Moving to NOLA in July - Need some advice... (New Orleans: apartment, rentals)

[riverguy2014]

So my wife and I are relocating to NOLA in the July time frame. She will be attending Loyola Law School. I travel a lot on business so airport proximity is of some importance to me. I've heard that the airport is pretty far away from everything else, so I am looking for some advice on where to live. I know we will have to compromise with respect to proximity for both the airport and university. Is there a certain area that makes more sense for us?

A little bit about us and where we would like to live: we are a young married couple who still likes to go out from time to time. We don't frequent bars and clubs, but we do go from time to time. We are major foodies as well. We have lived in San Francisco and New York before, so being able to walk to restaurants and entertainment spots is definitely a plus. We need a place that has parking for two vehicles, one of which is a large truck. We will need to rent a two bedroom apartment or a house so that we have enough space for a home office/guest room. If possible, we would like to avoid traffic as much as possible.

Is there anything else we should know or take into consideration? We are OK with 'up and coming' areas as long as they are not crime havens. We appreciate any and all advice and perspective anyone can give us here.

Thanks!

[annie_himself]

Everything you need can be found around Loyola in the Carrolton/Uptown/University areas. Parking will be difficult though, as I think most rentals only provide street parking. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the closer to the river you are, the larger the lots, therefor more off-street parking.

Proximity to the airport may be a problem though, traffic can get pretty bad near the Huey P Long bridge and along Airline. Someone else can chime in about that.

[Jimbo_1]

The areas annie suggested would be best if you want quicker access to the airport and close to Loyola. The Carrollton/Riverbend area is going to fit your criteria but be closest to the airport. You can probably find a place there with a driveway, though it is more expensive. If you want to be in walking distance to many businesses try living near Oak or Maple streets. Magazine Street further away is great as well. Loyola to the airport is about 12 miles (maybe 20-25 minutes). The areas closest to the universities will have a lot of undergraduates living there, so you might won't to avoid that area (near Broadway). You could also try Mid City since you could easily hop on I-10 to get to the airport, maybe 15 minutes with good traffic. Traffic in general seems to be better than Uptown/Carrollton areas and live close to Carrollton and Bienville streets for walking distance to many businesses. For a more up and coming area with a lot of walking distance businesses you could try Freret Street between Jefferson and Napoleon avenues. Many other Uptown neighborhoods could work as well since I don't think distance/time to the airport is going to be all that different from the ones I mentioned (maybe a 5 minute difference).

Of course you left out the most important thing with the price you are willing to pay which will dictate exactly where you live.

Also annie, I'll correct you since that's not really true with regards to parking and the river.

[rburnett]

Walkable and two off street parking spaces is going to be hard to come by and/or very expensive. Even in Metairie, there are many houses with a one car driveway. If you really want a walkable area, then you'll probably have to settle for street parking or MAYBE one off street space for your smaller vehicle.

Carrollton and Mid-City are walkable and have easy access to Metairie/Kenner. Broadmoor also has easy access, but there's not much to walk to. On the plus side, though, you'll be <2mi from anything you want to do in the Uptown area. Freret is just across Claiborne from Broadmoor and has improved a lot in recent years with a number of restaurants in walking distance. Near Magazine St is very walkable, but it can be harder to get in and out of the city from there.

See:
//www.city-data.com/forum/new-o...males-20s.html

[riverguy2014]

Thanks for all the replies everyone! I remember the parking hassles in SF and NYC as well, but you didn't need a car there. We have certainly been spoiled here in TX. At the risk of sounding tacky, cost is really not a concern if we can get what we want, where we want. Remember, we lived in the two most expensive cities in the US so cost is a very relative thing. I'll start looking at the areas mentioned on Google Earth this evening.

Some other things popped into my head with respect to NOLA. We do not like big banks, so we use a local credit union for everything here in our home town. Even when we moved around the US we kept it that way. What local bank/credit union and what large national bank chain have the most lobbies and ATMs in the area? Also, we are big Costco fans and I read a thread on Yelp saying there are no Costcos in NOLA. Is that true? What is the alternative? Lastly, any recommendations on a gym chain that has indoor pool?

Thanks again for all your help. I sincerely appreciate it.

[annie_himself]

There's a Costco at 3900 Dublin St.

[Neworleansisprettygood]

I use Whitney, big local bank. Chase is probably the most prevalent national. And yeah, we just got a Costco in September. I go there two or three times a week. It's right off I-10 at the Carrollton exit (address above). Sam's is an alternative but I much prefer Costco, and it's closer for most people in the city itself.

[Jimbo_1]

Well if cost is not much of a concern than you can likely find something close to what you are looking for. Parking obviously is much less of a hassle in New Orleans than those cities, with on street parking it won't be that hard to find a spot and there are some driveways. You could also try the larger apartment buildings spread through out the city and in the Warehouse District/CBD that have parking lots. Uptown/Carrollton does not have many of these but there are some other threads on this site that recommend certain buildings. Whitney Bank is a popular local Bank. Other national banks with a large presence would be Capitol One and Chase. I can't help you with the gym/pool thing, though Tulane (and I would assume Loyola) have pools.

[Neworleansisprettygood]

Yeah, echoing what Jimbo said, Capital One is going to have the most branches (they bought out local Hibernia). Forgot about them.