Another Person Considering Moving Back to New Orleans (apartments, rent)

[Craig223]

I’ve been browsing through various threads on the topic of moving to New Orleans, and benefitting reading some of the feedback, advice, warnings, etc. from the people who know the city well.

Perhaps everything that can be said has been said, but I did want to post about my situation to see what further help I could get from the kind folks here.

I am by no means decided to move to New Orleans, in fact it’s less than 50-50 that I’ll do so. But it’s something I’m giving serious consideration to.

For me, it’s a matter of a significant emotional attachment. I lived in New Orleans for two to three years when I was young, and then a couple years later returned and lived there for another few months. Both times I lived in apartments in the French Quarter. That was decades ago, and for a long time I rarely returned for a visit, maybe two or three times in 25 years or something. More recently, I’ve been back for visits closer to once a year—maybe five times in the last seven years.

When I lived there, I spent easily 80% of my time in the Quarter. On my more recent visits I’ve made it a point to explore other areas of the city, so spending more like 25% of each visit in the Quarter. And I’ve consistently enjoyed my wider explorations.

All these years I’ve wondered if I’d ever return to actually live in New Orleans again, as there’s just something intangible about it—and I’m sure it has to do a lot with my being there through some very formative years, so there’s a lot of personal, subjective stuff involved—that has remained very powerful and very positive for me. In recent years that feeling has grown noticeably. I’m in a very different mood when I’m in New Orleans. Not just different from my day-to-day life, but different from when I’m traveling or on some kind of holiday elsewhere. I feel more alive, even a sort of elation at times. It’s the only place I’ve ever lived that genuinely feels like “home” to me.

I’ve gotten very, very different feedback from people in my life when I’ve talked about this. Some say that it’s like an infatuation, and that if I ever tried to live there again it would kill the magic for me, that it would never live up to the fantasy, that I should keep it as just a special place to visit now and then. Others say that they’ve never heard me talk about a place in this way, that when your gut is telling you that you belong some place, when you have this kind of attachment to some place, then you have to pull the trigger and give it a shot or you’ll always regret not doing so.

Emotionally, I’m more inclined toward the side that says to trust my gut and go for it. My hesitation, however, is that once you get past the emotions and talk about the practicality of it, and you add up all the identifiable costs and benefits, it frankly doesn’t look very promising.

I’m certainly very concerned about crime and safety. I’m not the kind of person who is OK living scared. I want to be able to walk in my neighborhood, preferably including after dark. I don’t want to have a concern every time I leave my home that when I return there’s a significant chance I’ll find it has been broken into and ransacked.

Another major concern is cost. A related concern, in fact, since I’d want to live in an area where the crime and safety factor is not so bad, yet from everything I understand costs are high to very high in those areas in New Orleans. I suppose there’s the option of living somewhere out in the suburbs or outlying areas, on the other side of the lake, whatever, but while I don’t rule that out entirely, my feeling right now is that that kind of defeats the purpose: I don’t just want to live somewhere that it will be convenient to visit New Orleans more often; I want to live in New Orleans, to feel like every day when I get up and look out the window, or when I walk down the street to the market or some restaurant, that I’m in some quaint “New Orleansy” neighborhood, that that’s what my home is.

I’ll say that I’m male and in my 50s, single, no kids, so the quality of the schools and things like that really aren’t factors for me. I have a car and would probably want to keep it, though there’s a chance I’d give it up if I absolutely had to. I’m actually not a drinker—which maybe makes it ironic I’m so attached to New Orleans. I want to be around plenty of interesting restaurants, interesting architecture, eclectic and interesting people. I’d prefer a small house to an apartment, and would prefer to buy over rent, but neither is an absolute. I just don’t have a lot of money, so I know I have to give on some things, or otherwise delay any possible move until I’ve saved up considerably more or somehow know I’ll have a significantly higher income once I’m there.

But these are the things I’m juggling in my mind. You know, what are my options as far as neighborhoods and living arrangements, roughly how much would the various options cost, what are the other pros and cons of living in this part of town versus that part of town. And on more of a meta level, what’s the best way to find these things out. Obviously posting here is a part of that process, but are there things I should be doing when I visit in person that’ll help me get the relevant information to make a better, more informed decision? Should I be consulting certain websites, government agencies, local realtors?

