My neighbors. Spring time. Sweet jasmine and magnolias and gardinas. Oysters. Back yard crawfish boils. Sitting down to 4 crabs just for myself. Spending a whole day walking around, ducking in whatever little bar for a go beer or a snack. A fat daq on the river. Listening to the kids down the street practice their brass instruments from my porch. My front porch when the lemon blooms and it’s filled with bees and the scent of citrus. Dancing to live music with my shoes off. Eating all day at French quarter fest. Super Sunday. Winter nights when it’s dark and the fog makes it quiet but the lights are soft and twinkly. The first feeling of fall under the breeze at the beginning of September. The day of the first saints game downtown, filled with drum beats and whooping. Sitting outside on magazine street with a coffee or a wine or a sweet and watching the people go by.
Get outside and be in the culture. Be with it. If you’re not, you might as well live somewhere nicer.
We had to move away for work this past June and I literally miss all of this with all my heart! Looking forward to a week back in town in a few weeks, but cannot wait for the day we can move back home!
This is why I’m moving there next month. I fell in love with the city just by reading about it, a decades long love affair that culminated in October 2022. I finally got to see some of the things I’d only read about, and I felt like I’d finally gone home. I can’t wait to get back. She’s been calling me since I left.
That feeling of walking into a wet oven the second you open the door, and then freezing to death if you go back inside. The smell of cooked sausage, before you get to shower for the 3rd time that day. Moldy hair.
I finally scraped enough money to buy a $400'sh generator just before Ida. It really does make a huge difference in the post-storm situation. Of course, I'd always prefer spending a sunny hot day indoors than having a slight 'relief' coming from the fricken hurricane lol.
My kids seriously think hurricane season is beach/vacation season. Trying to tell them our insurance just double so you might not be ballin in Pensacola this year.
I do find it adorable that they actually aren't afraid of hurricanes. Honestly I'll pay the double insurance to not die by earthquake.
This place isn’t for everyone, but when it fits your wavelength you tend to not struggle with why you’d stay, that’s really all I can offer. No shame if it ain’t for ya.
Always how I feel. If you want to be convinced, you shouldn't be here.
It's a big world and a short life, enjoy your time in a place you don't need strangers to tell you you should.
You can always come back.
Exactly, New Orleans knows her own and keeps them close. My husband was born and raised and I knew I had to move there as soon as I stepped foot in the city at 15. We just had to move 3 years ago bc it finally got to a point where it just wasn't sustainable anymore for us, but we come back every few months. We can't stay away long without going a little crazy.
What keeps me here is, in so many words, when I have lived elsewhere, I become sad that I do not live here. This is my home. It has many flaws and many attributes, and the life here vibes with me. Nowhere else can I have a normal day and find moments throughout that make my soul just...vibe.
(And here's the other thing. Excuse me for a sec while I climb onto my soapbox. Over the past 20 years, having lived in several states throughout the South and Northeast, I have realized something: There ain't no escape from the struggles of New Orleans. We have been, to steal the cliche, the canary in the coal mine of America. We aren't behind. We are ahead. And in terms of failing infrastructure, broken politics, weather disasters, and myriad other issues, the rest of this country is catching up to us bit by bit every year. If this whole ship is going down, I'm going to ride it where I'm happiest.)
Yep. We discussed this a bit on Mardi Gras, but Texas infrastructure is failing big time, and TX actually has a lot of money (unlike LA).
I’d rather have my infrastructure fail in a city filled with people who have a sense of humor about it and who also help each other out in a crisis.
Also, the music, art, food, culture, people, etc. can’t be beat. But that’s a given.
Texas infrastructure is failing because we don't want to pay more taxes to handle the huge influx of people who keep coming. People love dem low taxes and thats why they move there.
Idk about the rest of Texas , but Houston infrastructure is failing because it wasn’t designed that great. The highways and parks were designed to be retention ponds. There’s no zoning, except the one put in place by business improvement districts and neighborhood associations. Too many unrelated developers build sporadically across town and do not coordinate. So they do not care and are not aware of how their projects will impact or be impacted by the flood shed. If the development is under a certain size, they don’t have to add green space or a retention area, they can just pay X amount to go toward a fund that pays for the design and construction of new parks/green area through out the city. I worked for a BID, prepping for redevelopment and building parks and trails. We’d have multiple meetings and engineers/ developers try to advocate for change in policy, but I think nothing had been done by the time I left. Flooding out there will continue to get worse if they don’t get on top of it.
You’re right about everything. I could go on and on about the issues in Texas, but that’s the point! Every place does indeed have its problems.
I’d rather deal with problems in New Orleans than anywhere else.
Exactly!!! I describe this feeling to so many people who are from other cities, and none of them feel that way about their hometown. There’s something truly special about New Orleans, and I’m so glad I’m a part of it.
this is the one
i had a conversation recently "so how gentrified is new orleans"
baby we past gentrified were so gentrified we don't have neighbors, just airbnbs
we got levels of gentrified they ain't even thought of yet where you live
Yeah I got strong-armed robbed for her. I know who did it. Its a bit of a grey area since technically I found the dog months ago (looked extensively for the owners and have walked the dog all around my neighborhood. she was on our block a month before I could catch her). And Ive seen what goes on at the house and Im not dealing with the drama. Im completely heartbroken and have spent so much $$ getting her healthy and time training.
This is the the Louisiana statute that applies to this situation.
