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Well, if you do move I'd recommend Moss Bluff. It's a decently sized town just north of Lake Charles. It's mainly nice suburbs and I guess you can say the schools are pretty good. I've lived here my whole life and I don't have a problem with it. Although I blame the education problem on the irresponsible kids that I go to school with, not many of them really give two ****s. I've gone through private school my whole life up till high school where I'm now a senior, and it hasn't really been a problem for me. The people are pretty nice, but I think most of my local generations going to be a bunch of imbeciles.
I am from Monroe. Born and raised. I've lived here most of my life. I'll give it to you straight. This is a very black city and it gets more black by the year. We have a very high crime rate. (My apartment was burglarized two weeks ago.) I live very close to the ULM campus and it's not safe. I think the city is around 75% black and 25% white. The U.S. Census shows our population is shrinking but I've got a feeling that's the ULM grads hightailing it out of here. Monroe is a black, impoverished ghetto. So, if you are non-black then more likely you're going to feel like a fish out of water here. It's the same in Shreveport, Alexandria, Lafayette, and Baton Rouge. All the metropolitan areas in Louisiana are going to have a significant number of blacks concentrated in these areas. The only escape is moving to a rural part of Louisiana. I'm not saying this to be racist or mean - but that's what Monroe is.
And that's not even mentioning our terrible schools, hot humid summers and ice cold winters (it's a 'wet' kind of cold. Not dry like you get in the desert.) There is absolutely no business here. No big factories, no big industry, etc.. It's very Christian here. You'll hear "Have a blessed day!" more times that you can count.
Louisiana competes with Mississippi for last place in anything good and pretty much first place for anything bad. i.e... Obesity, AIDS & STD's, crime, and so forth. Monroe is probably one of the worse places IN Louisiana to live. The cajun and creole culture starts when you get about hour past Alexandria. By that time you're in "South" Louisiana and things change. There are a million other places better than Monroe. I hate to talk like this about my hometown but it's true.
As soon as I graduate in May, I'm getting out of here and I'm not sure where I'll go but *any* place outside of north Louisiana and Mississippi will be better than this. I'm thinking about Tennessee or maybe northern Georgia. Dunno. Anyways, Good luck!
If you think Louisiana has "ice cold winters" (it doesn't) then good luck in Tennessee and northern Georgia where it actually snows. Also, sensing a bit of passive aggressive racism.
I think its a matter of economics as well as one of education, poor and low economics go hand in hand with lower education.
Black or White, there is good people and there are people that are not so good. communities are shaped by the economic to a greater degree than what people want to address.
Louisiana has very unpredictable weather during many parts of each season. That can be an oddity. But there are places with even greater unpredictability. Then there are places more prone to the ravages of hurricanes and tornado's and flood and such. In Many Cities, where one lives can have much to do with income, although there are are some people who live in areas, which were nice decades ago, and the people earn good income, but much of the community may have fallen.
The challenge point is, when people move to places they can't afford, and then bring bad habits with them. Communities change dramatically when people start to Rent and Lease their homes. The sad part is often some areas attract the bad characters who could not and would not be there, if it was a owner occupied community, due to the challenge of affordability. It's unfortunate, that often times when people move and set their house up for rent, they are so desperate for tenants, they don't consider many factors, such as how will the people maintain the home, and will they conduct themselves with the integrity to reflect the community they aspire to live in. This is true no matter whether people are black or whites.
Sometimes people who do unscrupulous things, want to live in nice communities, they bring with them the habits which can at times turn the new community into the disaster they left in the previous community.
It's better for the people who rent and lease, to put in STERN info, about clutter, non working vehicles, and storage, and ensure they either pay to keep up the lawn or give the discount on the rent so the tenant can maintain it.
one can give the tenant in a rent house a lawn mower and a discount, so they have no excuse for not maintaining the lawn. $1200 a year discount, will be so they can fix things themselves. If they fail to fix it, then they can be evicted.
I think its important how people manage their kids, and sadly in too many communities, people ignore the back yard, and it becomes like a forgotten land, yet the people will put all their lawn furniture in the front yard. (it must be a southern thing) I think it is often time horrendous. Its OK if you have the space for a small table and couple of chairs for aesthetics and occasional usage, but to use the front yard as a hang out space, is sure to bring the quality of the community downwards.
Then when it comes to non working vehicles, EVERY COMMUNITY should ban this habit from existing.
but to use the front yard as a hang out space, is sure to bring the quality of the community downwards.
I'd hate to live in that neighborhood. Nothing like walking down a street and seeing people on their front porch and kids playing in the yard and what not.
Suburban neighborhoods usually are very sterile, seems like what you like.
I'd hate to live in that neighborhood. Nothing like walking down a street and seeing people on their front porch and kids playing in the yard and what not.
Suburban neighborhoods usually are very sterile, seems like what you like.
It's ok seeking kids out playing, but when the back yard is totally neglected and over grown and used as a semi junk storage areas, and people put all of the Lawn Furnishing in the front yard, "those are the situations that are not good for economic growth for property owners". Eventually in some places as I've see, junk eventually starts to accumulate on the side of the house.
