relocation to Lake Charles (Baton Rouge, Sulphur: real estate, apartments, rent)

[clbold]

I've been offered a position in Lake Charles. How is the area...what is the best area of Lake Charles for a family, neighborhood, and schools?

[zarabeth]

Hi there, clbold.....we moved from Lake Charles last summer...we were there 4 years before Hurricane Rita came thru.

Public schools aren't bad, as long as you stay in the Barbe district....the real estate agents will all know it. There are Catholic schools there, Our Lady Queen of Heaven is one, and it's good, too...I don't know what the tuition is.

The most expensive houses are right along the lake itself, on Shell Beach Drive and in the Garden District....even the smaller cottage types are expensive. We lived off of Holly Hill Road, which has some very nice neighborhoods off of both sides, houses around $350,000 on up to $600 or $700,000, last we were there. Contraband Bayou ( which meandered along my back yard in our former home) snakes it's way all thru the Holly Hill area and Lake Charles.

Plenty of nice neighborhoods in lots of developments, The Shadows,and Fernwood come to mind....decent neighborhoods all along Country Club Road, and around Women's and Childrens Hospital. I'd stay on the west side of Lake Street, in South Lake Charles, for the nicer homes. Homes in some neighborhoods were really full of older folks, retirees. We rented in some of these for two years, and had the only kids in the neighborhood, practically, which is why we looked for a place with kids when we bought.

The city is quite spread out, the downtown is mostly old...I wouldn't live there...I don't know anything much about the other side of town, over near Rt 14, except it's far away from the hospitals, and the schools weren't as nice, from what I heard. It's on the side of town with the older Walmart( read, dirty, trash all over in the parking lot and in the store), the older banks, the older stores.

South Lake Charles has the new Walmart, the newer banks, the two nicer hospitals, Women's and Childrens and Christus St. Patricks. Lake Charles Memorial Hospital is okay, but they get a high percentage of medical assistance patients, since they are right in the smaller, not as affluent neighborhoods, on that side of town.

Anything out by the airport is quite rural, and smaller, usually.....lots of neighborhoods going up along those country roads......Ham Reid Road has a lot, but a lot are tree-less, since they are new....they are also in the middle of old,reclaimed rice fields, and are prone to flooding, no matter what the real estate people tell you.

The whole are is flat and prone to flooding, but along Holly Hill, and those neighborhoods, even after the hurricane blew thru, most of the houses didn't have flood damage from rising water....tree damage for sure, as the area was heavily treed, but we didn't flood. It's important if you're moving into a state where they are only 3 to 7 feet above sea level, depending on what street you live on.

I haven't been back since we moved last August. My daughter stayed in Baton Rouge, which is still a zoo, and goes back thru Lake Charles once in awhile. I think a lot of the apartment buildings are still unlivable. Oh, and aparetments or townhouses, unless they built some really fast, the only decent ones to live in are The Charlestonian, on Country Club Drive....River Oaks, on Nelson
Road....and Nelson Pointe Apartment Homes, also on Nelson Road. Trust me, you just don't want to be in the other apartments or neighborhoods, no matter what pictures on the internet might look like. My daughter lived in The Charlestonian and River Oaks, and Nelson Pointe is new. A lot of the people we worked with got townhomes there, while their homes were being repaired from the hurricane. I do not know the occupancy rates of any of them.

It has a decent mall in town. There's a brand new Sam's Club right in town, a Lowe's in the shopping area off of Rt 14, Old Navy, Dillards, Penneys, Hobby Lobby, all that sort of thing. The airport is in the process of being rebuilt due to hurricane damage, but they have daily flights on little Embraer jets to Houston several times a day, which was convenient.

The casinos always bored us to death, but they have several, if that's your thing. Not a great area at night along the boardwalk outside a few, and the crime rate isn't the safest in Lake Charles in quite a few places. The police do patrol the nicer neighborhoods regularly...where we lived off Holly Hill, you could always see cruisers around.

Curious, what might bring you to Lake Charles? Moderator cut: use PM for recommendations, please

Anything else you need to know, I'll jog my memory banks...let me know.

[clbold]

thanks for the response zarabeth...

I've got a great job offer working in the oil industry. I just seperated from the military and have never been to Lake Charles (just north LA and new orleans/BR). The job is too good to pass up...we're coming from colorado so I know it'll be a total change but we're used to it moving with the military.

I think we'll rent for a while...Holly Hill, Country Club Rd areas are best? What about Sulphur? Nice area?

Thanks again.

[WendyW.]

There are more good areas in Lake Charles than bad areas.
Sulphur, Westlake, and Moss Bluff are all nice communities. Moss Bluff has some REALLY nice areas.
We have good realtors in this area. They'll have all the info you need.
Southwest Louisiana is a great place to live. Except for the heat and the mosquitoes. Great culture, great music, great food.

[Marie_23]

Originally Posted by clbold

I've been offered a position in Lake Charles. How is the area...what is the best area of Lake Charles for a family, neighborhood, and schools?

I was born and raised in Lake Charles, Louisiana. To be honest the only good thing I believe Lake Charles has going for it is that the city is very laid back. When you move here it'll feel like your living in a very small town with lots of elderly folks. If your around the ages of 28 and up then you will love the slow pace atmosphere. However, if your the kind of person who loves to party and see lots of new things then Lake Charles is not the place for you.

I think most of the businesses here shut down around 9:00 pm. Lake Charles does not have many innovative businesses. Be prepared to be bored sometimes out of your mind here.

[clbold]

Thanks Marie...sounds great to me. I'm mid-30s with family so the party scene is not an issue.

Any suggestions on areas to live. I hear the Holly Hill and Barbe areas are nice. True? How about Sulphur and Moss Bluff?

[Marie_23]

Originally Posted by clbold

Thanks Marie...sounds great to me. I'm mid-30s with family so the party scene is not an issue.

Any suggestions on areas to live. I hear the Holly Hill and Barbe areas are nice. True? How about Sulphur and Moss Bluff?

My Uncle and his wife have a huge beautiful home in Moss Bluff and love living in that area. They have two kids that they send to Barbe high school it's a really good school. I had a friend who lived in Holly Hill nice area to live and raise a family. Sulphur is a very very very slow pace place to live for me

Now, keep in mind you might fall in love with Lake Charles but your kids might hate it. LOL What I mean is that if they are teenagers and use to having lots of different things to do in a city then Lake Charles in not the place. You're family might spend a lot of time doing shopping outside of Lake Charles. So, get ready for it!
I will be moving away from Lake Charles some time July hopefully Don't get me wrong I do like Lake Charles but the Job market here is to blue collar for my taste.

[zarabeth]

True, there's nothing much for the kids to do, if they are teens....there's a bowling alley and a skatepark.....movie complex in the Prien Lake Mall....my guys were skaters and pronounced the park boring, but they hung out there on occasion...clbold, you have mail!

[clbold]

Thanks for the info from everyone...just returned and found a house off Holly Hill so my kids will be in school at Prien Lake Elem. We liked the area there, though we don't plan to be long term in LC I think it'll be great for a few years.

[PSWP]

Be careful...nothing good comes from kids being bored....all I'll say is my DH's cousins live in Lake Charles...