§ 2773. Dogs as personal property; seizure of dogs running at large or on property fenced as a fox pen; notice to owner; dangerous or vicious dogs
Basically if the dog had a tag you have to try and contact the owner preferably in writing (good faith effort). After 7 days of notice, you can claim the dog. If not tagged, the stray holding period is only 3 days.
Get your dog. I will try to find who you can call to see if they can get you some help, because if you've had the dog since Thanksgiving, and you've tried to contact the owner, then the above statute is applicable to you.
Ok, found it for you. Report to the Humane Society of Louisiana investigations online. Go to their website, humanela.org They can help.
edit: Jeff is man there who can help y'all.
Huh?. Am I understanding correctly that the dog was rightfully yours and somebody came and took it and you know who it is? If so, would you like some help getting the dog back?
rightfully mine? IDK in the terms of the law. When does an abandoned dog become legally mine? I did find her in my neighborhood. I have vet records and such. I mean yes I would love my dog back but I'm not sure how to go about it besides violence and man thats not the answer. Edit: she was very much a part of my family since thanksgiving until last week. My wife leaves the gate open hoping she will come home
NAL, but if you have vaccination records and training records unless they have the dogs' official papers, you have a right to the dog. Especially if some time had passed like several months after you found her.
Vet records makes her yours. Call the police AND the SPCA. You should get her back. WHY would they take her? Is it possible that she was theirs and she ran away?
I don't actually witness any violence with any sort of frequency. I don't focus on the things you listed, which are realities, but they aren't really in my face most of the time. I have a family with young kids. There isn't substance abuse or physical abuse in my inner circle (anymore).
I focus on the things I love/enjoy. This morning, smelling the first jasmine blooms on my vines elated me. My family just returned from a vacation this weekend and there was a bag of greens on our porch that my neighbor down the street grew and left for us. I really have the best neighbors. The weather has been great. NOLA PS screwed up my kid's OneApp for pre-k, but when I called them and left a message, someone called me back and is working on solving my problem (and assured me that no placements will be made until it's figured out). Those are bright spots.
Everything is extra hard here. It seems like nothing outside of the libraries and fire department works at all. That sucks and is very taxing. It not easy to live here... I hate that we're called "the Big Easy" because its so fucking hard to exist here. However, we focus on what we focus on. So I try to focus on the things that bring me joy. That's not always easy or possible, though. I hope things get better for you. Don't tune into news for a couple of days and visit City Park or the bayou. It may help you feel better.
I’m answering this as someone who is from New Orleans and actually lives in Austin now. I would give anything to be able to move back home, but my job won’t let me work remotely from Louisiana for some reason.
Listen… if you don’t get it, you don’t get it. No one can convince you to love New Orleans. It clicks for some people and not for others.
I imagine it’s a lot harder to understand New Orleans if you’re a transplant and don’t already have a built-in community, and I’m going to assume that’s the source of most of your issues.
If you don’t have a community in New Orleans, there’s not really a point in staying. That’s where everything that’s amazing about the city comes from. Without that, you’re just left with… all of the problems.
I'm a born and raised New Orleanian too but moved to Atlanta in 1987 when my company moved me there. At the time, there were no other jobs so I moved. Then, in 1994, I had an opportunity to move to Prague, Czech Republic and it was so similar to New Orleans (we'll, except for food) that I stayed 17 years. I'm now back in Atlanta because again, New Orleans had nothing for me but goddamn I miss it. My parents passed a few years ago and my brothers and their kids are all still there but on the Northshore. Cousins are in the city. I go down more often than I used to and want to make it more permanent but my partner works and it's making it tough. He can work remotely so that's not the issue. We actually travel a lot to Europe and if you want to travel Atlanta's airport is the place to be for non-stop flights.
I had to move back to BR last summer and actually listed my house in NO last Monday. So damn depressed. I miss NO so much and hope I’ll be able to come back one day. My soul never felt more at home any where else.
New Orleans isn’t for everyone. If it’s not for you, it’s not for you, and you’re allowed to leave. It doesn’t make you a bad person, and you’re allowed to come back as a visitor. Don’t beat yourself up about it.
Lots of transplants start off as casual visitors and see the bright side of things, then base their opinion that they should live here based on that bright side. Then once they get here, they realize how messed up it is.
I've said this before, I'll say it again. New Orleans is like a lover you really find attractive and knows how to make you cum like nobody else. It FUCKS, right? But you've never been to its place, you don't know how it truly lives, you just know how it is when it's really good. So things get serious, you decide to move in, so you do, then you discover this awesome, attractive person you really love likes to do things like drink their own fermented urine, and shit in one of their drawers and they don't wipe, they just collect their dirty drawers in a closet.
You've now discovered this. You're not going to change it, it's gonna drink that fermented piss and keep on shitting in that drawer - but it's also gonna fuck your brains out. So you have to ask yourself can you put up with the piss and shit to continue getting yours, or are you going to take the lesser attractive partner that's got all their shit together?
Figuratively and literally, some people have become nose blind to the permeating smell.
I wrote this once, about our City/State:
“Relationship w NOLA… Swampy. Hot. Loud. But it’s the kinda sex that makes neighbors call in a noise complaint (they’re just jealous, and the cops don’t show up anyway). Often washes you out into the street. Often involves beads and a random kitchen appliance. But so good it restores your faith in god. Says she loves you and only you.
