Any suggestions on where I should move? (New Orleans, Baton Rouge: rental, crime)

[anna561]

I am moving to somewhere in central Louisiana in about 2 months. I have three daughters ages 15, 9, and 6. We are looking for a medium sized town, hopefully no further than 2 1/2 hours from New Orleans as we have family there. I also want to be somewhat close to the town of Winnfield, as I have more family there. I am looking for a place with reasonably good schools, a decent/safe area with a family atmosphere, and not too small. I want to be within reasonable distance of shopping and restaurants if at all possible. Does anyone know of a place that fits that description at all? I will need to find a house to rent for under $650 a month that is decent. I also have pets, and will have to have a rental where they can go too. Any help will be greatly appreciated!

[edesign]

2.5 hours from New Orleans and in central LA? Lafayette is about 2.5 hours from N.O. and is an hour (roughly, closer to 45-50 minutes) south of Alexandria via I-49...so you're looking at a place 45 minutes or so north of Baton Rouge. Doesn't really leave you with many options, not sure what you consider "central" Louisiana. Due to the shape of the state (like a boot) once you get to far enough east to Baton Rouge there isn't that much room to go north without crossing in to MS. I'm not sure that Zachary or the likes counts as central LA

You're going to be hard-pressed to find a place as you describe in central LA within 2.5-3 hours of New Orleans (unless you want to test the state police) and close to Winnfield. I have driven from Lafayette to New Orleans in a little under two hours but that is driving 80-90+ most of the way (100 at times for brief periods...hardly worth the risk of a ticket and cost of gas though) with no construction delays or accidents. Alexandria to N.O. should be doable in 3-3.5 hours depending on your driving style...not sure about schools there though.

Why central LA if I may ask? Nothing against it but there's really not a whole lot there...which could be a plus to some people, depends on your background and what you're looking for.

[redbean]

My first thought was Lafayette; it's not really central LA, but puts you within 2 hours of both New Orleans and Winnfield. I'm not sure about the schools. Another option might be Pineville, that is more in central LA. Lafayette has a good reputation, even nationally, for being a great place to live.

[edesign]

Originally Posted by redbean

Lafayette has a good reputation, even nationally, for being a great place to live.

I agree, as long as you don't let the ungodly traffic congestion for a city that size bother you It sounds like your best bet but is not central Louisiana...and many people will suggest a private school over public with a few exceptions. There have been some recent threads about Lafayette in which some of this is discussed, dig back a page or three and you'll find them. If not try the search engine, pretty sure it's been covered relatively recently.

If you rent a place north of I-10 out of the Lafayette city limits your rent will be much cheaper but schools will be more limited. I hesitate to say Opelousas even though it's ~15 miles north and a lot cheaper for rent than Lafayette as most of the jobs are in Lafayette or south towards Broussard...hence the mass exodus every morning on I-49S and back in the afternoons on I-49N. Not a fun drive especially when the fog is like pea soup and you crest an overpass only to suddenly see brake lights at a standstill...people either drive way too slow or way too fast in those conditions and accidents are pretty common, the rubbernecking doesn't help either. Two or three years ago they had a massive 75 vehicle (give or take) pile-up on I-49 near Carencro due to fog. Not the norm but it's not a route I would enjoy driving daily, especially if I had to go all the way to Broussard. For some reason the city does not limit wide loads and trailers (manufactured homes) to post rush-hour traffic as most other large cities do so you'll often have traffic impeded going through town or even on the interstates on your way to work. I'm not trying to scare you away from Lafayette, just letting you know it has it's issues that you should be aware of.

And if there's an accident on the thruway through town or on Hwy. 90 you're pretty much stuck until it is cleared up as there are very few detours, if any, depending on where you are when traffic stops. The city is trying to fix this problem but they are a long ways behind. See this thread, it has some good insights in to Lafayette:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/louis...iana-here.html

It's not a bad city but depending on who you are you'll either love it or hate it. Relatively safe from hurricanes as well, north of I-10 is your best bet.

[Innotech]

Originally Posted by edesign

I agree, as long as you don't let the ungodly traffic congestion for a city that size bother you It sounds like your best bet but is not central Louisiana...and many people will suggest a private school over public with a few exceptions. There have been some recent threads about Lafayette in which some of this is discussed, dig back a page or three and you'll find them. If not try the search engine, pretty sure it's been covered relatively recently.

