Moving

[Caa]

Baton Rouge is not the ONLY city who got evacuees, as the matter of fact, most have moved out of here(thank God) and Baton Rouge is finally getting back to normal. It is a great place to live and work and the people are once again, being nice to each other. The city is getting a lot of new roads and the home prices are coming down. I think the infrastrucure is just fine!!

[SunnyJeep]

Originally Posted by SBCmetroguy

I would say [northeastern corner] Monroe, but it's in about the same boat as Alexandria right now and you'd personally have to decide if a poor local economy is something you don't mind living in. If so, choose Alexandria. It truly IS the most decent-sized central location in all of Louisiana.

I am from the Monroe/W.Monroe area, and I promise you there is no poor local economy there. The area is growing rapidly, especially along the interstate, Garrett Road, and the airport exits - the areas surrounding Pecanland Mall.

Monroe is a nice, clean, bustling place that has everything that you could need in a small city: hospitals; all the major chain stores and restaraunts: Taco Bell, McD's, Captain D's, Red Lobster, Target, Books a Million, Michaels, Walmart, Bed Bath and Beyond, Lowes, Home Depot - you name it, it's there. They also have a regional airport, ULM University, Theatre, Children's Home, Louisiana Purchase Gardens and Zoo, Tinseltown Movie Cineplex, etc. If you need it, it's here. And if you desire to find a smaller outskirt kind of city, it's just a hop skip and jump away from places like Calhoun and Choudrant - which are golf towns primarily, or Ruston - another very nice and rapidly growing small college town.

I've lived in this area Ruston/Monroe (and also in the Shreveport/Bossier area) on and off my entire life, and I can say the crime here isn't that big a problem. I've never been robbed in the Ruston/Monroe area, or had any kind of frightening incident like that happen whilst living here. Of course, crime is present, you hear of things happening, but usually you can chalk a lot of that down to people not using their street smarts. Like walking in bad neighborhoods at night, etc. Common sense can prevent that sort of thing.

Also, the real estate is very affordable here, and you can find nice places that are very centrally located for great rates. Also river property here is attainable affordably. It's really a good choice if your husband is going to be traveling often. And if you have kids, there are plenty of schools to choose from, including a very good Catholic school.