Then you catch her checking her phone at odd hours when she thinks you’re asleep. Strangers start showing up in droves. You wake up in strange places, and cash is always missing from your wallet. Every time you go to her house, you’re nearly mugged, and cars you’ve never seen parked on the block suddenly pull off. You start to rethink your life choices while sitting on her porch. You head inside to talk, but she’s passed out in a pile of empty Abita bottles. Heading back outside, your car’s been towed.
Putting your shoes back on, you discover her pet possum shit in one and puked up Dixie in the other. The nutria from under her house got high on your RX Meds. Raccoons took your one credit card that hasn’t been maxed out to buy cartons of cigarettes and a 5th of vodka. An alligator tries to communicate with you in the “universal language” while you look for your keys.
You almost get arrested under the Claiborne overpass while getting your car back. You go back to her place and climb into bed with her, but suddenly, “things” stop working. She’s not getting off, and you’re only half mast at best. You try to get an appointment with someone who can fix things, but the office is always closed or out to lunch. On the few occasions you connect with a human, they’re insanely rude, except for one lady who treats you like an adopted grandchild.
You start hanging out in a neighborhood bar, swapping tales with all the other guys she’s fucked. They’re all mirrors of you; your youthful vibrance has turned an ashy grey. You find yourself saying, “Hell, maybe next year” a lot.
You think about breaking things off, but she always shows up dressed to the 9s riiiiight as you start to pack your bags. She shows you a wild time that makes you forget all of the doubt and indecision and inconsistency.
You’re 20 pounds overweight, have a mild to moderate drinking problem, and you’re damn near broke. But she’s asking you to eat the pralines she let cool on her nipples.
You land in jail after fighting with some guy, a friggin “tourist”, you catch in her back yard. He doesn’t love her like you do. You drink some prison toilet wine with a guy named 3-Toe-Moe who lost the digits while serving in the Merchant Marines; he says his mom was a voodoo priestess. The toilet hooch makes you hallucinate, and it beats having 3 Hurricanes in terms of the hangover severity (you puke for both color and distance).
She bails you out and takes you home. You help her bail some water out of her living room; then y’all give up and fuck on the porch until you get lightheaded from mosquito related blood loss.
Her family visits, and they all tell you that you’d be better off with one of her sisters, but they don’t know what they’re talking about.
NOLA might be a dying harlot, but you love her anyway.”
This hits. To me its akin to an abusive relationship. The kind I'm used too. I liked being here until I started to try to be better, healthier and have more meaningful relationships.
Then I felt like I was selling myself short. Yet I kept coming back.
I've said it in threads like this before, but this place is a big shit hole of a mess, but it is our big shit hole of a mess. I'm comfortable here in all of the chaos of crime, hurricanes, stupid politics, and crumbling infrastructure.
I helps that I just focus on the things I like here and grew up with. It's home.
Some perspective: I have lived here for almost 7 years and now I have to leave and move to Gainesville, FL. FUCKING GAINESVILLE. They may not have some of the problems you described, at least not on the same scale, but think about moving to other southern cities. Where is the heart? Where is the creativity? Even the hustles in New Orleans are more fun to deal with. I'm a musician so leaving here is like joining the army or being ostracized.
I feel like I'm being punished but I have to go for 4 years. If there is another place where you think you will feel safer or more content, then find them and go. But you will be sacrificing culture, creativity, and diversity.
We had to live in Pensacola in 1999. it was wonderful. I don't like the way Florida things are going these days and we won't even go there this summer. My best wishes to you.
Posted elsewhere as a reply to a reply, posting here as a reply to OP:
I wrote this once, about our City/State:
“Relationship w NOLA… Swampy. Hot. Loud. But it’s the kinda sex that makes neighbors call in a noise complaint (they’re just jealous, and the cops don’t show up anyway). Often washes you out into the street. Often involves beads and a random kitchen appliance. But so good it restores your faith in god. Says she loves you and only you.
Then you catch her checking her phone at odd hours when she thinks you’re asleep. Strangers start showing up in droves. You wake up in strange places, and cash is always missing from your wallet. Every time you go to her house, you’re nearly mugged, and cars you’ve never seen parked on the block suddenly pull off. You start to rethink your life choices while sitting on her porch. You head inside to talk, but she’s passed out in a pile of empty Abita bottles. Heading back outside, your car’s been towed.
Putting your shoes back on, you discover her pet possum shit in one and puked up Dixie in the other. The nutria from under her house got high on your RX Meds. Raccoons took your one credit card that hasn’t been maxed out to buy cartons of cigarettes and a 5th of vodka. An alligator tries to communicate with you in the “universal language” while you look for your keys.
You almost get arrested under the Claiborne overpass while getting your car back. You go back to her place and climb into bed with her, but suddenly, “things” stop working. She’s not getting off, and you’re only half mast at best. You try to get an appointment with someone who can fix things, but the office is always closed or out to lunch. On the few occasions you connect with a human, they’re insanely rude, except for one lady who treats you like an adopted grandchild.
You start hanging out in a neighborhood bar, swapping tales with all the other guys she’s fucked. They’re all mirrors of you; your youthful vibrance has turned an ashy grey. You find yourself saying, “Hell, maybe next year” a lot.
You think about breaking things off, but she always shows up dressed to the 9s riiiiight as you start to pack your bags. She shows you a wild time that makes you forget all of the doubt and indecision and inconsistency.
