Needing info on Lake Charles (Sulphur, Prien: sale, hotels, houses)

[rbayle]

OMG-Now I'm scared to death! My husband has taken a job with Picerne Military housing at Ft. Polk as a Project Mgr. and we are moving our entire lives there. Why did the previous poster say all the jobs in construction were only short term? Is it really all that bad? I think we are going to move close to Alexandria. I am curious to know if the original poster's husband has started the job yet and what he thinks of the area..

[YoCheerioh]

Hi,
Just an update on our move to Lake Charles. My husband is already settled in his apt and finds the people nice and genuine. We will explore our new hometown and make many trips to Houston. I already have an idea of what I would like the family to do so I'll be busy settling in and meeting my new neighbors. I just have to remember not to freak out about the heat and bugs. Can anyone tell me why the lack of swimming pools?
Thanks!

[WendyW.]

Probably because there is water everywhere! lol There are two beaches.

[ANTSYINLA]

Wow! It took long enough for someone to come around and defend their town! Actually, the ditches are not only on the outskirts of town. And nobody could say just what there is to do that is so exciting around here. Maybe no one can defend it...shocking. First of all, I never said that the people weren't genuine, friendly, or kind. There are some who are and there are some who aren't . Pretty obvious that there are people of all sorts anywhere that you live. What I was trying to point out is that this place just simply sucks. Plain and simple. I am on Spring break right now, myself from college, and my kids from school. The weather is beautiful at the moment, but it doesn't matter too much. There still is NOTHING to do that is any different from the things all children do on a daily basis. They go outside and play. Big whoop! We don't have an aquarium to go to that is within a 3 hour drive. The closest zoo, in Lafayette, is a total yawn. I guess we could go sit on our asses at the movie theater. Oh joy. As far as the 2 beaches and all the water around here... gross. Simply gross. Brown, polluted water... now that's tempting. All I can say is if you don't mind having to load up your car or truck and driving a few hours just to get some excitement now and then, then knock yourselves out. I have lived here most of my life and I just can't seem to agree with the masses that call this place an exciting and wonderful place to live. 1 1/2 years left in college and we're out of here. And yes, of course, we WILL "haul our asses out of here", in due time honey so you don't need to post on here for me to do so... I've already got that in mind!

[Kajonangel]

The Lake Charles area has really good schools... The Ones I went to was Bell City, SJ Welsh Middle School and Barbe High school... I love them schools... Bell City was a very small, and everybody was basically all farmers and all family somehow and there were only like 4 black kids in the whole school... I also went to Barbe and that school had a lot of everybody there and was very good... They have sign language classes and at the time I went was the only school over a 100 mile area who took in kids who were deaf... Most of them were my friends... Theres so many different groups there. Theres the Preps, The flows, the nerds, the deaf, and the whatevers lol I was a flow. I hung out with a lil of everybody...

[mark_marquette]

I was in Lake Charles about a year ago. I am seriously considering a move that way once I am done with school. I was kind of surprised at a previous posted who was so down on Louisiana... I think any place sucks or gets boring once you have been there too long. I live in SoCal and find it totally boring and frustrating... yet 800 people move to L.A. everyday for the "excitement"!

I have made two seperate trips to Lake Charles in the last three years. Each trip was for about a week, and both times I was there in August. The humidity did not bother me. I prefer the humidity to the dry desert heat SoCal gets. (Humidity clears out my nose! I love it!) Compared to what I am used to, nice homes a dirt cheap by SoCal standards. The casinos seemed to be the happening place on Friday night, but I could be wrong. There was also plenty of restaurants and a fair mall.

Coming from SoCal, one thing that was a big plus to me is that Lousiana does have beaches. Granted, I have seen bigger waves on Lake Erie, but I don't go to the beach to surf... I go for the fishing, cool salt air, and nice breezes. If I ever make my way down to Louisiana to live, I would get a boat... something I could never affod to do in SoCal.

Like any sizable city, Lake Charles did seem to have it's run down old neighborhoods and its affluent areas. I really couldn't comment on where to buy a home since I don't live there, but it seemed that anything near the lakes (Lake Charles and Prien Lake) is a nice area.

Again, I don't live there, but I have vacationed there twice. I found this thread very interesting since I was thinking of moving in a couple of years so I thought I would offer my two cents.

