Moving to La, need some advise:)

[jwtkdplus]

Originally Posted by mast

Hi everybody, my husband and I are thinking about moving to or near Monroe City. Can someone please help with some advise? Good or bad.

1) Where are the good places to live and where do we need to avoid?
2) We have young children, how are the schools?
3) How much are rents, and are there leases given?
4) Do renters have any rights, like in the NE?
5) Transportation, are cars a must or is there public transportation?

Thanks for all your help?

You may want to see Shreveport and Monroe for yourself. I moved to Monroe, and personally wouldn't take a transfer to Shreveport for less than an extra 100,000 a year.

Being from the northeast (and apparently a large city), you will notice a few key differences:
- Property taxes are much lower here than in most northeastern states, but the public schools are not nearly as good. There are a few nice school districts, particularly in the suburbs of just about any city. Otherwise -- look to private schools.
- Rent for a two bedroom apartment or small house in Monroe sits at around 700 - 900 a month. As far as I know, all the apartment complexes use leases, but anywhere you will have to do a little research if you are renting a house.
- Public transportation is virtually non-existant in Monroe -- you will need a car. Fortunately, there is always a place to park, and you can get just about whatever you need within about a ten minute drive.

[IloveNOLA]

Originally Posted by jwtkdplus

You may want to see Shreveport and Monroe for yourself. I moved to Monroe, and personally wouldn't take a transfer to Shreveport for less than an extra 100,000 a year.

Being from the northeast (and apparently a large city), you will notice a few key differences:
- Property taxes are much lower here than in most northeastern states, but the public schools are not nearly as good. There are a few nice school districts, particularly in the suburbs of just about any city. Otherwise -- look to private schools.
- Rent for a two bedroom apartment or small house in Monroe sits at around 700 - 900 a month. As far as I know, all the apartment complexes use leases, but anywhere you will have to do a little research if you are renting a house.
- Public transportation is virtually non-existant in Monroe -- you will need a car. Fortunately, there is always a place to park, and you can get just about whatever you need within about a ten minute drive.

The public schools in Ouachita Parish can't be too bad. Your parish is ranked fifth in the state among the public school systems.

[ral31]

The schools in the city of Monroe are in a separate system from the rest of Ouachita Parish and rank considerably lower. However, the schools in northern Monroe are probably still decent schools. I guess the schools in south Monroe bring the overall rankings down. But still, the system that covers the remainder of Ouachita Parish ranks highly compared to most other Louisiana school systems.