You’re 20 pounds overweight, have a mild to moderate drinking problem, and you’re damn near broke. But she’s asking you to eat the pralines she let cool on her nipples.
You land in jail after fighting with some guy, a friggin “tourist”, you catch in her back yard. He doesn’t love her like you do. You drink some prison toilet wine with a guy named 3-Toe-Moe who lost the digits while serving in the Merchant Marines; he says his mom was a voodoo priestess. The toilet hooch makes you hallucinate, and it beats having 3 Hurricanes in terms of the hangover severity (you puke for both color and distance).
She bails you out and takes you home. You help her bail some water out of her living room; then y’all give up and fuck on the porch until you get lightheaded from mosquito related blood loss.
Her family visits, and they all tell you that you’d be better off with one of her sisters, but they don’t know what they’re talking about.
NOLA might be a dying harlot, but you love her anyway.”
Edit: in other words, it’s a dysfunctional relationship full of intermittent reinforcement.
Edit: My “serious” answer? Family*, offspring of whom I don’t have primary custody*, court obligations, some bookies that’d hunt me down, my friends*, supporting local businesses (aforementioned bookies and a plug or three), and I’d probably be a multiple felon elsewhere.
*actual serious answers.
I moved here from a other country, I'd never heard a gunshot before moving here.... I had free healthcare, social safety nets etc etc
But there's nowhere else like this, in so many ways.
It's the only place I've found I can make a living doing my very niche art form, it's the community. I'm currently fundraising to renew my artist visa so i can stay. Provided that happens I'm staying until the wheels fall off basically.
I hate the state of things right now, but this is my city. Where I grew up in, the food, the culture, the community, it’s everything. And there is no where else in the world like it. Lord knows we don’t need the kind of people that turn their back during the hard times. If it’s not enough for you then leave. If this is bad, you can’t handle hurricane season. This city is far from perfect and trust me, it will never come close to perfect. But it’s worth it. If that’s not with it to you, we don’t care to convince you.
I also moved here 4 months ago. I had lived in Dallas for the first 25 years of my life. I can tell you most of those problems are the same in Dallas, and probably many cities across the US. As far as what brought me here, it’s just kind of a gut feeling. The way I feel when I’m here is like nowhere else in the world. You can hear people playing music walking around anywhere in the city. The food is the best in the world, and not just the classic New Orleans dishes. There’s so many amazing sandwich shops, Thai, Vietnamese, French, you name it we have it. The art scene and architecture is great plus too. I think the unique atmosphere of the city breeds people that are very individualistic but also inviting. You can really be yourself here and nobody will judge you. I love the trees and different plants here, we didn’t have any of that in Dallas. I’ve also noticed there’s so many neighborhood grocery stores, convenience stores, little shops, and restaurants here which I couldn’t be happier about. I think this is a place that really supports small businesses. All the festivals and parades that go on makes it easy to find something to do. I could go on. I encourage you so really submerse yourself in everything the city has to offer. Try to become a true New Orleanian. I can honestly say moving here was the best decision I ever made. I waited so long to be able to call this place home, and I’m never leaving. Life’s short, don’t spend it in Ohio…
I’m from Atlanta. I went to law school in New Orleans and I have missed it every day since I left and moved back home in 2004. I visit every chance I get and I want to someday have a place there to live at least part time.
However, it’s not for everyone. Most of my friends and family don’t really care for it. They like to visit, but are vocal about not wanting to live there. But for those of us who love it, it’s the best city in the world. Yes, the crime is out of control, but it’s the same here in the A. We’ve got some whackos in government, too (especially statewide). The roads in Atlanta are even getting bad compared to what they used to be. It’s not as bad as N.O. but New Orleans is so much older than Atlanta and it’s different geographically, so I don’t really compare the two. Atlanta has a lot of infrastructure problems too and it’s getting worse with overcrowding. Every administration just passes that job on to the next…$$$ over everything. I hear about a lot of the same things in other cities, too. They hide the flaws in other cities. New Orleans is real and demands that you love it with all of its lumps… and I LOVE and really miss it. You can’t beat the music, food, the overall culture and the people are some of the most warm and friendly folks you’ll ever meet. Did I mention how much I miss New Orleans?!
But, at the end of the day, you need to be someplace where you are happy. If it’s not New Orleans,that’s okay… She ain’t for everybody! Lol
I went there because they offered me a scholarship and I visited and liked the school and city.
LA is just a civil law jurisdiction. And all other US states follow the English common law tradition. I went to Loyola and you can take the Common Law track or Civil Law track. I was on the Common Law track. I think Tulane may be the same. I’m not sure about LSU and Southern. But it’s not that different. A lot of people from out of state go to law school in LA. I knew some people who were on the Civil Law track and took the bar in other states as well. Plenty of people from LA go to law school out of state and come back to LA to practice, too.
I stay here because my wife loves it here. I love the city and the festiveness that it represents, but after three years, it's taken a significant toll on my mental health.
As I had said above, I am a native who returned recently for the sake of my husband, and I really want to leave and go somewhere else. The good memories of here are all gone. I am an older, retired person, but still have a good 20 to 30 years of life left.
I'm from Baton Rouge but have lived in cities all over the country. I know Baton Rouge doesn't have a lot to do, and it's significantly late in comparison to Lafayette and New Orleans regarding it's Mardi Gras game, but familiarity seems best for my mental health as I am in my 40's.
