Moving to New Orleans.... (Metairie, Kenner: transplants, apartments, rentals)

[AFraser]

My husband and I are moving to New Orleans with our 9 month old baby. Well, he will be 11 months when we move. I've done some research online about the area, the crime, etc etc and for some reason I am still beyond confused when it comes to nice/safe areas.

Are there any actual "safe" areas, or are the good areas intermingled with the bad, so basically finding a home is a total roll of the dice?

Coming from a Los Angeles suburb, we are use to being able to walk around. Walk to the grocery store, to the coffee shop, etc. Is this something we can safely do in New Orleans, and if so, in what areas?
I am really uneasy about the possibility of walking outside my front door and getting mugged. LOL Some of the forums I have read about Nola makes a situation like this highly plausible.

Also, to help define areas better, we will be renting.

And last but not least, I have checked websites like CraigsList for rentals, and I am beyond confused on the areas. Some people say the LGD is safe, others say No. Some say the Marginy, Algiers Point and Uptown, while others say no way. Can anyone clarify if these are actually good areas?

Would it be best to ignore websites like this for the time being, move out to NOLA, live in a hotel for a week and find a place?

Thanks in advance!

[Neworleansisprettygood]

The hotel idea sounds good; it never hurts to look around.

[moiraesfate]

Honestly? We are looking at buying ourselves. Its quite amazing but in this city you can have 2 blocks of fantastic, a block of eh and a block of OMG I don't want to live there. Its very confusing.

I recommend using Trulia.com. They keep track of the crime in the area and update all the time. Any time I see a house I might like, I enter it into Trulia and it will usually (though not always) tell you how bad the crime is.

For example, yesterday we were looking at a duplex near our grocery store. After looking at Trulia, there is no way in hell. The grocery store area is fine, but the blocks around it have a high crime rating. Then again, further towards Kenner (which means a longer drive), there's some low crime suburbia areas that look promising. Crime is better the further you get from New Orleans proper with the suburban areas being much better, but even they have specific areas. For example... Edenbourn Ave in Metairie has alot of apartments, but as soon as you google the crime, the street also has the highest crime area in Metairie.

[AFraser]

I never thought of looking on Trulia. I will definitely give that a shot. Thank you for the input!!

[AFraser]

Moiraesfate: I have been looking on Trulia, and it is solo helpful! Thank you again for the recommendation!

[virginia33]

I will preface my response with the disclaimer that I have yet to move to New Orleans full time, but lived in the CBD and French Quarter the past two summers (6 months total), and just finished the apartment-hunting process myself for my ultimate move. I'm moving back to the Quarter next month.

I consider myself to be reasonably concerned about crime -- in other words, as a general rule, the highest crime neighborhoods and areas immediately adjacent to them were not on my radar as a soon-to-be transplant. Based on my research, it seems to me that the absolute safest, lowest crime areas of the city are (1) below St. Charles Ave. between Audubon Park and Louisiana Ave., and (2) the area bound by St. Charles Ave - Leake Ave. - Audubon Park. There are probably exceptions to that general rule, but I think it serves as a pretty good starting point. If I were new to the city and had a young family, I'd probably look in this area as it's the "safest" and you can have things like a yard and easy parking.

Beyond that, in general, yes, most of Uptown, the Garden District, parts of the LGD, Warehouse District, Algiers Point, the Marigny, and Bywater are more safe than not safe. In the latter two, you're directly below higher crime areas above St. Claude Ave. In the LGD, the closer you are to the former St. Thomas project, the higher the crime. New Orleans is a city where the good abuts the bad, and bad things can and do happen all over the place. I'd venture to say, however, the great majority of crime in the "safer" neighborhoods occurs late at night and in the wee hours of the morning, when you're not as likely to be out and about. That said, crime can happen at any time of day and there are instances of that. If it's something you're concerned about, I'd utilize crimemapping.com, play with the dates and crime filters to get an idea of trends (I filtered out all non-violent crimes and some others like arson and car-related crimes that don't particularly concern me).

It's important, however, to keep things in perspective. New Orleans is a big city, with a city population nearing 400,000, and on a daily basis add to that commuters and tourists. The chances of being victimized anywhere in the city on any given day, though real, are not high. Neither I nor any of my friends have ever encountered violent crime in New Orleans (which is really the only crime I care about). From the University area, to Uptown, to Irish Channel, CBD, the Quarter, Mid-City, the Marigny, Bywater, and Lakeview. Yes, this is anecdotal so it must be taken with a grain of salt, but my point is that, despite what some may have you believe, many if not most people do live in New Orleans unaffected by crime. Because it's been such an issue for the city, it's heavily reported on and talked about. This can lead to a warped perception that it's far more pervasive than it actually is. Sensational incidents like last year's Mother's Day shooting don't help this. I used to live in Boston -- where in the city proper crime is nearly a non-issue -- and I do probably exercise greater caution and vigilance in New Orleans than I did there. But for me and the many people I know, none of us walk around New Orleans in constant fear of being victimized -- far from it.