If you rent a place north of I-10 out of the Lafayette city limits your rent will be much cheaper but schools will be more limited. I hesitate to say Opelousas even though it's ~15 miles north and a lot cheaper for rent than Lafayette as most of the jobs are in Lafayette or south towards Broussard...hence the mass exodus every morning on I-49S and back in the afternoons on I-49N. Not a fun drive especially when the fog is like pea soup and you crest an overpass only to suddenly see brake lights at a standstill...people either drive way too slow or way too fast in those conditions and accidents are pretty common, the rubbernecking doesn't help either. Two or three years ago they had a massive 75 vehicle (give or take) pile-up on I-49 near Carencro due to fog. Not the norm but it's not a route I would enjoy driving daily, especially if I had to go all the way to Broussard. For some reason the city does not limit wide loads and trailers (manufactured homes) to post rush-hour traffic as most other large cities do so you'll often have traffic impeded going through town or even on the interstates on your way to work. I'm not trying to scare you away from Lafayette, just letting you know it has it's issues that you should be aware of.

And if there's an accident on the thruway through town or on Hwy. 90 you're pretty much stuck until it is cleared up as there are very few detours, if any, depending on where you are when traffic stops. The city is trying to fix this problem but they are a long ways behind. See this thread, it has some good insights in to Lafayette:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/louis...iana-here.html

It's not a bad city but depending on who you are you'll either love it or hate it. Relatively safe from hurricanes as well, north of I-10 is your best bet.

I do NOT recommend Opelousas if you want a safe area for 3 kids. there are a lot of after-hours bars and gambling places in Opelousas and the nightlife is exceedingly dangerous for a small town. If you must choose a place nearby to Lafayette but safer, pick something like Carencro or Sunset.

[edesign]

Like I said, I hesitate to recommend it...I just didn't want to go in to the specific problems for "fear" of being called racist or something. Generally when everyone has to commute out of a city to find jobs it's a bad sign. I should have been more specific in helping the OP though, you are right. But there are parts of Carencro that brew trouble too, not that familiar with Sunset...any town will have these though. By and large they are pretty safe places though, just always be aware of your surroundings no matter where you are...especially after dark.

I lived in Carencro for a few years and liked it for the most part. Just beware that they close the main drag through town (University) every year for the Mardi Gras parade (one day only) so if you live on or near the parade route expect to be woken up early and be surrounded by revelers for a while (and possibly unable to leave your home via automobile). I'm not sure what rental places are like for that price around there though.

There is a small grocery store in Carencro (Don's...never cared for it too much, always got a weird vibe from it and I grew up in a town with under 2000 people so it's not that) and Janise's in Sunset. Prices are a bit higher but then again I didn't do the majority of my grocery shopping there...mostly pick up odds and ends I might need without wanting to drive seven to ten miles to Lafayette.

The north side (oops, I'm sorry...the city is trying to get rid of the negative imagery and now calls it Upper Lafayette what a crock, not the first city to use that tactic though) has seen some nice business development over the past couple of years so now you don't have to drive to south side Lafayette to go shopping. There is a new shopping center just off of I-10 at the Louisiana Blvd. exit with a JCPenney, Target (not a Super Target though, limited groceries), Chick-Fil-A (or whatever, I don't eat fast food), Petco, some sporting store, and some other stores.

There's also an Albertson's off of the Thruway (I-49 becomes the Thruway south of I-10) just south of I-10. Some of the fresh produce always looked like it was lacking care so I always took extra care when buying produce from them. Not that you shouldn't at any store but compared to the other three Albertsons it always seemed worse. I accidentally bought an out-of-date pack of chicken breasts one time too, by the time I realized it i didn't even bother bringing it back for a refund...losing money always makes me remember next time

Then there is a Home Depot next door to the Albertsons...and a Wal-Mart a bit further down although I avoided that one after dark (heck, I avoid Wal-Mart as a general rule-of-thumb though lol). Wal-Mart parking lot security is a joke, nothing wrong with the inside of the store though. There's also a Walgreens off of Moss and E. Pont De Mouton.

What I'm getting at is that Carencro and Sunset would be cheaper than Lafayette, safer than Opelousas, plenty of good stores are now on that side of town so you can avoid a lot of the congestion in town, but you will most likely have to commute to or through Lafayette for a job and going with traffic on I-49 in the mornings/evenings can be a pita, especially once you get in to town and down by the airport on Hwy. 90 (same road), and depending where you are moving from (you never said) you may find you need to raise your level of alertness to your surroundings. Crime is not rampant but it's not unheard of and normally it's the people who aren't paying attention to the people around them that have problems...even the police will tell you that.

[Innotech]

Originally Posted by edesign

Like I said, I hesitate to recommend it...I just didn't want to go in to the specific problems for "fear" of being called racist or something. Generally when everyone has to commute out of a city to find jobs it's a bad sign. I should have been more specific in helping the OP though, you are right. But there are parts of Carencro that brew trouble too, not that familiar with Sunset...any town will have these though. By and large they are pretty safe places though, just always be aware of your surroundings no matter where you are...especially after dark.

I lived in Carencro for a few years and liked it for the most part. Just beware that they close the main drag through town (University) every year for the Mardi Gras parade (one day only) so if you live on or near the parade route expect to be woken up early and be surrounded by revelers for a while (and possibly unable to leave your home via automobile). I'm not sure what rental places are like for that price around there though.

