Army family moving to NO, need advice on where to live

Hey Folks,
My family have been lucky enough to get stationed in NO for the next few years (a welcome change after several tours overseas). We are trying to determine where to live. I am from Florida and love to fish inshore, I have a small bay boat that I plan to put to work in Louisiana. I will be working out of the Corps of Engineers Office, which is pretty much downtown.

Things for us to consider when renting a home.
1)My oldest will be starting school while we live there, so school zones will matter.
2)Apartments are out of the question. A townhouse might work if it has a yard/garage, but a house is preferred.
3)I don't mind a commute, but anything greater than 45 minutes is out. I would love to hear peoples opinions on living on the Northshore or Slidell and working downtown. What about the Algiers area?
4)We must have off street parking and preferably a place to park the boat (on the trailer) too. Room for the kids to play in the yard too.
5)I would like to be somewhat close to some fishing and duck hunting.
6)I should have listed this #1, but safety is at the utmost, I can't have rifraff walking the streets in front of our house.
7) Our budget is around $1500/month.

I welcome your opinions on where to live from a sportsman's perspective.
Thanks,
Matt

Get you a place in Slidell , Covington or Hammond and commute . The big easy is a great place to visit but me just trying to be polite , don't move your family there .

Move on the north shore. Covington, hammond ,or slidell. You may like being in the city , at first, but you won't like it for very long.

The city is fun (I grew up there) but there's no way I could live there now. Check out Covington. Fontanbleau is one of the best public schools around. 45 min drive to city.

The northshore and Slidell are both quite a drive to the corps office. You could look in the Destrahan/Luling area. Got good schools and you are closer to good fishing.

just research how many times there are delays on the causeway or on i 10 towards slidell in the mornings and evenings. If u have to be in the city at regualar times that drive everyday may not be very productive. Belle chasse is great if u can afford it.

The Harahan/River Ridge area is your best bet. Good area. Good schools. 15 minute commute.

Besides a high crime rate , if we have another hurricane , anywhere south of the north shore is pure chaos . You surely don't want your family standing on a roof top holding up HELP signs or worse trying to chop your way out of your attic because the water is coming through the ceiling .

If you do decide to get a house on the south shore be sure and buy some kind of fully automatic weapon to fend off the looters when a hurricane does come . You will need a weapon equal to your attackers . Lol

Man if you love to fish and hunt, only Belle Chase can give you world class fishing and hunting. The north shore is good, but the fishing and hunting is crowded and only fair to good. Belle Chase is only 20-25 minutes from downtown, and 45 minuets from the world famous fishing and hunting grounds of Venice Louisiana, and only 15 minutes from other world class fishing grounds along the Mississippi river delta. This is a no brain 'er. Plus it's very affordable, the schools are real good, and it's very safe.

Welcome to Louisiana.
Glad you guys are coming down!

Thanks, Belle Chasse is sounding pretty good. It is very hard to gauge the fishing/hunting in a area before you move. I have missed it a few times and end up driving really far to get out and do something. With young kids at the house I need to be able to get out and get back to keep the wife happy.

Northshore, Sliddell and Belle Chasse are sounding pretty good with what I know now.

Definitely no shortage of firepower in my house, but I'm pretty sure the city is not for me, so hopefully I wont be needing it.

Army Corps of Engineers is on Leake Ave. I believe. If so it's a straight drive down Leake Ave. to River Rd which goes directly to Jefferson and or Harahan. With only a set of Rail Road tracks and 2 red lights I live in Jefferson and find many fishing locations convenient. I fish in Hopedale,Delacroix,Shellbeach and even Myrtle Grove. Good luck!

I live in Alexandria and have just retired and I am considering moving down there as well. I'm looking for somewhere I can keep my boat in my back yard and just go. Don't have to worry about daily commute like you will but here is what I've learned. Slidell is great if you want something right on the water. Reasonable prices for waterfront, but of course you have to worry about hurricanes. Belle Chase probably better for commute and good access to Buras, Venice, Empire, but few places actually on the water. Myrtle Grove very nice but expensive if actually on the water. Camps on the water with easy access to good fishing anywhere in south Louisiana have gotten really expensive. To me, Slidell is looking best, can get reasonably priced waterfront home with quick access to Lake Ponchartrain, Borgne, Rigolets, etc. plus short drive to all the great food in New Orleans and much closer than Alexandria to all my favorite fishing spots in Cocodrie/Dularge, BVE, Delacroix, etc, etc. Don't know about schools, all my kids grown and don't have to commute to work but I'm leaning toward Slidell area for all the reasons stated and easy access to shopping, nightlife, dining etc to make wife happy. Good luck and thanks for your service, I'm ex military too.

I forgot to say that I have looked at properties in Slidell with local realtor, her husband is a Marine Corp Colonel and is still active duty. Email me and i will give you her contact info or call me at 318-419-1533

You should look in old Jefferson it will put you in the center of everything fishing ,shopping ,and eating. Also u will be 5min from work.:)

Where is there fishing close to Old Jefferson? The lake is dead.

Your top priority should be school, there's nice places to live anywhere from 10 to 45 minutes from downtown that's not in the city. If you're thinking public school, better head to the north shore, very little in the way of good public schools south of the lake. If your looking into the private schools, the south shore has some very good schools to choose from, private and catholic. I've lived here my whole life and have little use for New Orleans itself, but Jefferson parish has a lot of nice neighborhoods from Metairie, Harahan, Old Jefferson and River Ridge. Any of these would be a short commute to downtown.

Thanks for the info folks I am taking it all in. This should help me make an educated decision.

Sapper, I have lived in New Orleans, Jefferson, Kenner and River Ridge/Harahan. With all that said I have made St. Charles Parish my home. I live in Luling. A small town on the westbank of the river just west of the Jefferson Parish Line. I myself have two children, 7yo and 2yo. And while there is always something out there better, I cannot think of another place I would want to raise my kids. 30 minute ride to New Orleans, GREAT public school system and great fishing as close as 10 minutes away. You know what they say about opinions.... but I would at least take a ride out Luling preferably in the Mimosa Park area and just see what the neighborhoods look like. For more info on the fishing and hunting you can e-mail me at etchabert@yahoo.com. Goodluck with your new start.

ditto Luling and St Charles parish. Thats the spot.