Snow No More (New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Shreveport: for sale, 2009, rent)

[SD snowbird]

My family is considering a move from South Dakota to Louisiana around March of 2009. I have AAS degrees in both Horticulture and Landscape Design and since it snows here, I am seasonal at best. I have considerable experience in customer service and food service. My husband is a welder with 10 + years of experience. We have a 12 year old son who loves creepy critters. I am looking mostly between Baton Rouge and New Orleans along the river road but not sure which towns are going to be the most family friendly and still close to employment for both of us. Any input would be helpful.

[darylwi]

You probably want to stay on the eastbank of the river, that way you have proximity to BTR and NOLA or whichever you prefer. Too far outside of the major cities and you'll be mostly around old time locals. The Gonzales area isn't bad, especially in terms of schools. Denham Springs and perhaps Walker are options as well. Further down you could check LaPlace and even across the river around Destrahan.

[Doogie]

Be careful in your research too as much of the distance in River road between the two cities is covered with chemical plants. LaPlace might be a reasonable choice.

[hindsight2020]

My fiancé and I live in Bossier City (Shreveport/Bossier in essence) and she has a BA in LH&D . FYI at the bachelor's level Landscape Hort. and Design is considered one degree, not two. At any rate, down here such work is yearly, which is a big departure from the north and Midwest (she's from Indiana) where she would have only been able to pursue that for half the year, the rest of the time the business becomes snow removal. Down here landscape is a bona fide full-time business.

I don't know about the BTR and NOLA region since we live in de facto east Texas (according to south louisiana..we still welcome some of your ungrateful refugees though, but I digress) but I think the businesses are a little bigger down there than up here. I'm not gonna lie, I don't think my fiancé gets paid as much as she could command in the Dallas/Atlanta/Houston markets, but we like the smaller population and commute times here in Shreveport. Most employers here wanted her to be paid hourly, and only one outfit offered her a salary. She went with the latter; low salary in my opinion, and joke of a health plan (she's not insured right now until we get married and I put her in my military coverage) but in tune with the market here and she has a good working relationship with the employer. Unfortunately if we had the expectation of having her be the primary income source for the household rather than my hopes of going full time civil service with the Air Force here, we'd be screwed. Hopefully your husband will be able to find gainful employment down there as well.

So research your employment options first and compare with the cost of living down there before you make the move. I think you'll have a tough time finding salaried positions without a BA, they'll low ball you on hourly scales in spite of your claimed work experience. Just be ready to roll with the punches there. My fiance's salary cannot afford us a house here in a decent neighborhood, and I know for a fact NOLA and BTR are more expensive markets. Even combined we'd be struggling to afford a decent house, which is why we currently rent until my full-time federal employment materializes.

Best of luck to ya, we sure don't miss the terrible bitter winters in Indiana (which are a joke compared to SoDakota); every time we go up to see her family we hurry back down here ASAP and laugh in sigh of relief as we pass the state lines in our rear view mirror.

[SD snowbird]

I appreciate the info. My hort degree covers greenhouse growing as well as landscape uses. I have spent nearly every season for the last 10 years working in garden centers and can go from seed or cutting to finished plant material for sale. I have also worked in a wholesale greenhouse here. Currently I am working at a retirement community in the dietary department. I work part time in their dining room and part time as the only baker making desserts for 300+ residents. I would much rather work in my chosen field but this is year round work and does provide benefits.

My husband started welding for a company that builds industrial fans, worked for about a year in a factory making truck parts (bumpers, running bars, etc.) and the last 4 working for a tank manufacturer. He is their "go-to guy" when they foret to put a project on the weekly production list and need a tank done start to finish that day.
I was raised in small towns (less than 20,000) and don't really mind "old time locals" for neighbors - my biggest concern is work commute and raising our son. I am looking for low crime rates, decent neighborhoods, possibility of eventually opening my own business and how that business would do in the community. Simply want to raise my son in a town where I don't have to worry about him every minute, where he and his dog have a little space, where my husband and I can buy a house and build a future and hopefully make a contribution to the community in the process.
Once again, thanks for the info and if you can share any more, please do.

[asimplegirl]

Your husband will definitely have no problem finding work, lol. I have no idea about you, all I know is I have never left Louisiana, and live only in the central part, and I have NEVER seen snow- EVER.

So, that should help. Where are you from in South Dakota? My grampa is from batesland.

[SD snowbird]

I live in Sioux Falls, SD, in the southeast corner of the state. Have been in SD for 32 years, have no idea where batesland is. Since you have never seen snow, let me tell you it sure is pretty but not all its cracked up to be. Not much fun to wake up in the morning and find a foot or more of snow, 30+ mph winds, temperature around 0, and wind chills hovering in the -30 F range. Actually woke up one Thanksgiving morning to find that it had snowed so much during the nite that both of our cars were just white hills in the yard. Add to all this the fact that I am 5'3" and about 105 pounds -- gets incredibly old putting up with 6 months of frigid temps.
Especially when I prefer to be outside, doesn't matter what I'm doing. Like to target shoot with my 22 rifle, fish, camp, garden, pretty much anything so being house-bound for 6 months really sucks. Just want out of this part of the country, live somewhere warm.
Any info about garden centers in the area, welding shops, etc would be appreciated. Thanks All.

[OldRebel]

I replied to your other post about horticulture, but I will restate here. Alexandria is in the center of the state. A new venture has recently located at the abandoned Air Force base. They manufacture railway tankcars; and several months ago there were reports that they were in dire need of experienced welders.

I work for a national home improvement warehouse in another part of the state. We have good benefits. There could be a position available in our garden center or that of our competitor (the big orange box) for you.

You may want to consider the Alexandria/Pineville area. We have a new store opening in Pineville soon.

Good luck.

[SD snowbird]

I appreciate the input. How far is Alexandria from BR and NOLA? I am hoping to be a little farther south than Alexandria, but as long as it's still a reasonable drive to these cities, it's definately worth a look. Anything else you can tell me about the Alexandria area would be great. I can't seem to find much information online, specifics I mean, about the smaller towns in LA. Maybe I'm not looking in the right places. Any ideas?
Thanks!

[Rmaf623]

Alexandria is about 2 hours from Baton Rouge and at least 3 from New Orleans. Alexandria has a little less than 50,000 people and Pineville across the river has about 15,000.