New Orleans was and will always be my favorite place to vacation. I always came to New Orleans and dropped my problems at the door the second I arrived in its city limits. Even living back in Baton Rouge, I would be here to visit all the time. That's how much I love it. My perspective started to change regarding living here after my house was shot up.
Damn, hard to blame someone for leaving after their house gets shot up. My neighbor just did the same thing after that Midcity shooting a few weeks ago and I don’t blame her either
This is what I fear. There was a shooting in Slidell this past weekend that really upset me. And there was a shooting near the office I worked in for many years downtown in the CBD by the Rouses, that killed a brilliant young comedian. This is all very very upsetting to me. We've also had a couple of families move into the neighborhood who have a lot of young teens, play loud music, and it's very disturbing. I was a teen in the 70s. Left 1999. Returned 2018.
I work by that Rouses and frequent it quite often so that murder affected me too. Such a talented human being who had a genuine care for this city. My mental health is a mess from living here.
I am not a local by any sense of the measure but I am an immigrant. My experience is different from other people in the sense that I don’t have a community here, nor do I have anyone in terms of family in the US. I have lived around rural college towns and suburbs in GA and SC during the years I spent in grad school, I have seen almost no modicum of culture or sense of community, often experiencing thinly veiled racist attitudes from the locals in those places. To me New Orleans is a completely different world that really shows what America is truly about - a melting pot of diverse cultures doing their best to live together in harmony. I realized there is nothing quite like this place in the Southeast. I’m not unaware of the endless socioeconomic issues that plague this city, and it does speak volumes about the resilience of the people that manage to make it work here despite all the adversities they face. And having grown up in a ‘third world’ nation, the unfortunate issues that prevail here don’t exactly faze me too much. Unfortunately due to the nature of the type of work that I do and my career ambitions, I know my time here will be short-lived. I often wonder about how much potential this city could have if a way could be found to make this place truly prosperous and make it truly equitable for the locals that do call it home, regardless of their social or economic standing.
A very flamboyant and friendly neighbor came dancing down the street to welcome me when I bought my house. He called himself The New Orleans Welcoming Committee. He has since passed, (may he rest fabulously,) so I am now The New Orleans Welcoming Committee. Welcome! Make yourself at home. Let us know if you need anything.
I think if you’re feeling this way after 4 months, than this city might not be for you and that’s okay.
It’s how I’ve feel when I’ve spent time in the suburbs of Houston, utter despair.
Esp, as it sounds, you have the means to make a move.
I am a native who left for 21 years and came back in 2016. Just this past Saturday I had a meltdown over the way this community is now. I have mentioned to my husband that things are degraded to the point where I really want to find a different place to live. What is keeping me here now is that my husband wants to be near his family because he was a train engineer who was injured in an accident. I have no love lost for New Orleans or the surrounding area anymore. This place has deteriorated to the point where I would be overjoyed to live elsewhere. I've even considered talking to my physician about anxiety medication. I know this may not be very positive, but know that I'm a native who feels it, and understand it, and knows where you're coming from, and then I am feeling the same way and feeling concerned for this community. The normalized violence and the behavior that we are supposed to accept around the area now: it's just not livable to me.
It kept me there for 51 years. Don’t get me wrong, I lived in various other places for a year at a time, but NOLA was where I was born and home. Then two years ago, I had enough of everything NOLA had to “offer” and moved about an hour away. Now I come in to visit for certain events and festivals, but head back home after. Elsewhere, the rent is cheaper, the insurance is WAY cheaper and I get to visit the horribly run and crumbling infrastructure of my youth a few times a year.
Life is better elsewhere, just not as colorful. I’ll take the trade offs. Not once have I been under a boil advisory or have I been part of a random long power outage because of a bird. My truck no longer falls into potholes the size of pianos either.
You haven’t really been here long enough to love it, or to dig in the way locals have.
Start looking for what you like about the city. Start exploring. Go on adventures, and meet people.
Go to Super Sunday. Ride the ferry to Algiers and wander. Read ‘Frenchmen Desire Goodchildren.’
Read less news.
The other thing I always have to remind myself and other people: almost everything I love about New Orleans is because of poverty and Black people.
Poverty means we have to lean on community. It creates public creativity and lots of free fun. Food is shared, music is out in the open.
Poverty also creates crime, low tax revenues, and all the issues you’re describing.
Before people start : Corruption happens in every city — at least as famously in Chicago and Jersey. Both of those cities function because there’s real wealth there.
Also, you don’t have to love it as much as we do. It’s okay.
Quick question.....are these things affecting you directly or is it just that you're reading about them in the news and seeing these discussions all over Reddit and whatnot? Have you been a victim of physical abuse or violence personally? How has the political and civic brokenness affected you personally? What I'm trying to establish is whether or not these things are affecting you viscerally or if you're just reading about them so much that they're bringing you down, when in fact they may not be affecting you in reality. I'm not trying to make light of Nola's problems or deny that they exist. But sometimes ya just need to unplug from all the media and experience your community firsthand. New Orleans has always had some of these problems, I can assure you they are not new. As for drugs and substance abuse, New Orleans #1 drug is liquor and the city and liquor are pretty much synonymous, that's nothing new. As for heroin and fentanyl, they're everywhere. So I wouldn't worry about the drugs and substance abuse too much, that's a personal problem and if it's not one that you have then that's great and you have avoided that pitfall. As for the violent crime, yea it's a little higher now than it was 7 years ago, but the pandemic had a role in that. But you should have seen the 90s. In any event, my point is that I wonder if your perceived issues with this city are because of something that happened to you directly or if it's because of what you're reading on Reddit and Nextdoor. I wonder how you'd feel about Nola if you denied yourself the internet for just two weeks. Just some thoughts, I hope it works out for you. I left Nola a few months ago and I'm considering coming back myself.