I’m still really early in the process, so I’d appreciate any constructive feedback anyone might offer. I know as long as this post is, there’s surely a lot I haven’t said that would be relevant to offering any guidance, so if you have any questions along those lines I’ll do my best to answer.

Thanks in advance, and let me close by saying that it’s cool just being amongst other people who love New Orleans and “get” why someone like me would feel the way I do about the city.

[cBach]

YOLO - do it!

If you don't do it, you will be wondering the rest of your life "what if" you would've done it. You can move and if you hate it there then you can leave. But if you never move you'll never know.

[rgathrights]

My $.02, from my own experience of New Orleans during routine trips over the past 20 years, it's not the same city that you knew back 30+ years ago.


However, if you can afford it then I recommend staying in the city with close friends for your protection.



Also, carry a cel-phone or some sort of communications device at all times.


In the end enjoy life, I completely understand the feeling and encourage you to stay safe to keep it the city of your dreams.

[cBach]

New Orleans was actually more dangerous 30 years ago - 1988. Back then gang violence was everywhere and the murders were 2x what they are now.

[Lizap]

Do it! There's no other place like it.

[Craig223]

I really appreciate the feedback so far, and would welcome more.

Yeah, the crime and safety factor is a big one. You see such conflicting posts about that on this forum. There are plenty saying New Orleans is simply a hellhole for crime and violence nowadays, that with the exception of a few safe pockets (and maybe not even that) you’re always at a significant risk of being a victim, that the atmosphere is one of constant racial and other conflicts, that the city has been engulfed in a downward spiral of violence begetting violence. But then you also see plenty of posts saying that there is a large element of myth and exaggeration to the fearmongering, that New Orleans at worst is comparable to the typical major American city in terms of those negatives while retaining all the wonderful positives few other cities can boast of.

I don’t claim to know where the truth lies, but certainly getting some better sense of that is very important to me and my decision. I “want” it to be the case that those claiming the crime stuff is greatly exaggerated scare stories are correct, so I have to be careful not to be too credulous of that side due to my own wishful thinking. On the other hand, since this is a definite hot button issue for me, a potential dealbreaker, I have to also be careful not to too quickly believe the other side and be intimidated into making what wouldn’t be my best decision if I had all the facts at my disposal. For now I’m very receptive to hearing more from all points of view on this important issue.

As I said, the other big factor for me is expense. I assume what most folks would regard as the most desirable areas would be well beyond what I could afford. The question, then, is, whether that means, one, “You won’t be able to live in what would otherwise be your first choice area, but that just means you would live instead in some other really cool New Orleans neighborhood where you’d feel safe,” or, two, “You wouldn’t be able to afford living in any area that you’d want to live in, and could only live somewhere that’s high crime and that necessitates driving to the areas where you’d prefer to spend your time.” If the latter, then I almost certainly wouldn’t make the move.

Any thoughts on areas to consider, and the availability of places to live there (just a small, one-person house would be my preference) and roughly what one could expect to spend on housing (either rent or monthly mortgage payment)?

I’m tentatively planning my next visit for October or November of this year, for probably about a week. Any suggestions on what I could better do in person while I’m there, as far as learning more about the kinds of things that would be most relevant to whether to eventually move back to the city? Neighborhoods I should explore, people I should talk to, etc.?

[cBach]

Bywater is relatively inexpensive and rather safe. The Irish Channel is another place to check out.

[RayNagin504]

If I was you I would honestly stay as far away as possible from New Orleans. The crime is terrible, racism is still a big issue, and the cost of living is expensive.

[Craig223]

I will make it a point next time I’m in town to walk around both the Bywater and Irish Channel neighborhoods.

I don’t think I’ve ever spent significant time in either up to now. Last time I was in town, I took a walk the length of Magazine all the way from Audubon Park to about the expressway or the edge of the CBD, and here and there I explored down a side street a short distance toward the river. I think that day I got some minimal exposure to the Irish Channel. I don’t remember ever being in the Bywater even that much.

I see on the map that the Bywater is kind of L-shaped, with one side being along the river and one side along the canal. Is one part of it more desirable than the other? Like is the river side a nicer area than the side directly across from the Lower 9th Ward?

[RayNagin504]

I forgot to mention the weather sucks! You are better off living in South Florida or California as the price of home ownership is grossly inflated. $300k+ for a wooden shotgun shack.