Coming back to New Orleans (crime, to live in, shop)

[Carolgre]

My husband and I lived in New Orleans for six years and LOVED it. We left one day before Katrina hit. We both miss it terribly but know we can never come back to live there permanently (we don't drive and would have no way of evacuating should another hurricane occur). We would, however, love to come for a visit and see some of our old haunts (we lived uptown). My question is: is it generally safe to walk the streets of the Garden District, Uptown and the French Quarter, at least in the daytime? We used to love to walk and just look at the old architecture and greenery of those areas when we lived there and don't want to have to cab it everywhere now if we do come back on a brief vacation.

I think of New Orleans every day and my heart is breaking knowing that we can't move back there.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[NOLA2SGF]

Welcome back! I sincerely hope you enjoy your visit.

I think you'll be fine if you just use the same amount of caution as you would have before the storm, or maybe a tiny bit more. The areas you are talking about are probably the least damaged in the entire metro area.

I have no problems walking around the Garden District or Uptown along St. Charles and Magazine alone to shop, during daylight hours. Same with the FQ. I am a 59 year old grey haired woman so if anybody was going to have trouble, it would probably be me!

I wouldn't walk around at night by myself, but that is just me. Never did, even before the storm.

Keep your eyes open; you probably have a good idea of what to look for that might indicate trouble, and if you have any doubts then be cautious. Do remember that crime and especially murders are up, so lock your doors at night and use your street sense during the day.

[pirate_lafitte]

Originally Posted by Carolgre

My husband and I lived in New Orleans for six years and LOVED it. We left one day before Katrina hit. We both miss it terribly but know we can never come back to live there permanently (we don't drive and would have no way of evacuating should another hurricane occur). We would, however, love to come for a visit and see some of our old haunts (we lived uptown). My question is: is it generally safe to walk the streets of the Garden District, Uptown and the French Quarter, at least in the daytime? We used to love to walk and just look at the old architecture and greenery of those areas when we lived there and don't want to have to cab it everywhere now if we do come back on a brief vacation.

I think of New Orleans every day and my heart is breaking knowing that we can't move back there.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

New Orleans is a great city to visit and be a traveler, but to live in, I don't think it is for everyone. One has to have a certain tolerance of things to live in New Orleans. It is city to see the city I was born in(I left while I was less than a year old) become like this. It takes acertain strength to live in New Orleans, a strength I don't have. To visit is to get to different perspective than to have actually lived there.