Best Neighborhoods for Young Professionals (Baton Rouge, Lafayette: apartment complexes, houses, safe neighborhood)

[Andge]

I've recently accepted a job offer in Northern Baton Rouge and am looking for a place to live. I'm a single female, graduating from college in May. I would like to live in a safe neighborhood since I'll be living alone, but want there to be a lot going on. I want to be walking distance to bars, restaurants, etc. and wouldn't mind being close to the university. I also don't know anyone in the area so I'm hoping to live in a place with other young professionals whom I could easily meet. Ideally, I'd like to keep my work commute under 20 minutes or so. Any suggestions for the best neighborhoods/apartment complexes to live in? Money is not an issue.

[TommyTucker]

I found the apartments on Jefferson Highway between Airline and Essen pretty decent.

[mhounit]

North Baton Rouge . 20 minute commute . Safe neighborhood . Walking distance to bars and restaurants . Close to university . I'm just not seeing it . Anybody else got any ideas ?

[annie_himself]

Downtown! How could you miss that?

Downtown has been on fire recently, it was all but completely dead just 10 years ago. There's some apartment buildings and houses within the borders of downtown. You would be only about 15 minutes away from work (depending on exact location) and you'll be going in the opposite direction of rush hour traffic. LSU is only 2-3 miles south of downtown. Downtown has bars, fine dine and dive restaraunts, a small pharmacy, a grocery store has been announced, 3 museums, Towne Square, Shaw Center for the Arts, 2 casinos, and open container laws don't apply. Most of the action is along 3rd and Lafayette streets.

For safety, you want to choose a place north of South Blvd (north of Government makes it easier to walk to amenities), and west of East Blvd, while much of the area just to the east (bordered by N. 22nd, I-110, and Terrace/Broussard Ave.) isn't quite dangerous to me, I wouldn't advise you to live there and be looking to walk around and such. There are good areas within that area though, just depends on the exact block.

Other neighborhoods you can try are the Garden District and Capitol Heights. Both are pedestrian friendly areas near Government St where much of the action in Mid-City is. The Garden District is partially encompassed by the area I mentioned above. Park Blvd is the absolute boundary here. West of that is a rough neighborhood, east of that is the beautiful Garden District.

You'll also want to stay away from the area in between downtown and LSU, it's mostly east of Highland, south of South Blvd, west of I-10, and north of E State St.

You can use Trulia or Craigslist. Find a location, ask us about the area, and we will help.

[mhounit]

Downtown . Yeah , that might work .

[southseeker]

Agree with the others, may want to check out the areas downtown. It'll still be kind of a commute, as I'm assuming when you say North BR and University, you mean Southern? If you mean LSU, as other have said, it's not that far away from downtown, like only a few mins. North BR is just a terrible area in general, and I wouldn't recommend anyone live there who was thinking about it, especially alone. Downtown will definitely be your safest bet.

[lanhvtnymd]

You're going to have a longer commute than that, unfortunately. Baton Rouge is not pedestrian friendly except for downtown and the areas immediately around LSU. When I lived in BR, I also found it to have more of a suburban vibe than urban.

That said I rode my bike to work a few of times. A few times. BR is not cyclist friendly either. I lived on Jefferson Highway near Bocage and the town center with Whole Foods in it. But that is definitely suburbs. That area was kind of walkable, and there are a lot of nice apartments in the area. If I could do it again, I would have lived there from the beginning.....prior to that I lived on Siegen. And if you're commuting to Mid-city, Downtown, or points north, the commute is pretty abysmal.

Maybe Southern has decent apartments for non-students in walking distance now, but Scotlandville is pretty depressing and kind of sketchy.

[annie_himself]

Originally Posted by lanhvtnymd

You're going to have a longer commute than that, unfortunately. Baton Rouge is not pedestrian friendly except for downtown and the areas immediately around LSU. When I lived in BR, I also found it to have more of a suburban vibe than urban.

When did you live here?

That said I rode my bike to work a few of times. A few times. BR is not cyclist friendly either. I lived on Jefferson Highway near Bocage and the town center with Whole Foods in it. But that is definitely suburbs. That area was kind of walkable, and there are a lot of nice apartments in the area. If I could do it again, I would have lived there from the beginning.....prior to that I lived on Siegen. And if you're commuting to Mid-city, Downtown, or points north, the commute is pretty abysmal.

That area isn't walkable, so not where she wants to live anyway. Commuting to north Baton Rouge from downtown isn't bad at all.

Maybe Southern has decent apartments for non-students in walking distance now, but Scotlandville is pretty depressing and kind of sketchy.

The OP never said anything about Southern University or going to school, not sure why everyone is bringing it up.

[mhounit]

She said she wouldn't mind being near the University .

[annie_himself]

Originally Posted by mhounit

She said she wouldn't mind being near the University .

Which, by majority of people, means LSU. No one really wants to live near Southern.