One last note -- on Craigslist, be wary about ads that say, for example, "Garden District" but are actually in Central City, though just across St. Charles Ave. from the Garden District. Hope this helps.

[rburnett]

Originally Posted by virginia33

Based on my research, it seems to me that the absolute safest, lowest crime areas of the city are (1) below St. Charles Ave. between Audubon Park and Louisiana Ave., and (2) the area bound by St. Charles Ave - Leake Ave. - Audubon Park. There are probably exceptions to that general rule, but I think it serves as a pretty good starting point. If I were new to the city and had a young family, I'd probably look in this area as it's the "safest" and you can have things like a yard and easy parking.

Agree with this entire post. If you want true, urban, safe, walkability, then upper Magazine St is where you want to be. You have 4-5 full grocery stores close by, 3 transit lines you can use to get downtown, easy access to gorgeous Audubon Park and the Zoo as well as numerous shops/restaurants/bars. The Carrollton area (upriver from Audubon park) lacks a real grocery close by, but has a lot of local businesses along Oak and Maple Streets.

I would also mention Lakeview as crime is ridiculously low in that area and is SOMEWHAT walkable if you're within a few blocks of Harrison Ave closer to City Park. It looks like a suburb, but it's technically in the city. There is a full grocery store as well as a few restaurants and a bar or two all on Harrison. You're also right next to City Park.

[AFraser]

What about Mandeville/Old Mandeville? i know it is a suburb, so maybe not as busy or walkable. i found a super cute home for rent a few blocks from Lake Pontchartrain, in Old Mandeville but not sure about crime/safety in that area.

[Dream34]

I live in Old Jefferson, which is basically like being Uptown without a good number of the headaches and taxes (My wife refers to it as Uptown Light). I have most of the amenities of Uptown (aside from being able to walk to the street car) with the added bonus of suburban style shopping just a mile away at Elmwood. From my house Audubon Park is a 3 1/2 mile bike ride along the levee and I can commute into the city via a short drive on either Jefferson Highway, Airline Highway, or River Road. The area I am in is comprised of two neighborhoods, Orleans Parkway Neighborhood which is bounded by Jefferson Highway, St. George Avenue, Central Avenue and Karen Avenue and Suburban Terrace which is bounded by Jefferson Highway, River Road, St. George Avenue, and Central Avenue. We feel very safe in the area and love the neighborhood. There are many young families mixed in with boomers who are a few years shy of being "empty nesters". I have a 5 year old daughter and several of my immediate neighbors have children in the same age range (9 months-7 years) so she has plenty of friends/playmates in the neighborhood. We regularly sit out on our porches in the afternoons and evenings enjoying wine while the kids play, (at times it turns into an impromptu party/BBQ in somebody's back yard) which is very nice. The majority of the homes were constructed in the 1930's-50's and are Arts and Crafts, Plantation and Bungalow style, with a few shotguns and new construction thrown into the mix. I have lived in the NOLA metro for almost 20 years, lived in several other neighborhoods (Lakeview, Gentilly, Algiers,) and liked Old Jefferson the best. Lakeview was nice, but it did feel very "suburban" while still in the city as opposed to Old Jefferson which is technically suburban but feels more "urban".

The zip code is 70121 (if you are using that as a filter in search engines) which comes up as a "New Orleans" zip though it is technically in Jefferson Parish. I did some research and found out that the area (which includes Elmwood) was originally Orleans Parish in the early 1900's; however since it was sparsely populated at the time New Orleans did not want to provide services and gave the land to Jefferson Parish.

[Dream34]

Originally Posted by AFraser

What about Mandeville/Old Mandeville? i know it is a suburb, so maybe not as busy or walkable. i found a super cute home for rent a few blocks from Lake Pontchartrain, in Old Mandeville but not sure about crime/safety in that area.

Mandeville/Old Mandeville are nice and in some areas very walkable, but for the most part you are going to need a car to get around. The commute into the city is about an hour each way depending on traffic and since you are dependent largely on the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway (with few other alternatives that are not way off the beaten path) weather and traffic conditions can make it a 2-3 hour trip at the drop of a hat. I will also add that transplants (especially those in the Oil Business) like the area because it tends to be more "vanilla and suburban" in terms of culture.