I may have to move their from Houston tx due to work. I have driven through it a few times, like to know where are the nice apts/area.  And what are the state taxes like? Cost of living etc etc. thanks y'all

I am wondering the same thing. I am moving there also in about 2_weeks

I live in Lafayette, LA, but have done plenty of work in Alexandria and visited often enough (I live about an hour and a half from it), plus my Mother-In-Law lives there.  The short story:

1.) Our Governor sucks in my opinion, and expect a lot of partisan politics.
2.) Firearms friendly state, VERY friendly about it.  Open carry state with a "Stand Your Ground" style law.
3.) Very conservative and fairly religious, parts of that area are a "dry" section.  Rapides Parish (equivalent to County) is a wet Parish, but certain towns (Pineville, Ball, etc.) are dry.  There is a social stigma about it too, so be careful where you leave any alcoholic containers.
4.) Outgoing and friendly people.
5.) Reasonable prices for goods and I find that taxes are fair, though I don't know about local taxes.
6.) Tax rates for local and state when shopping will run you 8 or 9% depending, I know the state is 4% of it.
7.) The main of Alexandria (it is a recognized urban area by the Census) is crowded and has no room for growth.  Hotels and businesses are plentiful, and there is also a mall and zoo on the outskirts of Alexandria.

It's a nice place, and relatively quiet compared to where I live, and if you have any more questions, feel free to email me and I'll relay what I can and answer whatever questions you have to the best of my ability.

Very interesting avatar of the Flying Tigers. Coincidentally, the Flying Tigers (23rd Tactical Fighter Wing) were assigned to England AFB when it was still open in Alexandria, up until 1992 or 1993 when the base closed. It is now the local airport. I was in the USAF at England AFB in 1986-1987. I didn't think much of the area at the time, probably because I was going thru a crappy divorce and commuting between LA and AL on weekends, trying to work things out. Anyway, good luck. Maybe things are better there than 25+ years ago.

The owner of Direct Action Medical Network has his private practice there... In case you need a DAMN physician.


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Its 30 minutes north of me.
Around 45,000 people.
Avaeage income is under $40,000 - but thats misleading.
Id suggest you live in Pineville or one of the new up and comming subdivisions if you can swing it.

Outlaws has the best Ribs and Tunks has the best seafood.

What line of work are yall in?

Barneys firing range is an hour and a half south and they rent full-autos.

If you have a .338 or larger rifle or .460 or larger handgun your invited to come out to the farm and shoot

I live about 45 minutes south of Alexandria.  Not a bad place, it just doesn't have the options of larger towns in LA like BR, Lafayette and New Orleans.

People there seem pretty friendly, and there's plenty of outdoors stuff to do in the area.

The Woodworth Shooting range is about 15-20 minutes south just off I-49, Indian Creek Rec Area has good fishing and skiing, and the Kisatchie National Forest is all over that area, especially to the North and West.

LC

i'll second this.  my aunt and uncle live in Pineville, its a pretty nice area.

Mine line of work,   I am coming into to town to film  Cajun Pawn Stars
I will do what I can to work on the gun herp_derp but no promises.

I am a field tech, basically I drive around (alot) and fix those annoying shoplifting detection systems at retail stores.

I think my boss is just throwing shit at the wall just to see what sticks logistically.

the 1 tech in the state is a bit overloaded, and I have been going into Louisianna every other week to help him catch up. i think my boss is just basically looking at it from a territory perspective that is centered in lousianna, but handling the central and north part of the state with random incursions into neighboring states. Houston is slow with 2 techs, and Louisiana is a bit busy.



from what I gather from the Internet, it appears that pineville may be a better choice.

and the weird thing... according to salary.com cost of living calculator, I would be loosing 8k a year just by living there. I know Houston is pretty cheap, but some mid-sized town in central Louisianna is more to expensive to live there by 8 grand ?



my boss did mention a raise, but from the "napkin" math that i am doing, anything less than 5% is not worth it, especially with a 4% state tax. i think i should push for a 15%, but settle for a 9ish%.

another thing he mentioned, was that it may be for 1-2 years in that area...im a bit skeptical on that one... may need to get it in writing that they will move me back to texas if i quit, or get layed off.

something I knew as well...I was 12 the first time i ever saw an A-10 in real life ,  one was flying out in the wild, and it passed over my uncle's place out in nacogdoches county tx. I feel pretty damn sure it was a 23rd bird from england AFB, and then like 7 years later I got stationed at pope AFB in '93 workign on 'em.

I live in Jennings hour & a half south.
If you're a Vet there is a Veterans hospital in Pineville just across the Red river from  Alexandria.
I go there quite often & receive excellent care.
Alexandria has a gunshow several times a year.
The main sporting goods store is Security Sporting goods.  Very limited reloading stuff though & no used guns.
There are a couple of small gun shops but i don't remember the names because didn't leave much of an impression.

I'm in Pineville..... And willing to travel

Your company hiring?  PM maybe?


And yes, the cost of living confusion is an interesting dynamic around here. Housing is hella expensive for what you get IMO.
The place has serious potential to expand, but old money and politics continue to stifle growth...

The actual population of the parish is between 150k to 180k, by my half hearted measurements. After a little driving around, it'll become pretty apparent where are good areas vs. not so good areas ....

I'm trying to pull together a vacation/sales trip to LA for August. My main goal is to hang out with Doc Smith and his family in Alexandria and go gar fishing/coyote & hog hunting.



