North Shore (New Orleans, Slidell, Bogalusa: houses, neighborhoods, high school)

[TN-rox]

Hi. Iv'e been thinking, now with the cold weather, of some place warmer to live. Memphis' winters aint too bad, but Ive been looking at some of the temperatures down in LA, and wow, have yall got it made.lol. Probably not serious, just wondering if I did end up moving, it would probably be farther south. Anyways, I was looking at the Florida Parishes? Tangipahoa, Washington, St Tammany, and Livingston. Thinking about Ponchatoula, Springfield, Mandeville, Pearl River, Bogalusa even. These look like some good places, crime-wise, demographically, and population-wise- I was looking for a more rural town and area like I have up here, outside Memphis. St. Tammany looked like it had larger, more expensive, more suburban-like towns, but i dont know. Ive passed through the area probably four times? lol, on my way to New Orleans. How are schools in these areas by the way? Oh, and how are these areas doing lately, after Katrina? Still overpopulated and stuff? Hope things are better for yall... Well any help would be greatly appreciated.
Looking for some place warmer,
TN-rox

[mezzogirl]

St Tammany Parish is not rural, especially Mandeville/Madisonville/Covington area. It is definitely hot and humid and the schools are great. I grew up in Mandeville and when I go back to visit the folks, I see lots of new neighborhoods filling in all the wooded gaps and traffic bottlenecked at every stoplight. You may want to look further north into Washington Parish. There are still some areas there that are farming communities, but also some new development. I am not really sure about their school system these days. I am also not sure about the crime. I know that there were some isolated incidents after Katrina, but I haven't heard anything lately about this being a problem. Overall, the whole vicinity is warm and friendly and welcoming. Good luck in your search!

[Northshore_coach]

STAY AWAY from Ponchatoula! Unless you want to live among uneducated, white-trash that perpetuates this degenerative cycle by teaching their kids that cheating is acceptable. Ask their recreation and high school coaches; they are the biggest culprits. How these parents can cheer on their teams, knowing that their girls are lying about their ages is beyond me. Pathetic!

And no one considers Ponchatoula as part of the Northshore.

[MetroBTR]

^^sounds like someone has a personal vendetta.

TN, most of the places in the Florida parishes have acceptable school systems. I personally really like the area. But if heat is what you want, you will find it there. St. Tammany is considered suburban New Orleans, but more recently it has begun to hold its own.

[stillkit]

St. Tammany Parish suffered a LOT of damage from Katrina. The surge coming up out of the lake ran from about 1 ft at the Causeway to 20+ in Slidell. The whole lakefront area in Mandeville was smashed for several blocks.

Just keep that in mind before you decide to move down there. Katrina may have been a unique storm in many regards, but it was still just a hurricane and it won't be the last.

Bogalusa? Only if you love the smell of paper mills.

[MetroBTR]

Originally Posted by stillkit

St. Tammany Parish suffered a LOT of damage from Katrina. The surge coming up out of the lake ran from about 1 ft at the Causeway to 20+ in Slidell. The whole lakefront area in Mandeville was smashed for several blocks.

Just keep that in mind before you decide to move down there. Katrina may have been a unique storm in many regards, but it was still just a hurricane and it won't be the last.

Bogalusa? Only if you love the smell of paper mills.

But still, St. Tammany has recovered from Katrina, and has done so much faster than any other parish in the region.

[stillkit]

Originally Posted by MetroBTR

But still, St. Tammany has recovered from Katrina, and has done so much faster than any other parish in the region.

Yes, it has recovered pretty well, but the point is that another hurricane will come through sooner or later and wreck the place again. Of course, that's true anywhere along the Gulf Coast, but it's something which shouldn't be ignored when deciding where to re-locate. After all, it's not a case of IF you get slammed by a major storm, but WHEN.

[BRMan]

Originally Posted by stillkit

Yes, it has recovered pretty well, but the point is that another hurricane will come through sooner or later and wreck the place again. Of course, that's true anywhere along the Gulf Coast, but it's something which shouldn't be ignored when deciding where to re-locate. After all, it's not a case of IF you get slammed by a major storm, but WHEN.

I've noticed (in Mandeville anyway) a lot of the shouses close to the lake now are built on concrete piers/are elevated. So that helps some.

The hurricane risk is something that affects the entire Gulf Coast; the question is; would you have a hurricane make landfall near NO again ? Because THAT is when St Tammany would be especially vulnerable.

[stillkit]

Originally Posted by BRMan

I've noticed (in Mandeville anyway) a lot of the shouses close to the lake now are built on concrete piers/are elevated. So that helps some.

The hurricane risk is something that affects the entire Gulf Coast; the question is; would you have a hurricane make landfall near NO again ? Because THAT is when St Tammany would be especially vulnerable.

Well, the Old Farmer's Almanac is predicting one in the LA/MS region in late August or early September. They're generally pretty good with their long-term forecasts.

[MetroBTR]

Regardless, other parishes on the southshore would kill to have the elevation of most areas in St. Tammany.