Moving to Lafayette (New Iberia, Natchitoches, Scott: where to stay, houses, neighborhoods)
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Moving to Lafayette from California Bay Area. Wanted to know a lil about the people, culture, food, and basically about living there.
I was wondering where in Lafayette to live and where to stay away from?
Do I need to look for anything in particular that a house "requires" to live in? (Such as central a/c) anything else?
Where do I go to eat my first Cajun meal? What should I order? Is all the food spicy? I'm eager and can't wait to tantalize my taste buds with Louisiana's world famous food...
Is there anything else I should know? I have never been there, so this will be my first visit to your great state.
Hello HottiHumma. As a Louisiana resident for 23 years, maybe I can give you some insight on the state.
Lafayette is a nice city. It's about 25 minutes from where I live. It has nice restuarants, stores, movie theaters, and places to hang out. The people have always been friendly in Lafayette from my experiences. I can't tell you of a particular area in Lafayette to live, though. But I can honestly say that I've never had any bad experiences in that city.
As far as the foods go, we have some of the most unique meals in Louisiana. There's gumbo, okra, crawfish, Jumbalaya, crawfish/ shrimp etoufee, just to name a few. And in Louisiana, we do like our food spicy. But I have limits on it because I can't eat food too spicy or else I'll get sick. But if you hate spicy food all together, you don't have to eat it. There is other food besides spicy food in Louisiana. And different cooks vary. Some don't even cook their meals spicy.
I don't know if this place would exactly have a cajun meal, but I recommend that you eat at a Raising Caines. It's a chicken tender restaurant in Louisiana. It has the best chicken tenders you'll ever want to taste. You'll love it.
Anything else you'd like to know, just ask. Don't be a stranger.
My wifes family is from Lafayette. I can tell you your in for a culture shock. Your moving to the heart of cajun country. Breaux bridge is the real center of that heart.There is alot of great cajun food in the area with many restaurants serving it.There are also many of the standard fare america food restaurants. The one thing I will say is that the roadways in Lafayette are not near what they should be for a city of this size so driving can be city crowded.Like many cities now days the outlaying areas are the best places to live now days.There is also alot of small towns close by that are very charming like Saint Martinsville. Definitely a very different culture than the Bay area and even many areas of the south, Very catholic old time and more older time values with family being really the strrength of the culture.Its unique and is more french based than anyhwere I know in the USA including new orleans which has more creole influence. As first generation texan from family from the NE ;I really enjoy visiting with the great food and the culture.The people are very friendly and outgoing to say the least.You can spend years eating the different cajun dishes alone;chicken tenders not being one of them.If you like experienceing new things you'll enjoy it;if you are one that sticks to what you know you might not. I would say for your first meal try Prejeans( pornnonced Pre-shons from my hearing it)or the home of the original cajun restaurant; Mulates where on a friday or saturday you'll hear and see the local music and dance. Mulates is in Breaux bridge on the outskirts of the city and looks like a honky tonk really but the food is good and the atmosphere pure cajun. Good Luck
It will be very different from the Bay Area. You are moving from very blue to very red (politically speaking). Overall, people are nice and you should be able to find your spot.
I do agree that you should check out places in Breaux Bridge for your first tsate of Cajun food. They are 10 minutes down the highway and the downtown is very small and easy to navigate.
In Lafayette, you might try Prejeans, Randolls, or Don's, but there are tons of smaller places around. Also, the food youll find in many gas stations is amazing. Check out the food 15 miles to the west in Duson off the interstate at Gautreauxs or Leger's a mile north in Mire, and definitely sample the boudin in places like Dons specialty meats in Scott, or on I49 in Carencro, Best Stop, or numerous others. The Natchitoches style meat pies are sublime as well. The food here is just out of this world all over the place. You definitely should enjoy this place if you like seafood.
There are also other great non-cajun restaurants in town with other cultural foods like Coyote Blues for Mexican, Athena's for Greek, Thai Cuisine or Pimon thai for excellent Thai food, several good Chinese places, and plenty of steak houses. We love to eat here.
