area.
Rapides parish school site is http://www.rapides.k12.la.us/]Rapides Parish School District
Rapides parish state test results for 2007 http://www.louisianaschools.net/lde/uploads/11231.pdf
(scroll down until you see Rapides Parish in the chart)

HTH!

[Rmaf623]

Originally Posted by happychic

Hi TexasMama. There are lots of good areas out here, but one thing I've noticed in Alexandria (I'm not from LA originally) is that if turn a wrong corner you may be go from a good neighborhood to a bad/questionable neighborhood in the blink of an eye. HTH!

This is especially true in Alexandria's Garden District. Some blocks are lined with very nice, well kept historical homes but a block or two down the street you might come across a crime-infested neighborhood. However, the area bordered by Coliseum, MacArthur, and Masonic mostly contains nice neighborhoods.