Help, need info on Covington or Metairie (New Orleans, Kenner: rent, crime)

[NicoleBTX]

My family and I will be moving to LA soon and we still need to decide which town/city to relocate to. My husband will be working primarily in New Orleans and I want to live somewhere near, but not that "large" of a city. I am a nervous driver and need help. I believe the pop of Metairie is around 140,000, and have never lived in a city that large. Any advice/comments on either of these cities? We have kiddos, so I also need to know which school system is best.

[omicronkappa278]

Many, many people migrate from Mandeville and Convington.

It is the way to go. Madeville/Covington is a great area and growing rapidly. You need to trek across the Huey P. Long bridge to get to NO, but is not that bad.. It is a 26 Mile-long bridge.. just a though. Metairie is great... stay away from the west bank. We tend to make fun of "West Bankers"...

Consider south of NO like Westego or Harvey. You can get right into NO by crossing the Mississippi bridge and not be in the "Thick of it"... Best choice... Metairie...

[bighunk]

.

First = Covington is a great place to live, if you are retired, or you work there.

The traffic is awful sometimes, going back and fourth to New Orleans in the mornings and evenings = lots of times bumper to bumper. There are times in winter when they close down, or restrict speed on the Causeway Bridge because of the fog\weather.

I suggest that you move to Kenner LA. That's a suburb of New Orleans, just West of Metairie. But make sure that you rent in and area in Kenner that didn't flood during Hurricane Katrina. My second choice would be just over the West Bank of the Mississippi in Gretna, Algears, Harvey, or even Merrero.
PS: Very little of that area flooded during Katrina.

If I worked in New Orleans, if nothing else, I would rather live in La Place LA, West of New Orleans, then the great city of Covington.

REMEMBER = how and when you get to work is #1.

The rest you can get use to.

Good Luck

Bighunk

[stelladallas]

HEY! Welcome, I think it depends on your children's school age and school needs. Mandeville schools are MUCH better than metairie schools. I think you will like it better. In metairie you will probably have to PAY for you children to go to school (add about 10 grand for EACH child)---so be sure to factor that in. GOOD LUCK, I think you will love it. God Bless!

[goldiefur]

Anywhere in St Tammany parish they have great schools I recommend Covington, Mandeville or Slidell. DO NOT move anywhere on the southshore of Lake Pontchatrain stay on the northshore.

[pannod]

Jeff Parish has some great schools! Elementary, I would recommend Phoebe Hearst and for Middle School, I'd recommend T.H. Harris. My son went to both of these schools and has received an excellent education. The administration and staff at both schools are very caring of the kids and the schools are very safe. I never had to worry about my son once I dropped him off at school. For high school, I'm not sure, because he enters high school in the Fall and we're relocating to TN.

I lived in Metairie for about 10 years and really liked it. However, since Katrina, crime seems to be up a bit. For the past 3.5 years, we've lived in Harahan, which I really like. Smaller community, but still has everything you need close at hand. I worked in downtown New Orleans, one block from the Superdome, and my commute to work was about 30-40 mins. I never took the interstate. I usually traveled Airline Dr or Earhart Expwy.

Harahan and River Ridge did not flood, with the exception of maybe a few houses, after Katrina. The majority of the area was spared. We had a lot of wind damage and toppled trees, but the community came back quickly. I'd recommend Harahan/River Ridge area, but I'm not familiar with the schools here because my son went to school in another district.

I've heard the Northshore is really nice with good schools, but the commute can be rough going across the Causeway twice a day.

Just remember one thing... DO NOT put your kids in Orleans Parish schools.

Good luck to you!

[Frank_Sinatra]

Best advice: Get a job in another state!

However, if you are intent on moving here, I would recommend the following cities: Mandeville, Madisonville, Covington. All are on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain (called the "Northshore") and require you to traverse the 24-mile Lake Pontchartrain Causeway (not the Huey P. Long) to get into the New Orleans area. BUT, if you are a nervous driver, this is problematic, as there are certain times of the year that fog is really bad on the bridge. Add severe thunderstorms, hurricane warnings, traffic collisions, etc., and the bridge is a real pain in the neck. In some cases, traffic is re-routed AROUND Lake Pontchartrain.

So, the Northshore (in my opinion) is better, but, can pose a logistical challenge. I used to drive from Covington to Kenner twice a day to-and-from work and that killed 2 hours a day in the car. But, I couldn't abide to live on the New Orleans side of the lake.

Again, my advice would be to live elsewhere. I'm taking my own advice and leave at the beginning of August.

[goldiefur]

Where are you moving Sinatra? I am getting out of this hellhole state also ASAP!