Why does New Orleans look like a dump in Google Street View? (Baton Rouge: renters, houses)

[jenrtx]

I mean no offense to anyone and I am trying to keep an open mind but every time I put in an Uptown address from a Craigslist ad into Google Maps I feel like I'm looking at the hood.

If I did the same for good neighborhoods in cities like Austin or Atlanta or DC, then the housing and street look normal.

[Al in San Diego]

New Orleans has a lot of different neighborhoods. There are many lovely neighborhoods and some not so great. Try the zipcode 70124 (Lakeview), anything in the Garden District, Old Metarie (just outside of NOLA city limits) and you'll find some nicer looking houses. Some areas are better than after since Katrina (such as Carrollton area) and City Park area. Some areas have not come back well. Before you rent visit first.

[confusedasusual]

Most of the Google street views were done in the early 2007 time frame. Guess what happened in New Orleans in Aug/Sept 2005? Katrina! In early 2007 many neighborhoods were being rebuilt or just reoccupied by residents. So yeah, it looks bad. Unfortunately you can't use it as a real indication of what the place looks like today. The only places that have maintained their "image" are those which didn't experience a lot of damage during Katrina (mostly Uptown.) I had the same problem when I was trying to relocate. My advice is to visit, ask questions from people in the know (current residents) and keep an open mind.

[Jimbo_1]

Also Uptown is a very large and varying neighborhood. So those Google streetview images might actually be in the "hood" or just not in a well kept area. Also many areas have a lot of renters and a lot of times it is not the property owner's biggest priority to keep thier houses exterior spiffy looking and in tip-top shape.

[deegee09]

Before I moved here I used Google street view to look up various addresses and homes that I was interested in renting, and I had the same experience as you. I even "viewed" the school that I would be teaching at and was amazed at how rough the area looked. When I actually made it down here, I was very confused because what I saw on Google did not match what I was looking at in person. Even the area where my school is looks ten times nicer than what it looks on Google street maps. So I assumed that the images were old...which sucks really. While the Google maps give you an idea of the area, seeing the same places in person may impress you more.

[rcp11889]

Yeah, the images are old on Streetview. So much has changed in the last 2 years even that it's not really a reliable source for checking out a neighborhood. Also, NOLA is also a grittier city than most in America.

[BradfromNO]

That's easy....look down in the bottom of the google street view window and look at the photography dates....all just
a very short time after Katrina. A lot of people roll their eyes when anyone mentions Katrina. The country is tired of
hearing about Katrina this and Katrina that. But NO can't just close it's eyes and wish it away as easily. MOUNTAINS
of garbage and debris were created, half the city was underwater for weeks. Not up to the floor, up near the CEILING!
You don't just spray Febreeze on that and move on. Hundreds of thousands of homes were gutted to the studs and
re-built, as many as that were torn down COMPLETELY, and all that MATERIAL WAS left lying in the street for years.
Weeds, Rats, garbage, it's all there on Google Maps. New Orleans was never New England to begin with. The roads
were always crap, people's cars always leaked oil, they use shells for gravel roads that make white dust that gets
on everything. pLANTS grow SO FAST that it's a daily struggle to keep control of your property. You add all that up
and it looks like crap. But if Google were to go in again and re-shoot the city, most of it would look better.
Sadly a lot of it would look about the same. I am sorry in that it is clear that your question was answered many times
already, but I have definite opinions on it, some militantly Katrin-ized, and I was not even there when it happened.
But my love for the city made me more empathetic.

[MetroBTR]

New Orleans also doesn't have hi-def street view yet. The low-def street view looks blurry and unpleasant compared to the hi-def imagery in other cities.

[PhenomenalAJ]

Google never updates Street View in America anymore, they're mostly focusing on other countries like Russia now. They have images on there like 5 years old in a lot of places.

[carbon 12]

I saw a street view car here in Baton Rouge about a year ago, so I guess they're still updating.