New Iberia (Lafayette, Opelousas, Crowley: crime, mobile home, neighborhoods)

[AguaDulce]

I'm moving to Cajun Country within the next 18 months. We are a middle-aged couple with no children and we are looking for a fixer-upper.

The towns I'm most drawn to are:

Lafayette
New Iberia
Breaux Bridge
Opelousas
Ville Platte
Mamou
Eunice
Crowley

A friend of a friend who lives in Breaux Bridge told me to AVOID NEW IBERIA AT ALL COSTS because, drugs.

Funny thing is, I like drugs.

Seriously though, is New Iberia to be avoided? I think it's rather charming.

[aab7855]

It´s got a quaint downtown, but...it´s definitely fallen on hard times for sure. My dad grew up around City Park and most of that area is still fine. I don´t know what a nice house around there would go for these days.

Breaux Bridge is tiny, but it´s very authentic and overall a nice place to live.

Lafayette is great if you want a city and not a small town.

Overall I´d put Crowley and Opelousas on the "towns with problems" list as well. Any of these places can be perfectly safe if you´re willing to talk to locals and hear what they have to say about them, and thereby choose your block accordingly. It´s not like this is Detroit or something.

[Listener2307]

We liked New Iberia.
Take a few days and stay at the Estorge-Norton B&B. Jo Norton is the hostess there, and knows a lot about the area.
We never felt unsafe. I would not hesitate to buy a fixer-upper and live in the area.

[annie_himself]

Go to Lafayette.

[sacreole]

Have you also considered checking out St. Martinville on the Bayou Teche?

[puginabug]

My husband and I moved here almost 20 years ago from CT. We settled in Lafayette, and we really love it. Hubby works in New Iberia and really dislikes the place. It’s run down, yes there are drugs. (Of course you’ll find that most anywhere, there are drug areas in Laf, too.)
He says New Iberia people have a different attitue, and not in a good way.

I’ve heard good things about living in Breaux Bridge and Crowley. Carencro is another option, rural but growing.

[AguaDulce]

Thank you all!

Which is more charming, Crowley or Rayne?

We are definitely looking at Lafayette, but it's slim pickins for our price range, which is less than 70K.

Thanks again!

[AguaDulce]

Originally Posted by sacreole

Have you also considered checking out St. Martinville on the Bayou Teche?

Yes, how does it compare to New Iberia and Crowley, in terms of charm & safety?

And what about Abbeville?

Thank you!

[Ivory Lee Spurlock]

Originally Posted by AguaDulce

Thank you all!

Which is more charming, Crowley or Rayne?

We are definitely looking at Lafayette, but it's slim pickins for our price range, which is less than 70K.

Thanks again!

I bet you can find a nice mobile home on a nice piece of land within your price range (or close to it) in or near any of the towns you mentioned.

Also, another thing you might want to try, is go to You Tube and in the search box type in the city in Louisiana you're interested in seeing and most likely there will be some dash cam videos of driving around that city and then you'll be able to see the streets and traffic and some of the neighborhoods and get a general idea of what the city looks like.

[DeanGuitarist]

Mamou, for a job, you'd have to travel. Unless if you do farming, there's tons of crawfish and rice fields. Abbeville, is small. There's a lot of crime and shootings, but mainly it's people that engage in criminal activities. Trying to be P.C. and not say anything about race.

The best option would be the Lafayette area. Lafayette Parish, to be precise. Loads of work opportunity.

New Iberia....That's a different kind of monster. But, as I've said before, depending on areas. They've done away with police there several years back and crime went out of control. The city relied on the sheriff department for patrol. But, there was a police chief that went there and tried to get things back in order. Todd DAlbor was his name. I don't know if he's still the chief there or not.

The best thing to do is go visit each area before making a choice.

Crowley or Rayne, Crowley. Hands down. There's nice houses, depending on where at. 70k will most probably get you something that needs repairs. They have the Rice Festival (Trash Festival), which is a big thing in October. You may or may not want to grow a moustache. I noticed that a moustache is a thing there. Yea, I know it's everywhere, but jeez it seems like 8 out of 10 men and a few women has them. I tend to get jealous because some of the women have more facial hair than I do.