Here's my situation... we live in Slidell, and our home got about 6 - 8 inches of water during Katrina.  My business is in New Orleans, and although the building is ok, the city is in shambles.  So, we're in the process of setting up what was originally intended to be temporary office space in Baton Rouge.  However, both of my business partners live(d) in Lakeview, so their homes have been pretty much destroyed, and they're indicating they do not want to return to N.O.

So, I'm trying to decide what to do now.  If our business is not going to be coming back to N.O., we'll probably have to move to the Baton Rouge area (a Slidell to N.O. commute I can deal with, but I don't think I could handle Slidell to Baton Rouge).

Without getting into the gory details of all the other factors involved (kids' schooling, sentimental attachment to Slidell, giving up our boat, etc.), I'm just trying to get information on homes in Baton Rouge and the surrounding areas.  What's the "Slidell" of Baton Rouge?  Denham Springs?  How are schools around there?  Any areas to avoid like the plague?  Any advice at all is welcome!  We'll be looking for a 4br house in the $140k - $170k price range.

--Mike

A lot of folks live in the outlying areas around here.  Denham Springs is getting crowded and  lot of folks are moving to Watson (north of Denham) and Walker (farther east of Denham).  The schools in Livingston Parish seem to be pretty good from what I've heard.  South of Baton Rouge is Prairieville and Gonzales, both heavily developed with a lot of commuters.  I don't know abotu their school systems.  If you want to cross the MS River, Port Allen, Brusly, and Plaquemine are all nice towns that are worth of living in.  Lastly, north of Baton Rouge in the Zachary & Baker areas is begining to grow.  They have their own school ssytem which is going good I think, but there are a lot of lower class that live there and is "less safe" demographically.

One thing in common to these areas, traffic.  Traffic in all of these areas sucks, and regardless of where you live, you're going to have a slow commute to work.  Housing prices seem to be lower as you move north of the city but the Walker area is not unreasonable.

Luck with it.

Denham Springs (to the east) and Gonz. to the south.

DS has about 20,000 people and the areas around it have another 10k+ as well. It is a commuter city for the most part.

The drive from BR to DS everyday on I-12 is a guaranteed 20-30 mins during PM traffic. This drive is the same from BR to Gonz.

DS and Livingston Parish previously was a white, educated middle class area. The further to the East from DS you go, the less educated and cheaper it becomes. Fact of life. These areas are getting better but the roots are the same.

DS and Livingston Parish schools WERE some of the best in the state. 99% white and very parent involved. This was a few years ago and things can change.

Gonz on the other hand, their schools were never as good but might have improved in the last few years.

Gonz. is about the same way.

An area that is growing is across the MS river in Port Allen/Brusly/Plaquemine. Nice little quiet area over there. More of a "bayou" feel to that area though.

also, the Central area (just north of BR) is a quiet older part of town but it's very safe, predominately white but not just the "city" feel to it. The commute is through more of the industrial side of town but it's a quiet area.

http://earth.google.com/

If you can, zoom in and tool around the areas.

I am in BR and I agree with everyone above on where to live.  Good luck with it and feel free to ask for more help if required.  

BTW - when all of this shit settles down a bit, all of us BR guy's need to get together and go shoot.

Quoted: I am in BR and I agree with everyone above on where to live.  Good luck with it and feel free to ask for more help if required.   BTW - when all of this shit settles down a bit, all of us BR guy's need to get together and go shoot.

+1 to that

I used to live in the Greenwell Springs/Central area.  Very quiet and nice area.  This area just recently incorporated and it's growing pretty rapidly.  Rural enough to not be bothered, but close enough to get to wherever you need to go.

I guess it really depends on whether you want to live in a subdivision or in a more rural setting.

Thanks for the info... we're leaning heavily towards Livingston Parish, but are keeping all our options open.

--Mike

Livingston Parish.

To the north of Denham Springs, huge housing developments are and have been popping up the last few years. They are nice and all but the commute from north of DS in the AM is AT LEAST 20-30 minutes and that is just to the INTERSTATE and then it's another 20+ in bumper to bumper traffic.

Highly recommend looking SOUTH of I-12 if you look in Denham Springs. Some nice neighborhoods (my parents still live in one just off the Interstate) can be found. You just have to drive around the area and check it out.

The Prairieville area seems to be doing pretty well right now.  Supposedly good schools there now.

However, as an addition to your decision making process, I would definitely take into consideration where the business is going to be located.  More specifically, where in relation to I-10, I-12, and Airline Hwy.  You might want to use those as boundaries to try to keep the business location and the home location on the same sides, if possible.  Crossing any one of those with all of the traffic now is going to be miserable.

Just a suggestion, but Livingston Parish may offer significant tax incentives to relocate there and then you wouldn't even have to fight traffic across the Amite Rv.  The Watson area, which is the next town north of Denham, is growing good and there are a few nice new subdivisions north of there on Hwy 16.  There are also tons of new developments in the Walker area.  The areas south of the interstate are growing by leaps and bounds too.

For those that are curious, there are 3 ways into Baton Rouge from the east, and all 3 of them require crossing the Amite Rv.  There's I-10, US190, and LA64 (Magnolia Beach Rd.).  All of these are nightmares headed into and out of the parish around rush hour.  The only other choice across the Amite Rv. is in the northern part of the parish in Grangeville.  Baton Rouge is isolated by significant waterways.  The Amite is a natural barrier to the east, Bayou Manchac to the south, the MS Rv. on the west, and the myriad of small waterways to the north.  In a crisis, such as a hurricane or terrorist attack, they are choke points.  IMO reside in the same locale as your business and avoid the natural barriers like the plague.  For that reason, Ascension Parish is not an option (have to cross Bayou Manchac) as well as West Baton Rouge (crossing the MS Rv.).  So, north is the way to go.