What I need though, is a point of contact for the medical training folks or MOUT site folks at Ft. Polk. If anyone can help, send me an IM. I'm also looking for LA National Guard or any EMS/Rescue training sites that would like a demonstration of our gear.



www.techlinetrauma.com

I'm not sure who you would talk to if you're looking to pitch. The sites are run by range control and live fire branch, but they wouldn't be the one to talk in your case. Are you working on a lead or have you worked with anyone at Polk before?

No one at Ft. Polk.  I'd like to get in front of the end users for a demo.  

I have found the drive through Daquire places.

But what can y'all tell me  about a place to get a decent cigar?
A strip club?
And afew decent bars?

you're in Baptist country.  Forget it.

Tunks is some good stuff.

I moved to Natchitoches about a year ago (from Texas) but I travel CenLA quite a bit as well as many trips to Lake Charles. Pineville is the better place to be and it's only across the river from Alex.

As far as state taxes, coming from Texas, it kinda sucks. Property taxes vary from parish to parish (Natchitoches Parish has none). Sales taxes seem to vary quite a bit from parish to parish as well.

One thing I have grown to enjoy though, during crawfish season...you can't go a block without finding someone that is selling them.

Decent cigar in CenLa requires going to Shreveport same with strip club.  Tobacco warehouse across from Maggios has some cigars not a good selection but decent priced hand rolls.

Damn, I am from Shreveport, but stuck in Alexandria for work.
Guess, I will just have smoke shipped in from CigarBids.    
Don't know what I am going to do about the strip club.

Got any bar recommendations around here?

Think leesville is going to have your closest strip club.  Not sure what bars are in Alexandria.  I'm in Natchitoches which is where the tobacco warehouse I was talking about.  If you need an extra humidor I have one with some heartfelt beads that is looking for a good home.

What are your tastes?

GG's is kind of a everybody-type. Hipsters, cowboys, g-monies, etc. Loud.

Riches is the Gucci type. Lotsa small shirts and big egos. Kinda loud.

Finnegan's is a mellow, Irish type pub. Where most are just casual. Good import beer selection. They had cigars for sale last I was there.

The Bay View is kinda trendy from what I'm told.


That's the few off the type of my head.

From Natchitoches?...One question, what is there to do around here?

To be truthful I don't go out very much any more.  If I'm not out fishing/getting in trouble with friends I go to the pub, good selection of beer on tap with whatever sports on 2 tvs.  More laid back ,and has some decent pub food.  Usually a good early starting point.  There is Antoon's on the bypass across from Mariners.  Usually a decent group of people go there.  Couple pool tables and a card table juke box is a little loud.  Next door is the Body more of a collage bar , but haven't been in the body in years.  At the Mariners is a small bar called the cove.  Straight Country or bourbon creek not sure what it's going by.  Has some know bands/singers come in from time to time.  Along with wet tshirt contest.  Then there is Ron's used to be illuminations which was a black bar.  Some kind of bikini sports bar on certain nights.  Haven't had a chance to go.  Yesterday's another I haven't been to in years.  Heck they've moved since I was there last.  Tends to be an off night bar with cheap beer.
Then you have your festivals.  Christmas being the main one.  Fireworks on most major holidays.  Usually have something every weekend from Thanksgiving to New Years.  BBQ comp is first weekend in June music and beer what else is needed.  Booge on the bricks starts some time during football season.  Lots of other things here and there.  What are your interest?  If your new to the area I'd be more than glad to give you a list of business to make some items easier to find.  Along with any certain services needed haircut,tattoo,car wash etc. Some are cleaner and offer better service than others.

Runs_with_scissors,  thank you for such a generous offer.
But I ran home this weekend and got one and loaded it up.

I have found a walk in humidor at Hocus Pocus liqoure on Jackson St.
Found a bar called Finnegans  Wake it's pretty good.
And working for the History Channel is not bad

G_S are you helping with Cajun Pawn Stars?  When things cool back down we'll have to meet up shoot a few rounds, smoke some tobacco, and maybe a stiff drink.

I am part of the film crew on Cajun Pawm Stars.
When I go out on location, I usually only bring my ar, and carry gun

I can only meet up if you let me buy the first round?

No problem with you buying first round.  Just got to find a day off.

Alexandria is quite possibly the most boring place in Louisiana.  And that says a lot coming from a Ruston boy!  

Damn you aint kidding.

Back in the late 70's my brother and a friend of his decided to drive up to North LA to check out LA Tech, since they were getting ready to graduate from high school.  After a day of checking out the school and the surrounding area, they decide to see if there's any hunting land out there. (This was when there was still a lot of private land available for hunting, before the hunting clubs took over.)

While out in the countryside, they drive up to an old mom and pop grocery store.  They walk in and start looking around for the beer cooler. (In South Louisiana back then, if you could put 3 dollars on the countertop, you could have the six pack.)

The old lady asks them, "Can I help you?".  My brothers friend says, "Yeah, where's the beer cooler?"  They said you could see the hackles raise up on her back. "We don't sell that kind of thing here!", says the old lady.

They figgered it was time to go, and tore ass outta the gravel parking lot.

Last I heard Lincoln Parish is still dry.

LC

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Lifelong Lincoln Parish resident here; most of the Parish is wet. The only dry areas are Districts 4 & 5, with the exception of Choudrant. There are several surrounding Parishes that are "drier" than mine (Jackson, Webster, etc) AFAIK.



My wife's from Iberville Parish. Her folks still experience a culture shock when they come to visit. It's okay, though, the feelings are mutual.



/hijack