Questions about New Orleans (planning a move) (apartment, rentals)

[mesealuka]

My girlfriend and I are planning to move to New Orleans in January. We're both young women, early/mid 20s. She's a social worker and I'm in the service industry but in school getting my AS. We are "creative types" with an interest in music, art, fashion etc. I have a few questions about the city to those familiar with it.

1) We're visiting for 10 days in early December to get a feel for things and find an apartment. Is this a good time to find rentals beginning January 1st or 15th? Where we live currently (college town, Madison WI) most leases are signed for rentals several months before the planned move-in date.

2) I'm getting my associates of science so I can transfer to a university to finish my degree in computer science. I have two semesters left - how is Delgado Community College? What about its IT/computer science department? Where I'm from the community college is pretty good, well funded, easy to navigate etc. What is the area around the City Park campus of Delgado like?

3) I'm curious about certain neighborhoods. We're looking at Mid-City, Bayou St John, 5th ward areas. I want something close to Delgado Community College... What can you tell me about these areas in terms of general cost* and safety (though I've heard things change dramatically block-by-block?). We're not super concerned about crime but is it really as terrible as everyone says it is? I'm an early 20s black female, should I be worried about walking home from work at 9pm along e.g. Canal St?

*In Madison, WI where we currently live an average 1 bedroom apartment, relatively nice and decent-sized in a good area with lots of young people is around $800. We're looking at getting a decent apartment for under $900/mo with utilities or renting a room in a 2 bedroom, in a relatively OK area. Is this a possibility?

4) Public Transportation. My girlfriend has a car but I don't, I could use hers sometimes but I'd be mostly using the bus and my bicycle. Does the bus or streetcar have reliable service throughout the city? How late does it run? Is it safe to ride the bus at night or would I be better of walking? Does New Orleans have Uber? Etc.

Thanks for your time. I know there is a lot here!

[rburnett]

3.) New Orleans is not quite Madison. Crime will be higher, and there’s no way around it. Even the safest neighborhoods will have an occasional burglaries and armed robbery. You just need to use some common sense. Leave you car locked, your apartment secured and don’t walk around alone on an empty street at 2am staring down at your smartphone. That said, Delgado and the surrounding neighborhood is one of the better parts of town. I would concentrate the search in the safest areas like between Carrollton and City park Ave and between Orleans and the Bayou. In Bayou St. John, try and stay between Ursulines and the Fairgrounds. The closer to City Park the better

This is pretty typical pricing for the Mid-City area: https://neworleans.craigslist.org/apa/5268552261.html
This one is in just off Canal St. between Carrollton and City Park Ave. I lived a few blocks away up until this year. A nicer/Larger 2br will run you closer to $1500

4.) New Orleans has a different definition of ‘reliable’ when it comes to public transit. The streetcars are the most frequent and run late at night, but they are significantly slower than the buses and have a lot of tourist traffic (The St. Charles is much worse than Canal St in that regard). There are a lot of bus lines but only a few have reasonable hours and frequency.

From Mid-City, you can use transit to get downtown relatively easily using the 91 bus or the Canal Streetcar. There's also the 94 Bus that will take you out to Gentilly. However, if you want to go anywhere else, you're much better off biking(or driving).

Mid-City and Bayou St. John have a lot of stores/bars/restaurants and are easily bikeable and walkable. Navarre (the north side of City Park Ave)is close by, but it's more residential and can be a little harder to access on foot or bike. 98% of the places you’ll want to you’ll want to go to are on the other side of City Park Avenue.


See:

New Orleans as a Time Off Spot
Looking for area suggestions (two females, 20s)
See: Bus Schedules & Maps

[norb123]

I read something that said "You can live in any city you want, but New Orleans is the only city that lives in you." I can relate to that. If it is appealing to you, and you can do it financially, do it. Even if it doesn't work, it will be an adventure you won't forget.