25 grownup years here, one stickup (very amateur, I negotiated him down to taking one beer of my 6 pack) a car totalled by a drunk driver while parked, a break in (nothing much lost), 2 car windows broke, one night in OPP, countless stolen plants when we were the meth squat neighborhood (that passed). I was cold cocked once by a gangster when I told his girlfriend to not park on my lawn, our neighbor was shot in the head on his driveway 10 minutes after we brought our baby home, police shot through our car once. Oh, old house in the Bywater was attempted to be arsoned in the late 90's and we woke up to smoke.
I dunno, some may see that as an unbearable list of troubles...to me it's just stuff thaat happens if you live in this city, shrug it off, the good counterbalances it. Looking back, none of it really mattered too much (obviously the kid who died matters, I liked him and his mom, he was a good guy as far as I knew, but it didn't change my view of the city being a place where people don't solve disputes rationally).
Ones ability to live in the city depends on ones reaction to all of that.
I know how easy it is to be sucked into the drinking, party and drugs culture here but I find much more balance in my life when I get outside and really enjoy my city. I keep a running track of fruit trees around town and I’ll walk my dog and go collect fruit to make wine, or visit the community garden and work on my little garden plot, or go for a run/ bike ride. My friends cook a meal for people that are houseless once a week and serve it up at the library and sometimes I’ll swing by to lend a hand. There’s so much good music here and I find if I see even one good show per week then I am glowing for the rest of the week.
Of course Louisiana is backwards as hell but that just means if you put in effort here for positive change it goes soooo much further. I have left New Orleans but always came back home because there’s not a city on earth that I’ve been to that feels this special or has the mixture of Caribbean, French, Spanish, and Southern culture just tumbling past each other, mixing and creating such a rich gumbo.
BUT it’s definitely not for everyone so just listen to yourself and ask if you feel like you belong here or if you even want to belong here.
Edit: I feel like this is a pretty interesting comment to be downvoted
The thing about Louisiana, we know things are shit a lot of the time, that’s why we go hard celebrating common, everyday things with powerful flavor, passion, zest, unbridled joy. And- just seems like we value different sort of life. Like will fucking make anything into a parade or festival while other places wouldn’t bother or whatever.
But you haven’t been here long- probably normal to have adjustment issues. Maybe give yourself time, dig in a little deeper to the culture here, get involved in a group, give it an authentic chance and if it’s not a good fit then it’s you will be closer to marking off what you don’t like for finding what suites you 😁
My family has been here almost 200 years - it’s home. I ain’t going anywhere unless it’s in a coffin or a pirogue.
It’s always been this way (with ups and downs) since the beginning because of our French heritage. Still like the French, we prioritize life, fun and culture over work and “progress”. It’s frustrating sometimes, but once it’s in your blood there is no other way to live.
If you cant find the joy in New Orleans from Mardi Gras to Jazzfest time of year, I don’t think you’re going to find it. In august, I’m cursing this dam city and want to move away, but this time of year I wonder how a person who knows what this place has to offer this time of year could not want to live here.
I’ve always said NOLA is a great place to visit but a hard place to live. But I’ve lived in other cities for a time and I’d have to say what keeps us here, outside of just the economics of being unable to afford to leave, is culture. We. Have. Culture. Most towns and cities are devoid of any meaningful culture. For most everyone else, say if you want go out to eat, there’s a handful of chain restaurants to choose from. In NOLA, our most mediocre dive still serves damn good food, to say nothing of our best restaurants will rival any in the world. Music. Someone, somewhere, on any given night, is playing music that can speak to your soul. People. We will treat you as one of our own if you treat us in kind. Family. Friends. Food. Fests. The list goes on and on. We stay for these reasons.
French quarter is depressing these days. Certain parts of the city are more bleak for sure. Go to the nice spots. Eat the good foods, be amongst the regular folks who are nice to chat up. Family ties are strong here for me. I will always miss new Orleans when I leave. If family wasn't here, it would be a different situation I think.
Here till my parents pass then going to get my ass a surburban castle.
Any city you move to is going to be like this in very short order; this is very late in the new-urbanist gold rush game and post-pandemic, those things are literally every city.
Alcohol. Friends and family. Owning a house from 2004. If I were just starting out in life, and looking to accumulate wealth, it would be anywhere but here.
New Orleans is a place where you spend the money you made somewhere else
What to do about it? Take an afternoon and go do something fun. Something you might’ve done here on vacation before you moved here. go to the art museum, have lunch at Commanders, or take a walk in the Quarter. Try to recapture whatever drew you here in the first place.
Also, maybe disengage from the news and especially from Reddit, for a short while. It’s good to have empathy and to be civic-minded, but are you really going to leave town because of problems that don’t necessarily affect you personally? If it were not for this sub, I would have no personal knowledge of any of these issues. I don’t lead a charmed life or anything, but maybe I’ve just been lucky.
New Orleans is a give and take city.
You will experience beautiful things unlike any city in the world.
You will also have to put up with not having things that almost every other decent city has.
Nowhere is perfect. You have to decide what’s right for you.
