Moving from New Orleans: Destinations?

[aquest1]

Originally Posted by po-boy

I lived in NOLA for several years. As your say there are amazing aspects like the culture and food. Honestly, I've never found anywhere else I like as much. But unfortunately NOLA has a LOT of problems like the crime, vulnerability to natural disasters, climate, bad schools, and a subpar economy.

My recommendation to you is to take close look at Nashville. It is also a "fun" city with a unique culture. Great economy. Less vulnerability to disasters (although not immunity, remember the floods). Schools and crime better than Nola. More balanced seasons also. And it is drivable in a day if you want to make return trips to Nola.

Charleston and Savannah also have a great vibe, but they are much smaller, and being on the coast have disaster vulnerability.

Richmond is a pretty neat city. A bit underrated IMO. Southern, but a bit more grit and urban feel than many sunbelt cities. Pretty far from Nola geographically.

Charlotte and Raleigh are nice places to raise a family. High QOL. Great economies, but a bit lacking in fun, especially coming from Nola.

Louisville may be an option, I haven't spent enough time to give an informed opinion.

Exactly: pretty unique for a southern city. Here's a typical home on this street in the Carver neighborhood, recently sold during the pandemic... The same would cost a bit more in some of these other cities for sure.

[SonySegaTendo617]

Originally Posted by po-boy

I lived in NOLA for several years. As your say there are amazing aspects like the culture and food. Honestly, I've never found anywhere else I like as much. But unfortunately NOLA has a LOT of problems like the crime, vulnerability to natural disasters, climate, bad schools, and a subpar economy.

My recommendation to you is to take close look at Nashville. It is also a "fun" city with a unique culture. Great economy. Less vulnerability to disasters (although not immunity, remember the floods). Schools and crime better than Nola. More balanced seasons also. And it is drivable in a day if you want to make return trips to Nola.

Charleston and Savannah also have a great vibe, but they are much smaller, and being on the coast have disaster vulnerability.

Richmond is a pretty neat city. A bit underrated IMO. Southern, but a bit more grit and urban feel than many sunbelt cities. Pretty far from Nola geographically.

Charlotte and Raleigh are nice places to raise a family. High QOL. Great economies, but a bit lacking in fun, especially coming from Nola.

Louisville may be an option, I haven't spent enough time to give an informed opinion.

Louisville does have a few nice neighborhoods, especially on the east side of town like say near Bardstown Road. And the area near Cherokee Park(and where I-64 briefly goes into a tunnel, under this park), is also very nice. The west side of town sadly to say, seems underinvested. I hadn't spent enough time on its south side to get a proper feel for that part of Louisville, but it seems like a mix of good neighborhoods and not so nice ones(more leaning towards good, though). I'd go with living somewhere on Louisville's east side, if you do seriously consider living in that city.

[SunGrins]

Originally Posted by EscAlaMike

My first thought was New Mexico; but you seem to want to stay in the eastern US.

Northern NM basically meets all your criteria. It's the only place in the US with a culture as unique as New Orleans'.

Maybe I'm naive since I've never actually lived in New Orleans; but I love it so much and honestly, moving from NO to some generic inland city in the South just seems like a downgrade.

Indeed. I never lived in NO but spent a good amount of time there. If OP and family are caught up in the culture, food, and diversity of people, a move to a placid "good enough" place will likely be a let down.

But New Mexico isn't for everyone. The larger cities (Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Taos, Rio Rancho, and maybe Las Cruces) could provide a different take on what exists in NO but with a Goldilocks climate. Black culture of the NO region exists here but you have to look for it. Not much French. Culture in NM is Mostly Hispano/Hispanic, Indian, and Anglo. You will hear Spanish spoken somewhere most days. Music and food will be different from anywhere else. New Mexico has its own cuisine. Architecture and neighborhoods will vary. You will want to research schools very carefully. Some are good. The high desert climate will not be anything like NO. Humidity will be low, sometimes single digits. It has four seasons, always sunny. Winters are mild but with a little snow. Summers will be warm, likely to hit 100 degrees one or two days, but low humidity. Spring can be windy. Fall is gorgeous. The cost of living will be slightly below average except maybe in Santa Fe. Where NO is low, Albuquerque is slightly over a mile high and Santa Fe is 7,000 feet. There is a tremendous amount of outdoor recreation opportunities because of the climate and the mountain and desert terrain.

[bellafinzi]

I created a list of safest places to live to be safe in the future if you still want to live in a medium to large metropolitan area.