There is a small grocery store in Carencro (Don's...never cared for it too much, always got a weird vibe from it and I grew up in a town with under 2000 people so it's not that) and Janise's in Sunset. Prices are a bit higher but then again I didn't do the majority of my grocery shopping there...mostly pick up odds and ends I might need without wanting to drive seven to ten miles to Lafayette.

The north side (oops, I'm sorry...the city is trying to get rid of the negative imagery and now calls it Upper Lafayette what a crock, not the first city to use that tactic though) has seen some nice business development over the past couple of years so now you don't have to drive to south side Lafayette to go shopping. There is a new shopping center just off of I-10 at the Louisiana Blvd. exit with a JCPenney, Target (not a Super Target though, limited groceries), Chick-Fil-A (or whatever, I don't eat fast food), Petco, some sporting store, and some other stores.

There's also an Albertson's off of the Thruway (I-49 becomes the Thruway south of I-10) just south of I-10. Some of the fresh produce always looked like it was lacking care so I always took extra care when buying produce from them. Not that you shouldn't at any store but compared to the other three Albertsons it always seemed worse. I accidentally bought an out-of-date pack of chicken breasts one time too, by the time I realized it i didn't even bother bringing it back for a refund...losing money always makes me remember next time

Then there is a Home Depot next door to the Albertsons...and a Wal-Mart a bit further down although I avoided that one after dark (heck, I avoid Wal-Mart as a general rule-of-thumb though lol). Wal-Mart parking lot security is a joke, nothing wrong with the inside of the store though. There's also a Walgreens off of Moss and E. Pont De Mouton.

What I'm getting at is that Carencro and Sunset would be cheaper than Lafayette, safer than Opelousas, plenty of good stores are now on that side of town so you can avoid a lot of the congestion in town, but you will most likely have to commute to or through Lafayette for a job and going with traffic on I-49 in the mornings/evenings can be a pita, especially once you get in to town and down by the airport on Hwy. 90 (same road), and depending where you are moving from (you never said) you may find you need to raise your level of alertness to your surroundings. Crime is not rampant but it's not unheard of and normally it's the people who aren't paying attention to the people around them that have problems...even the police will tell you that.

youre free to call it the northside. Im from that area and generally I dont think people even care what its called. It is what it is, but I felt safe living there and I still feel safe visiting my parents on that side of town. It has improved dramatically the past few years with the new development and jobs. The old cinema wherE I worked at on Castille street has been converted into a shopping center, though I do not know what will be in there. The center with Target and Chik Fil a also brings some much needed commerce to the area. Overall, its quite nice to live there now.

[anna561]

Thank you all so much for all the info! Do you think Alexandria/Pineville are good places for the kids? I am more focused on having a good place for them to grow up than being close to our relatives. We are going to be pretty close anyways (right now we are 8 hours away, so it will seem close to us). Are these areas friendly? I don't know anything about these areas, the only time I lived in Louisiana was in New Orleans 12 years ago. So feel free to give me any random info about where we are going!

[edesign]

Originally Posted by Innotech

Overall, its quite nice to live there now.

Still some trouble spots...but I would agree it's better now than in the past. Feeling safe is a matter of perspective which is why I asked the OP where she currently lives. I rarely felt threatened on that side of town but I always carried my pistol and I know some people who did not like the looks of the area and not because they are racist. For instance, I am very good friends with someone from Dallas who said that a lot of the north side reminded them of the bad parts of Dallas even though I laughed and said most of it was ok. What is safe to you or safe to myself may not appear to be to someone else and it has nothing to do with race (in case someone tries to drag that tired old card up). South side, north side...country town...big city...my guard is almost always up and I watch what goes on around me and how people are acting, some places I pay a bit more attention though. It's generally people who wander around with their head in the clouds or focused on their cell phone conversation who have problems.

I had heard an IMAX theater was going in where Evangeline Downs used to be...that would be pretty cool, I think there's only the one theater on Moss on that side of town right now. I hated going to the ones on the south side because they were always so crowded...then again I prefer to stay home and watch movies because rude people bother me too much (cell phones, talking, being donkeys, etc).

Anna, do a search on the towns you mentioned. I read a thread just today or yesterday regarding what parts of Alexandria were nice to live in. There is a search engine link located in the narrow blue strip at the top of each page...just punch in a few good keywords and you should get some decent results. It's better to ask questions about more specific parts of different towns as you will get better answers. Plus doing your own due diligence/homework is always a plus...sometimes you stumble across good info you wouldn't have been told about otherwise.

[anna561]

I have lived in Athens, Alabama for the last 2 months, but for the last 6 years I lived in a small town, Woodbury, Tennessee. It is about 20 minutes from Murfreesboro, so we went there alot since that is a really great medium sized city.