home rentals and jobs Ruston, Monroe, Arcadia and surrounding areas (West Monroe: real estate, homes)

[bekabeka]

Where is a good place to look for home rentals in these areas? Which areas are nice, and which schools are the best? My husband will be working in Arcadia, so we'd like to live within 30 minutes from there, if possible.


Also, are there any local newspapers online or any other sources that you could recommend for employment searches?


Any suggestions would be most appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[CountryGrl_n_SBC]

Monroe is probably 40-45 minutes from Arcadia so Ruston may be your best bet. It's a college community and growing fast right now. The majority of the students live within a few miles of campus, so if you're not looking to be close to students, I'd say look for places a little further away from campus. There are several real estate companies that offer rental properties so I would start there and tell them what you're looking for.
Cedar Creek is a good school from what I've heard. Ruston's newspaper is the Ruston Leader (rustonleader.com) and Monroe's newspaper is The News Star (thenewsstar.com). Monroe is about 30 minutes from Ruston, Ruston is about 10 minutes from Arcadia.

[redbean]

Ruston is probably where you would want to live, generally anything north of I-20 is considered a desirable area to live. Public schools should be pretty good in that area. Good jobs in Ruston are hardly ever advertised. Join a church and start networking. Good luck, it's a nice town and you'll enjoy it.

[mezzogirl]

I recommend Ruston. Rent something north of I-20, away from the university. Go for the Hillcrest Elementary School district or you can try to get into AE Phillips Elementary (the lab school for LA Tech). Everything feeds into IA Lewis Middle School and Ruston High School. About 10 years ago, I student taught at Ruston High and loved it. I agree with the other poster above- check out some of the local churches and ask around. Most of the realtors in the area deal with rentals and sales, because of the large student population.

[bekabeka]

What about Jonesboro? I just saw what looks like some nice homes there. According to greatschools, Weston is a good school. I am so confused!!

[bekabeka]

They have good ratings. What about that area?

[CountryGrl_n_SBC]

Joneboro is a lot smaller than Ruston or Monroe/West Monroe with a populations of less than 4,000. They have a Wal-Mart, and some chain fast-food places, but not much else I don't believe. Never really visited - just passed through. It's only about 30 miles away, but the communte would be about the same from the Monroe area due to the smaller parish/city roads (approx. 45-55min). I'm not sure about the school districts though. I've never heard anything bad. If you're looking to rent, Jonesboro might not be the best place. Smaller towns don't typically list rentals and have less rentals to choose from.

Do you prefer a larger city or a smaller town? The Calhoun area is in between Ruston and West Monroe. It may push your commute to 35-45 minutes depening on proximity to I-20, but it might be worth checking into if you're looking for a smaller town.

I still think Ruston is probably your best bet. It's a really nice place, good schools, and if you'd prefer a smaller town feel, getting a mile out of town will provide that. They have shopping centers, a movie theater, nice downtown area, Wal-Mart, Lowes, several restaurants, and it's still a family atmosphere. I lived there 3 yrs while in college and loved it. Met my fiance there and getting married there in March so I may be partial.

[CountryGrl_n_SBC]

Here are a couple links you might want to check out.

Ruston
Welcome to Ruston and Lincoln Parish, “A Peach of a Place to Visit!”
City of Ruston

Monroe-West Monroe
http://www.monroe-westmonroe.org/web/index.php

Jonesboro
Jonesboro, LA - Home