I know the South has what is called a "Front Porch Society", and that fits many categories, from very cluttered to homes with the nice porch, or wrap around porch and such that is well maintained.
there are homes along some main streets where people hang out in the front, the grass is gone, and cars are parked any type of way and it damages the community atmosphere.
Whether ideal for family life or not, most of the neighborhoods with well maintained front yards and not "always" with a group of people hanging out seem to hold their value and increase in value.
I like communities where its safe for older people, women and girls to feel safe to walk. If one goes to a community and older people are out for a walk, women walk and girls walk, generally its a fairly safe environment, if it were not they would not feel comfortable to go out and walk about.
I use to walk all over my community, but it has changed in the past 4 yrs, I don't feel as comfortable as before, one is people have moved in with "pit bulls" and in some parts they don't keep their lawns as neat as they did when I first moved here. I enjoyed walking looking at the manicure of lawns, the well kept lawns and being able to take my dogs along, without worrying if some "unmanaged dog" will come out and attack.
Sadly I see people who have not maintained their fences well, and they have "barking dogs". its not a good thing.
What is a challenge is when people move and instead of selling their home, they turn it to rental property, it changes the community standard. Some renters have no vested interest, I've seen a few houses with high turn over on the rental, and some that people ran down and has remained vacant, and sadly this is not far from a nice well kept school.
I talked to a police officer whom I frequently engage in the mornings while getting coffee, he told me that the community changed, he was descriptive enough to point out some of the changes. It really irks me, because my house is nice. but another things is the 'traffic has increased in the area". It's as if people are not comfortable at home, the back and forth traffic is very much more than it use to be. The people (black and white) who come to the convenience stores are far less neater than the people who use to go there. The clerks at the stores noticed the change in the people coming in the stores as well.
Last edited by Chance and Change; 03-14-2016 at 05:45 AM..
If you think Louisiana has "ice cold winters" (it doesn't) then good luck in Tennessee and northern Georgia where it actually snows. Also, sensing a bit of passive aggressive racism.
Exactly. There is no such "cold weather" in Acadiana. The coldest temps during the day down here this past winter was in the low 50s! That's fall weather, not winter.
It's ok seeking kids out playing, but when the back yard is totally neglected and over grown and used as a semi junk storage areas, and people put all of the Lawn Furnishing in the front yard, "those are the situations that are not good for economic growth for property owners". Eventually in some places as I've see, junk eventually starts to accumulate on the side of the house.
I know the South has what is called a "Front Porch Society", and that fits many categories, from very cluttered to homes with the nice porch, or wrap around porch and such that is well maintained.
there are homes along some main streets where people hang out in the front, the grass is gone, and cars are parked any type of way and it damages the community atmosphere.
Whether ideal for family life or not, most of the neighborhoods with well maintained front yards and not "always" with a group of people hanging out seem to hold their value and increase in value.
I like communities where its safe for older people, women and girls to feel safe to walk. If one goes to a community and older people are out for a walk, women walk and girls walk, generally its a fairly safe environment, if it were not they would not feel comfortable to go out and walk about.
I use to walk all over my community, but it has changed in the past 4 yrs, I don't feel as comfortable as before, one is people have moved in with "pit bulls" and in some parts they don't keep their lawns as neat as they did when I first moved here. I enjoyed walking looking at the manicure of lawns, the well kept lawns and being able to take my dogs along, without worrying if some "unmanaged dog" will come out and attack.
Sadly I see people who have not maintained their fences well, and they have "barking dogs". its not a good thing.
What is a challenge is when people move and instead of selling their home, they turn it to rental property, it changes the community standard. Some renters have no vested interest, I've seen a few houses with high turn over on the rental, and some that people ran down and has remained vacant, and sadly this is not far from a nice well kept school.
I talked to a police officer whom I frequently engage in the mornings while getting coffee, he told me that the community changed, he was descriptive enough to point out some of the changes. It really irks me, because my house is nice. but another things is the 'traffic has increased in the area". It's as if people are not comfortable at home, the back and forth traffic is very much more than it use to be. The people (black and white) who come to the convenience stores are far less neater than the people who use to go there. The clerks at the stores noticed the change in the people coming in the stores as well.
In vibrant urban neighborhoods people walk around and hangout outside alot, but they do the same things in the hood. And in many neighborhoods in Hammond for example there are lots of newer or middle class subdivisions with nasty and cluttered yards, yet they all sit inside. Also, I see kids, old people, and females walking in the hood all the time, that's where you'll see it more often to be honest.
So I think it's more to do with the economics of the neighborhood and not whether or not people sit on the porch.
In vibrant urban neighborhoods people walk around and hangout outside alot, but they do the same things in the hood. And in many neighborhoods in Hammond for example there are lots of newer or middle class subdivisions with nasty and cluttered yards, yet they all sit inside. Also, I see kids, old people, and females walking in the hood all the time, that's where you'll see it more often to be honest.
So I think it's more to do with the economics of the neighborhood and not whether or not people sit on the porch.
Quote:
So I think it's more to do with the economics of the neighborhood and not whether or not people sit on the porch
I agree to this.
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