The following is based on my independent research. I gave a number to each factor based on my personal judgement of what I consider the most dangerous disasters to the less dangerous. Then added up the numbers and came up with the following list. It is preliminary since I plan to add a couple more factors in the future. Also the location you choose to live in the metropolitan area can make a difference on safety due to microclimate and distance from danger areas.

Top 25 safest Metropolitan Areas Ranked from natural disasters, extreme weather, climate change and other disasters over 500,000 in population in the US based on the following factors...

Earthquakes
Hurricanes
Wildfires
Hail
Tornado
Tsunami
Distance to nuclear power plant
High Winds
River Flooding
Floods
Coastal flooding
Air pollution
Water shortage risk
Ice storm
Large Tall Dams
Droughts
Blizzards or Heavy snow storms
High annual snowfall
Below sea level if polar ice melts
Lighting frequency
Volcanic activity
Number of days over 100 degrees Fahrenheit
Number of days below zero Fahrenheit

1) Grand Rapids, MI
2) Madison, Wisconsin
3) Allentown, PA
4) Buffalo, NY
5) Milwaukee, Wisconsin
6) Syracuse, NY
7) Poughkeepsie, NY
8) Dayton, Ohio
9) Youngstown, Ohio
10) Washington DC
11) Toledo, Ohio
12) Columbus, Ohio
13) Albany, NY
14) Chicago, IL
15) Lexington, KY
16) Des Moines, Iowa
17) Kansas City, MO
18) El Paso, Texas
19) Worcester, Massachusetts
20) Asheville, NC
21) Cincinnati, Ohio
22) Detroit, MI
23) Louisville, KY
24) Rochester, NY
25) Lancaster, Pennsylvania

[bellafinzi]

I did a little more research here is the revised list.

Top 30 safest Metropolitan Areas Ranked from natural disasters, extreme weather, climate change and other disasters over 500,000 in population in the US based on the following factors...

Earthquakes
Hurricanes
Wildfires
Hail
Tornado
Tsunami
Distance to nuclear power plant
High Winds
River Flooding
Floods
Coastal flooding
Air pollution
Water shortage risk
Ice storm
Large Tall Dams
Droughts
Blizzards or Heavy snow storms
High annual snowfall
Below sea level if polar ice melts
Lighting frequency
Volcanic activity
Number of days over 100 degrees Fahrenheit
Number of days below zero Fahrenheit

1) Grand Rapids, MI
2) Madison, Wisconsin
3) Allentown, PA
4) Buffalo, NY
5) Milwaukee, Wisconsin
6) Syracuse, NY
7) Poughkeepsie, NY
8) Dayton, Ohio
9) Youngstown, Ohio
10) Toledo, Ohio
11) Columbus, Ohio
12) Albany, NY
13) Chicago, IL
14) Lexington, KY
15) Des Moines, Iowa
16) Kansas City, MO
17) Indianapolis, Indiana
18) Worcester, Massachusetts
19) Asheville, NC
20) Cincinnati, Ohio
21) Detroit, MI
22) Louisville, KY
23) Washington DC
24) Rochester, NY
25) Lancaster, Pennsylvania
26) Cleveland, Ohio
27) Springfield, Massachusetts
28) Pittsburgh, PA
29) Lansing, Michigan
30) Boise, ID

[ejisme]

Didn't Buffalo just get 3 - 6 feet of snow, and isn't much of upstate New York, some of New England, at risk of lake effect snow storms most every year?

Anyway, being in Idaho myself, I can attest to Boise as very safe natural disaster wise, and in many other ways too. It would be a good choice if OP is looking to move away from the SE altogether.

[RocketSci]

Originally Posted by ejisme

Didn't Buffalo just get 3 - 6 feet of snow, and isn't much of upstate New York, some of New England, at risk of lake effect snow storms most every year?

Anyway, being in Idaho myself, I can attest to Boise as very safe natural disaster wise, and in many other ways too. It would be a good choice if OP is looking to move away from the SE altogether.

My part of Buffalo got about 15 inches in last weeks storm, not 3-6 feet. The suburbs north of the city only got between 3 and 12 inches. Lake effect is very localized, with areas north of the city typically in line with other midwest and northeast cities, annually receiving 20%-50% of the snowfall that areas south of the city receive. The airport weather station totals are somewhere between the two. Snow can be disruptive (VERY disruptive in some areas last week), but rarely destructive. The airport (about 3 feet of snow) and major highways were all open and clear by Sunday (storm began Thursday night), for example.