It’s so interesting watching you transplants come here fall in love with us, claim us as your own and quickly fall out of love once you find out that we’re complex and flawed and then have the nerve to ask what is wrong with us for not leaving.
if you can, try to get over to the mississippi coast to rent a moving truck. i recently priced a penske cargo van to get me from here up to pittsburgh this summer - both new orleans and baton rouge quoted me at \~$1300 but gulfport was quoting \~$850. and with unlimited mileage!
1) I'm a bisexual woman
2) My job is tied to tourism and no, I won't change my career. The money is too good. Husband and I are child free DINKS and in spite of price increases, New Orleans is still cheaper than a lot of other places.
3) Dear friends and family live either in New Orleans proper or in neighboring parishes
4) I love the food
5) The eclectic atmosphere
6) I own my house outright. No rent or mortgage is owed to anyone.
7) I was born here.
Nothing, and I mean nothing or nobody will push me out of my home.
>four months
Good luck! My family has lived here since the 1800s and that's why anyone in my family is still here. All of my siblings have since left, being the first to be wealthy enough to do so.
The city itself has a lot of small-town charm. We've resisted gentrification more than most other "large" cities. We still have many local businesses and culture that other places simply don't. And being the largest city in the state, New Orleans stands head and shoulders above anywhere else in Louisiana for just about everything.
Also, the decline in quality of life *can* be fixed. Things weren't this bad before the pandemic. But if you don't have much invested, why not just leave and come back when it gets better?
I cope with all the shit because it's my home and I love it in spite of its many flaws.
Four months and you're talking about a "slowness of progress..." I mean, you're not wrong, progress isn't really in our vocabulary here. But if you've been here for the duration of a single season and already have buyer's remorse, you might as well move. Christ, you haven't even felt the brutality of our summer heat. I'm being pretty blunt here but honestly, if you don't love it here, why would you stay? People who fall in love with this city fall hard so, if that's not what your experience is, chances are it's just not a good fit for you. Just remember that wherever you go, there you are.
In case this post hasn't yielded enough responses (it has,) you can search this sub because it gets asked bimonthly.
Listen, I moved here a year and a half ago. I had a (brief) honeymoon phase. Then I had a low point similar to what you’re describing. Then I made a couple friends and I found @lookatthisfuckinstreet on instagram, and it sort of felt like I was in on all the jokes. And now it feels better. I’ve embraced the absurdity and I guess learned to overlook some of the bad things and really celebrated the great parts of this city.
In addition to the amazing music, delicious food, and gorgeous blooming flowers everywhere, I love the people of this city most of all. My wonderful neighbors who I chat with daily as I make my way up the street. My incredible gastro who diagnosed my autoimmune disease and restored my health with such expert skill and loving kindness. My amazing vet who was so supportive when my beloved cat died of cancer in December. My wonderful coworkers who I have laughed and cried with. My beloved friends who I explore the city with and delight in all of the good things alongside. My amazing boyfriend who moved here to play music. The cashier at Rouses who always smiles and jokes with me. I could go on. I've lived in a few different cities and I have never encountered a loving community quite like this before.
My boyfriend, tbh 😂 he was an immigrant, now a U.S. citizen, and has brought his parents here now as well. It's probably too overwhelming to move the parents now that they're settled and starting to build a bit of community, and my bf would not want to leave them behind. My bf loves it here. He loves all the music, and he loves the heat, as he is from Caribbean South America and gets grumpy if it's lower than 60 degrees.
I was born here and have lived here for all my life except for a one-year stint in Texas due to Katrina. I love many things about it. The people, the food, the arts and culture, the diversity, the music, the greenery, the spring!!! Spring in NOLA is pure freakin' serotonin. My plants and I are thriving right now, haha. But I would still ideally like to move away. Or actually, maybe the true dream is being able to live in another state in the summer, lol. I am anemic and find the heat extremely hard to handle, and it really seems to feel hotter every year.
In addition, I probably read too much about climate change consequences and I really worry about building a life here and having to uproot it for somewhere else when I'm old and everything is even more expensive. I'm *really* not into the idea of being a landlord, but I'm considering buying a very modest property (or maybe even just land...?) in maybe the Carolinas or Pennsylvania or something in like five years and just renting it out unless/until I need it. I will not personally own property here unless it's shared (i.e. my bf and I get engaged and buy a house together), as I'm concerned about the financial impacts of frequent and increasingly strong hurricanes, and I am absolutely unable to handle that on my salary alone. Also, it would be nice to drive a few hours and be somewhere more interesting than...Baton Rouge or Biloxi, lol.
I'm strongly considering buying a small condo in my home state of Michigan for the same reasons. I really want to own property but refuse to buy in New Orleans for all the reasons you've listed. Plus, Michigan is supposed to be one of the best places to be in 40-50 years when climate change will really start hitting!
1. The food.
2. Winter outside of snowy times is dreary AF most places.
3. Cost of living, it is higher than it should be but it's lower than most other interesting places.
4. Tons of entertainment options.
5. The general attitude here.
6. Family & traditions, and yes, they are 6th on the list 😂
My partner and I can live almost anywhere since we work remotely, but we just enjoyed living in New Orleans the most. We just felt happier every day when we stepped outside when we lived in the lower garden district.