[roseombre]

Originally Posted by ANTSYINLA

I know that I will get a lot of people from Sulphur mad, but I'm going to put it to you as bluntly as I can. If you are happy where you are now, DO NOT drag yourself and your children down here if your husband is the one securing a job here, especially if it is construction or industries. It won't be long term anyway. I have lived here most of my life, except for a few years in Monterey, Ca. I made the biggest mistake moving back here. I have 4 children and as soon as I've got my nursing degree from MSU, I'm out of here! This whole area is a joke! For one, do not let anyone tell you that there is anything to do here. There is not! Besides fishing, I cannot think of one single thing to do here as a family. And good luck with that. You will need a boat to do any decent saltwater fishing. Fishing off the banks is bad, unless you like getting eaten alive by mosquitoes. Sulphur is notorious for white trash pill heads. This is nothing new. I am 37 and this has always been a problem in this area. As far as Lake Charles goes, I have not and never would live there. Sure there may be some decent subdivisions popping up here and there. But, most are overpriced and being sold by greedy developers trying to make a buck since the hurricane. And they're still not that nice. They still have ditches in front of every house-- good for nothing but gathering trash and housing mosquito larva. And I don't know if the hurricane has had anything to do with everything going on locally, but this place has taken a nose dive since then. EVERYTHING! I would not recommend anyone...ANYONE... waste their time, money, or lives to move here.
I know that I will not sway your decision, you will do what needs to be done, but anyone who says this is a great place to live is straight up LYING!
Just ask someone to give you some specifics about living here. I mean SPECIFICS! I would love to see what they have to say that is so great!
In fact, I use to think that if I wasn't so concerned about my childrens' futures, that I might just settle and stay here. But as time is ticking and I grow older and wiser, I realize that there are much nicer places to live in the States. And oh yes! I already know where we're going! And it is no where near Louisiana!
Good luck to you, where ever you end up.

Sorry, but you are dead wrong in your opinion of this area. Go back to where you came from as we don't need such negative attitudes. The only BAD thing about this area is the humidity in the summer. Most of the schools in this area are excellent; few exceptions. I moved here 30 years ago from a major city. I'm as far north as I ever want to live in my lifetime. This is a great place to raise your children. This is a safe place to live. Oh, sure we have some segments of the population that are undesireable. You find that everywhere! The fact that we lived through a devasting hurricane in 2005 didn't help the area and it was some time before we recovered. There are lots of things to do here other than fishing. The civic center has events year round. We have two main stage live performance theaters in Lake Charles plus one at the local college and a Children's Theater. We have a children's museum that is wonderful. We have the Banner's series that bring to the area artists from all over the country. We have a film producer's group who are engaged in movie making. We have parks, camping available out at Sam Houston State Park, places to swim. Sulphur now has a water park for kids. We have movie theaters and bowling centers. We celebrate Mardi Gras in February and you can be safe standing on our streets watching the parades. We have two casinos in the area. No you won't take your children there but it is someplace for adults to go. We have many nice places to eat. There are local sports teams plenty. If you had nothing to do; then you sat in your house and didn't look for anything!

I don't know of any houses in Lake Charles with ditches in front of them. So what! I live in Moss Bluff (wonderful bedroom community) and I have a ditch in front of my property. Guess what! It's dry unless it is raining.

[pandorafan5687]

I live here, while the city does have great potential, our administration and planners cannot make up their minds about ANYTHING! This damn revitalization of downtown has been discussed for the past 8 or 9 years and we JUST get the promenade done? What about the other part of the boardwalk that has been abandoned for almost six years? Not only that, residents here seem to be negative for the sake of being negative. Apparently Cypress Group was using HUD funds for their development, now that's all an issue, as if section 8 is all HUD does. I mean, that's much better than a new courthouse where the old sears building was.

Anyway, the roads would be smoother if they were just dirt! The people can't drive at all! Again, while the city has more potential than most cities it's size, our administration and select residents shoot down anything and everything? Why not build an aquarium rather than a damn wetlands museum? An aquarium surely would be a better alternative right? I realize that LC will never be Houston, but currently it's just one giant residential area.

[annie_himself]

I like to pass through LC. Does seem like it has potential.

[cBach]

Originally Posted by annie_himself

I like to pass through LC. Does seem like it has potential.

That's the thing with Lake Charles. It has great potential but it never has lived up to it. That's why I got out of LC as soon as I could.

I think the Mojito Pointe thing is promising because anytime you infuse $400 million into a small town that will help, but the leaders of the city are horrible and don't see the big picture.

Why didn't they force Harrah's to bulldoze that nasty looking parking garage and hotel that Hurricane Rita laid to waste? It's a horrible eyesore. I think they should sue Harrah's to get them to take care of that.