If you have health problems from all this food of course there are fine medical facilities throughout the town, the latest of which is a state of the art 200 million$ facility being built on the southside
Also, I hope you enjoy Zydeco/Cajun music (two different styles both heard here) because youll hear it a lot. You will also hear French spoken on the radio or scattered throughout the news and newspapers, as well as on local TV broadcasts. Its definitely going to feel different from what youre used to but Im sure you heard Spanish spoken everywhere in the Bay Area, so the influx of a different language will probably seem familiar to you.
Youll see the Fleur de lis symbol everywhere. EVERYWHERE. On buildings, on signs, on bumper stickers and car windows, in the media, on billboards...Get used to it. Also, people in this area bleed for LSU, ULL, and the Saints. very few exceptions. This town is huge into football.
This town is also huge into festivals, and especially music festivals and has many local French/cajun bands in the area. The smaller towns like Breaux Bridge are unparalleled in Cajun atmosphere. The people around town are becoming more mixed by the day but the large population of Cajuns still living here are just awesome. they love to talk about anything and everything, and are still hugely influential in the city. I think youll love it.
The shopping isnt on par with Bay area obviously but it is pretty robust for a city of this size. the overall Acadiana metro area is almost 600k people so the stores are quite large and busy. I think youll find that the population density is much less crowded, and you have a lot more space to yourself. There are also much fewer restrictions to what you can hang outside your home, whether you can have satellite dishes or antennas, etc. River ranch is the exception to this. Speaking of which, pay it a visit, because it is a fine example of new urban planning but it isnt in the middle of suburb hell. Lafayette in general isnt a suburban sprawling hell and I love it for that.
The roads though, are poorly planned out no question. Get used to finding alternate routes through back neighborhoods (dont worry most of them are safe)
The nightlife is pretty good. Lots of clubs and bars, lots of live music and dancing. Lots of events and parades. I dont think youll get bored here for a while if you like such things. There is also two very large cinemas, a performing arts center and the Cajundome.
The weather is a mixed bag. Its going to get stupid hot in the summer, getting the worst around late July to early August. For about 2 months it will be 90% humidity with temps over 95 degrees, so youll want to have a working AC in your car/home for sure. Wear sunscreen during the worst of it, trust me. The bugs around that time will be pretty bad. mosquitos everywhere but the city sprays for them often so they arent so bad. dont leave any pools of water in buckets or garbage cans or that sort of thing that breeds them. Also the red ant population down here is ridiculous.
After that, however, youll find pretty mild winters usually staying in the 40-50 range until late winter, such as now when it might actually snow a little bit every 5 years or so. More often lately for some reason. Youll find spring and summer here to be absolutely perfect weather, although it rains often. You will have lots of 60-70 degree days during those months.
Now the hurricanes. Im sure youll think about those. Truth be told Lafayette has been fortunate, because we are 3o miles inland, just enough to lower the affects of wind damage, and flooding has generally not been a huge problem for us. Any further south of here though and it becomes a huge issue. We have had to evacuate before though and the routes are clearly marked.
The laws seem pretty lax regarding pets. dogs and cats roam all over the place freely, though Im pretty sure thats not what the city actually would prefer. You can let your pet outside to run around in most neighborhoods and people wont complain too much. People here are pretty accepting of pets.
Get used to mixed race areas. Lafayette doesnt have clear separations (white flight), and "upper Lafayette" is not as african- american only as people think. It has a quite large white population composed of older, family oriented couples and church goers. REally great group of folks I have known all my life. Lafayette in general is pretty race-tolerant.
Get used to avoiding traffic accidents. Like everyday. All over the place. People here just cant drive and worse, a lot of them drive drunk sometimes. Im not one of them. People here do enjoy their drink though.
I guess it comes with the territory. The traffic reports are generally very helpful. There is a lot of construction going on all the time.
Other than this I cant really think of anything at the moment. enjoy your time here!
Moving to Lafayette from California Bay Area. Wanted to know a lil about the people, culture, food, and basically about living there.