In very rare cases are winter storms here deadly - usually heart attacks from shoveling (2 were reported in the news last week here), maybe a traffic accident (a snowplow struck a city employee), atypically a person stuck in their car when on an isolated road (when they shouldn't have been out anyway, none reported last week). Statistically there are fewer deadly accidents in winter (fewer speeding drivers, lower travel speed). Homes and buildings are built for heavy snow, although flat roofs in major disrepair have been know to fail (lost an old bowling alley here last week). Greatest impact of heavy snow is being "stuck at home" for a day or more. Anything less than 1 or 2 feet here usually doesn't cause closures of schools or businesses, unless blowing snow causes loss of visibility.

[bellafinzi]

Here is my methodology and new updated list.

Top 37 safest Metropolitan Areas Ranked from natural disasters, extreme weather, climate change and other disasters over 500,000 in population in the US based on the following factors...

High risk

ADD

Earthquake 60
Hurricanes 60
Under 10 miles to nuclear power plant 50
Under 20 miles to nuclear power plant 41
Wildfires 38
Hail 37
Tornadoes 36
Tsunami 35
Under 30 miles to nuclear power plant 34
Under 40 miles to nuclear power plant 33
Under 50 miles to nuclear power plant 32
Wind storm 31
Flooding 29
Coastal flood 28
Air pollution 27
Water shortages 25
Power outages and rolling blackouts 25
Ice storm 24
Large tall Dam 23
Sinkhole 22
Drought 21
Blizzard or Heavy snowfall 20
Major target in a nuclear war 20
Water supply contamination from nuclear meltdown 20
High annual snowfall which greater than 28 inches 19
Below sea level if all polar ice melts 18
Lighting storm 17
Under 100 miles to nuclear power plant 16
Volcanic activity 15
River Flooding 15
Very little Snowfall can shut down whole city 10
Likelihood of refugees fleeing here from a major city after disasters 10
Number of average days over 100 degrees Fahrenheit every year
Number of average days below Zero degrees Fahrenheit every year

Moderate risk

ADD

Earthquake 20
Hurricanes 19
Wildfires 18
Hail 17
Tornadoes 16
Tsunami 18
Wind storm 10
Flooding 8
Coastal flood 7
Air pollution 6
Water shortages 4
Ice storm 3
Large tall Dam 2
Sinkhole 1
Drought 5
Blizzard or Heavy snowfall 10
High annual snowfall which greater than 28 inches 9
Lighting storm 7


Low Risk

ADD

Hurricanes 10
Wildfires 10
Tornadoes 8
Tsunami 7


Positive factors

SUBTRACT

Climate Haven -20
Almost unlimited water supply -20
Multiple drinking water sources -10

1) Madison, Wisconsin
2) Allentown, Pennsylvania
3) Dayton, Ohio
4) Akron, Ohio
5) Youngstown,Ohio
6) Columbus, Ohio
7) Grand Rapids, Michigan
8) Syracuse, New York
9) Poughkeepsie, New York
10) Lexington, Kentucky
11) Indianapolis, Indiana
12) Toledo, Ohio
13) Buffalo, New York
14) Albany, New York
15) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
16) Lansing, Michigan
17) Milwaukee, Wisconsin
18) Detroit, Michigan
19) Dew Monies, Iowa
20) Kansas City, Missouri
21) Rochester, New York
22) Scranton, Pennsylvania
23) Boise, Idaho
24) Asheville, North Carolina
25) Chicago, Illinois
26) Cinnanati, Ohio
27) Louisville, Kentucky
28) Washington DC
29) Lancaster, Pennsylvania
30) Cleveland, Ohio
31) Reno, Nevada
32) Huntsville,Alabama
33) Fayetteville, Arkansas
34) Spokane, Washington
35) Nashville, Tennessee
36) Springfield, Mass
37) Denver, Colorado

I'll break down the cities when I get a chance.

[Peter1948]

Originally Posted by SonySegaTendo617

Louisville does have a few nice neighborhoods, especially on the east side of town like say near Bardstown Road. And the area near Cherokee Park(and where I-64 briefly goes into a tunnel, under this park), is also very nice. The west side of town sadly to say, seems underinvested. I hadn't spent enough time on its south side to get a proper feel for that part of Louisville, but it seems like a mix of good neighborhoods and not so nice ones(more leaning towards good, though). I'd go with living somewhere on Louisville's east side, if you do seriously consider living in that city.

Super underated city! It's by far the closest to NO in style