Where NOT to go? (New Orleans, Jackson: rental car, rental, crime rates)

[UtahSkiBum]

I've been reading a few threads on here about dangerous areas of NO...could you tell me where I should never go at night, or day for that matter if there is such a place? Someone wrote something about the Irish Channel or something...where is that? Could you give me street names if possible so I can see it all on Google maps? We are moving in 3 weeks and I am ALL about familiarizing myself so that I don't accidently get lost in a bad area. When we were there a month ago our rental car's GPS system lead us to an area that had my pulse quickening a bit - in my opinion bad GPS, it was a major detour from where we were going...I want to enjoy all NOLA has to offer us while we're there - but want to be smart and safe too. I'm not a fancy pants - just a almost-middle class girl who doesn't want to get mugged. Thanks in advance for the help!

[WestbankNOLA]

Irish Channel is roughly everything on the riverside of Magazine between Louisiana and Jackson, some like to include Wal-Mart and River Garden/St. Thomas)

N.O. can't really be seriously divided into good side, bad side. It's more like good street, bad street or good block, bad block depending where you are. There are some areas that are just "good" and "bad" but for the most part it's mixed. You can literally have a crack house on the corner and a half million dollar home next door with a gate around it. Some areas that look nice are actually hell and some neighborhoods that look scary to an outsider are actually nice.

To fully enjoy NOLA you just have to be street smart, willing to accept, and not live in fear. Other than that you should be alright. Oh and stick to the main streets in areas you are unfamiliar with.

Where did the GPS take you?

[Doogie]

I suggest you go to the Citizen Crime Watch website. Not only does it have information regarding the different areas of the city (including Irish Channel), it also has crime locations on a map that makes it easy to see some of the "hot spots". There appears to be rampant crime (there is) but don't get too worried about it. Most of the crime occurs between people who know each other and have a score to settle. If you don't stand on a street corner selling crack you can ignore 90% or more of it.

[UtahSkiBum]

Doogie, thanks for the referral to the Crime Watch site - very helpful! Westbank NOLA, you are right we did see a lot of here a crack house, there a mansion type roads. And yes, from an outsider I was a bit confused on whether it was safe or not...however, after looking at the map I think we weren't in a bad bad area maybe just a 'don't be a obvious tourist' area...we were trying to get to City Park and ended up a ways south east of there. I think I was worried more about how badly we screamed tourist...my friend refused to put her camera down, in addition to the giant map she kept spreading across the dash of the car.
Regardless of the crime rates, I am really excited to move to NO. There is crime in every big city, but your odds reduce drastically when you are educated on it and are careful. Thank you again!!

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

Where did you decide to rent/buy? My 3-4 y/o grandkids absolutely loved the IMAX show on whales and dolphins, another idea for your daughter.

[Drouzin]

Actually Utah, sometimes it's good to look like a tourist here. Even in the horrible neighborhoods I have found kind souls who would sit with me until the tow truck came. Of course I wouldn't get out of the car and walk up and down the street asking for a problem, but there are good people in horrible neighborhoods who will take pity on someone who is obviously not from there and needs help. Welcome to the area

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

Originally Posted by Drouzin

Actually Utah, sometimes it's good to look like a tourist here. Even in the horrible neighborhoods I have found kind souls who would sit with me until the tow truck came. Of course I wouldn't get out of the car and walk up and down the street asking for a problem, but there are good people in horrible neighborhoods who will take pity on someone who is obviously not from there and needs help. Welcome to the area

When my parked car, on Magazine St, got backed into hard by a Suburban, it was the sortta sketchy neighbors who waited around to tell me who did it and one had written down the license plate. They also made him leave me a note and then kept him from sneaking back to take the note! Most people who don't have much are very aware of all of us needing to keep what we have.

[UtahSkiBum]

Thanks everyone It sounds like SouthernBelle and I sent some Utah snow that way this morning (ha ha). Glad to hear that it's okay to look a bit 'tourist' like. I'll keep that in mind when I'm lost! I'm grateful to be moving to such a special place, really talk about charm! I don't think I've met so many kind and helpful people collectively than I have in the South (particularly New Orleans). Less than 30 days now till we move and I am pretty excited! We ended up buying in Madisonville though had some major heart string pulls over where: Northshore or not. I fell in love with Madisonville's main square and the Tchefuncte River was just breathtaking. With the way the economy is now, and since we had to do something with the job transfer, we were able to get a pretty good deal which was nice. Thanks again, can't wait!!