More info about Slidell? (New Orleans, Abita Springs: insurance, crime, house)

[kimb667]

Yes, that is definitely a plus! Although it seems like here in AR, the area by the police dept. is the most shady...haha. Well it seems like the more I'm reading about the area, the better I feel. I was really upset when I first heard we were going to the NO area. I hope it's better than orginally expected!

[Jessiegee40]

You should definitely NOT be upset. You should be jumping for joy. I love the area down here. I grew up in Upstate NY so it was a big culture shock but I don't see myself living anywhere else. The people/food/culture/food/music/food is to die for. You will be close enough to New Orleans to enjoy it and there is alot to enjoy about it. I wouldn't live in the city but there are so many things to do there and so much fantastic food. Also you are close to Cajun Country. Lafayette is a must visit. There are plantations with in a couple of hours drive. Festivals are very common and show off the great diversity of this area. The only down side is the heat. I don't remember if you said where you are moving from but if you are not used to the heat and humidity, that will take some time to get used to. We just walk and talk slower.

[kimb667]

The humidity's no problem for us...we hail from Arkansas...so we're used to the 100 degree weather. I love visiting NO...we even got married there. The only reason I was initially upset is because everyone always says how dangerous it is! If we get in a decent neighborhood in Slidell, I'll be happy. So thank you for all the advice, and if you're around that area, check into that Kings, Queens, Chess streets for me...haha. No, I'm kidding, you've been a great help!

[alligatorboy]

If you are concerned about the crime, maybe you should visit this site.
Moderator cut: link to a competitors site removed
On this site, you can compare the crime rates of one city to another. This site also shows how the city compares in each category of crime to the national average.
If you are used to Arkansas's weather, I don't think the weather will be much of a problem. Slidell isn't far from the Gulf of Mexico, and places by water seem to have milder weather than inland states.
Like some other people said, I have heard that the area north of I-12 doesn't have a lot of flooding. I have considered moving to Slidell, too, because it is close to Honey Island swamp(about 5 miles). Honey Island Swamp is one of the least altered swamps in the U.S. If you go, you will see a lot of alligators, red wolves, deer, fish and possibly even Florida cougars. I hope you like living in Slidell and have a safe move there.
Good luck!

[ericard]

I live in Slidell and live above I-12. There is no I-11, there is I-10 and there is a highway 11. (I believe that you are talking about Hwy 11.) I actually live right off the Hwy 11 exit off of I-12. I looked up the street names and I actually live about 2 minutes from you're going to be buying. I love it over here! We have no crime over here and there are great places to eat around our neighborhoods.(My email is ellen_ricard@yahoo.com) If you give me addresses, I will drive by and tell you what I think. I have been in that neighborhood before and it is nice, as long as you want an older house that will have to be renovated. The only apartments around the area are on Hwy 11 and Robert road (If you keep going straight on Brownswitch Road, you will run into Robert Road). It's about 2-3 miles from where you're going to be buying. The schools in our neighborhood are good too. Have fun and good luck!!

[knipe_melanie]

I am a local and the area with the streets named Queen and King is a bad neiborhood, and is know as one of the worst areas in town. Try hasswood subdivison or behind Wispering forrest elementry.

[allisongaines]

i grew up in slidell
i dont know if you are familiar with some street names, but i live right off of pontchartrain dr (hwy11). there are tons of really nice houses south of I12... eden isles, oak harbors subdivisions, clipper estates, spartan trace, eagle point, kings point.. theyre all nice neighborhoods. of course, most of these neighborhoods flooded in katrina. you wont find crime in the first 5 whats so ever. kings point on the other hand... is a little different. let me know how everything turns out

[Miab]

Hello Everyone, I would like to know how long does it take to drive from Slidell to Kenner Airport. I would really appreciate if someone would let me know about the condition of the traffic in that direction in the morning around 7-8:00 am. Cause I am moving to New Orleans next week and we are trying to find the best location that is at decent prices, good school district, and of course safe.

[Texas-Lloyd]

I've lived in Slidell for almost 2 years following a temporary work assignment now coming to a close. Slidell is small, family oriented and certainly not as large or pretty as the Mandeville/Covington area.

Slidell suffers from a major lack of good restaurants (I only recommend Palmetto's, La Rosetta and Italian Pie). Shopping is limited to the Northshore Blvd (North West West of city) which sports a generic but adequate mall, a Best Buy, Target etc. There are no nice shopping strips, unlike Mandeville.

Perhaps the nicest housing areas are Turtle Creek and The Bluffs. I live in Cross Gates on the North East side of the city which has some nice and more affordable housing. Cross Gates is in four quadrants (4 slices of cake) and this is my order of niceness (NW, SE, NE, SW [SW is not very nice at all, the other 3 are OK]). Schools: Cypress Cove Elementary is praised and the subdivision Cross Gates (and probably some nearby areas) is zoned to it. I don't know about other schools. The main throughfare is Gause Blvd., a rather unattractive strip of stores and old shopping centres. Traffic is quite light compared to major cities (though locals long acquainted to no traffic say it's heavy following Katrina evacuees who settled here). A commute to Chalmette in the morning takes 40 minutes. A commute to New Orleans and Metarie would be over an hour (longer coming home in the evenings).

The vibe in Slidell is of an old town feel, family oriented, settled, static. Nothing here has changed in 2 years. There are a few quaint festivals dotted around the calender that attract the well off, but for the most part the proletarians seem to dominate the landscape. It seems friendly enough to its own, but I suspect it would struggle to accommodate Louisiana outsiders.

Bottom line, good points: it's pleasant enough, a few good neighborhoods, inexpensive housing, close to Mandeville; bad points: poor shopping, poor restaurants, insular culture.

[MetroBTR]

Okay, I explored the neighborhood on google streetview and it didn't look so great IMO. It seemed like there were lots of older, beat up cars and such (not a good sign in Louisiana). I probably wouldn't completely write it off, but I would explore other options, as well.