I was wondering where in Lafayette to live and where to stay away from?
My personal opinion... stay toward the South side of Lafayette. This opinion is based upon where you are coming from, the west coast. I believe that your adjustment to Acadiana would be aided by the close proximity of all the major amenities that are in the South side of town (mall, major department stores, restaurants, etc.). Note: South side generally means the area around the Johnston St./Ambassador Caffery Parkway intersection.
Do I need to look for anything in particular that a house "requires" to live in? (Such as central a/c) anything else?
Central A/C is crucial. I've lived with window units in S. Louisiana before. I personally don't recommend it.
Where do I go to eat my first Cajun meal? What should I order? Is all the food spicy? I'm eager and can't wait to tantalize my taste buds with Louisiana's world famous food...
A couple of my favorites...
Old Time Grocery near the ULL campus for a shrimp po-boy. Very casual and very short ride through campus to Girard Park for a walk.
Bon Creole in New Iberia is a short trip but worth it for a shrimp po-boy - be sure to have some of the 'shrimp and corn' soup there. Also, it's worthwhile to take Hwy 182 to New Iberia, it'll take you through a somewhat scenic area and through New Iberia which will have some interesting sights, especially on the return trip toward Lafayette through town.
Coyote Blues has live music in the bar, and if you time it right, you can get good seating there for some margaritas and the chimichanga - you'll need a 'doggie bag' - it's huge and delicious.
There are so many places that you should have your own list of favorites in no-time. They range from 'proper dress' required to shorts and flip-flops. I've never understood how some of the chains survive in Lafayette with the abundance and quality of local cuisine.
Is there anything else I should know? I have never been there, so this will be my first visit to your great state.
I'll echo the caution of culture shock. However, that's not meant to scare you. Acadiana is a wonderful place to experience. The most important thing, in my opinion, to keep in mind is that there are many people here who, when judged strictly on their appearance, may seem 'unsavory'. However, these are often the people with the highest regard for hospitality. And hospitality is what sets a place like Acadiana apart from the west coast.
First of all, welcome to Acadiana. Acadiana is the nomenclature for a 7 parish (county to you) area of french cultured people. When others move in to our area I first like to hear what they have an interest in before suggesting areas or experiences. Do you enjoy music sounds, nature, art?
First of all, welcome to Acadiana. Acadiana is the nomenclature for a 7 parish (county to you) area of french cultured people. When others move in to our area I first like to hear what they have an interest in before suggesting areas or experiences. Do you enjoy music sounds, nature, art?
Thank you. I like all of the above you mentioned. I especially love the outdoors-water baby at heart...Music is one of my loves. Really, I love so many things that I can't give a specific. I love new experiences above all. What kind of outdoor recreation to you folks have?
P.S. By the way, you guys have been so friendly and kind and generous to a stranger for taking the time to answer my questions. I can't wait to move to Louisiana. The people seem phenomenal and hospitable and there seems to be a real community, just what I am looking for.
Youll also find that the pace around here is a lot slower. People arent in a hurry most of the time. We like things easygoing. There arent many crazy ordinances restricting how your house has to be or what you should look like. Its a mix and match sort of place. Lafayette is like 90% Catholic but there is a Church of Scientology right in town and youd never know it because nobody ever raises an issue about it. People dont picket or riot here. You get the sense that those who are here want to be.
Youll also find that the pace around here is a lot slower. People arent in a hurry most of the time. We like things easygoing. There arent many crazy ordinances restricting how your house has to be or what you should look like. Its a mix and match sort of place. Lafayette is like 90% Catholic but there is a Church of Scientology right in town and youd never know it because nobody ever raises an issue about it. People dont picket or riot here. You get the sense that those who are here want to be.
Thanks Innotech. I am going to try Prejeans first off as soon as I get there. I absolutely love sea food-San Francisco doesn't really know how to cook sea food unless it's gourmet (yuck)! I love good old down home cookin.
A slower pace would sure be nice. It's so fast passed out here that by the time you learn something or find out about something, they have already moved on their way into something else. The next "new" thing.
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