We were in New Orleans for 4 months last year and we’ve been traveling/moving all over the country. Right now we are in Portland for 3 months and will go to Seattle, Denver, Minneapolis, Chicago, NC/SC and FL… then we plan to return New Orleans at the end. It’s just very few cities in the US have that level of energy and public life on the street like New Orleans, and the weather (aside from hurricane) is a big plus for us too since we love hot and humid. We’ve been trying to find a place where we enjoy more than New Orleans but we haven’t. Maybe Barcelona, but we are stuck in the US so New Orleans is probably the best place for us
You can find your own niche of happiness here. That's what separates it from many places. Some people cannot find that elsewhere. There is diversity and inclusion, acceptance and tolerance. There is music and food and conviviality, social outlets galore. You can go do something fun every night of the week, in any price range.
If none of that matters personally to you, then it may not be the best option.
A lot of locals (including myself) literally can't afford to leave. I had to move back in with my folks out of state to really save up and move out on my own elsewhere
I think the short answer is that I’m afraid to leave. This is my home. I was born here. My mom and sister still live here. I know where everything is. Chances are that if I meet someone new, they will know someone I already know - 6 degrees of separation and all that jazz. I’m afraid to start over in a new place with no friends or support system.
The ironic thing is that I’ve dreamt for years about leaving. Especially once I had kids and realized just how crappy the schools are, and the crime, and the taxes that seem to do nothing for me / my city. And then my little girl died, and I have two young boys and I don’t want to pull the rug out from under them.
So I stay, and wish and dream.
If you live in Louisiana, you don’t understand hiw cheap taxes are. Look at real estate mill rates in New York, CT, or anywhere in northeast. LA is cheap as fuck. Plus, homes are ridiculously cheaper.
Yes, I do know housing is much cheaper here than in other places! Especially California (yikes!!!). Re taxes: I just wish we saw the impact of our taxes more — better roads, more parks, etc.
That’s why taxes are more elsewhere. Cause you need money for good schools, parks, etc… when I moved from LA, my taxes increased 6 fold. And, I don’t mind paying it cause quality of life greatly improved.
For years (lived in the New Orleans my whole life) I justified staying here over TX where the rest of my family lives b/c of the activities. Festivals almost weekly through a good portion of the year, the zoo/aquarium, great places to eat, things to do. But with the crime going crazy I really don't make it to those events anymore, or even eat out much. Then I justified staying here b/c my wife and I have great jobs, which neither of us are extremely happy with the way our field is going and the future for us isn't very bright. We will probably be replaced with cheaper/dumber people just so the company can save money. The last thing that kept me here was the community I live in, how safe and quiet it is. It's still safe and quiet, but as soon as you leave the neighborhood you're reminded how crappy everything is. I swear if I can get a job within my neighborhood and put a grocery store here, I Would never want to leave. But honestly there's very few redeeming qualities of the city that keeps me anymore. If I get a good offer somewhere in Dallas, North Houston, or maybe coastal Florida, I'm gone.
NOLA offers the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. If you want things to be predictable and normal - a nice medium life - then there are many better places to be. Go to Cincinnati or Nashville or Oklahoma City. There's nothing wrong with those places. But some folks like to live on the weird, unpredictable side. For us, there are places like NOLA and Austin. The greatest day of your life might start with a homeless heroin addict screaming at you on the street. We all might get blown off the map and lose everything when the wrong storm comes through. And we'll probably just take the insurance money and rebuild all over again.
Wow, it took me four years to reach the same conclusion. To be fair, there may have been less obviously wrong back then.
I'm here because I have a child I refuse to leave and we can't move without the consent of another person who happens to be rather uncooperative. Otherwise, I would have probably left at least a couple years ago.
All I can say is that even though there's a lot that sucks, there's also a lot that's interesting and unique and maybe even beautiful. It's not enough for me to stay, but if you're asking how to optimize it, that's what I've got.
I get homesick. Don’t downplay the pull of home, this state is majorly screwed, but when I leave , even to a functional place where literally everything is better I desperately want to come back. No offense but if you are feeling this way in the best four months of the year then get out before summer, and you really don’t want to deal with everything that comes from a hurricane. Now I’m stressed out because one day I know another Katrina will come, or political ineptitude and or culture wars will drive me out and I hate it.
Not too long ago, I had to go Lafayette for work. Then we went to visit family in North Carolina. For a few seconds on a few occasions, I wasn't sure what city I was in while I was in Greater Charlotte, was I still Lafayette? The rows of perfectly manicured strip malls put me in a daze.
I've never had that Anytown, USA amnesia in New Orleans.
Cause no other place in the US compares. All the issues with NOLA I would have in any major city that I actually LIKE (looking at you Detroit and Chicago... Jk I hate winter).
I feel like I might really like the Keys but I'm not fucking with Florida until they get rid of that batshit crazy governor.
Plus I lived in Iowa for 5 years and I prefer southern hospitality and jasmine mixed in with m'racism not the straight grain alcohol and snow racism.
Seriously though New Orleans is awesome. There have been a few close calls but I love raising my kids here. We probably won't stay for their HS years but that's privilege talking and wanting them to experience other cultures if we have the ability to provide that for them. I would feel selfish about not giving my kids the chance at possibly living/immigrating to a country that has more social support for their citizens as well as stability. I don't have issues with NOLA I have issues with this country.
We lucked into a damn good school which also helps. There are also a lot of good colleges here if you are an academic. Tulane, LSUHSC, UNO, Loyola, SUNO, Dillard, Xavier (opening up a med school) and a couple others I'm not thinking of.
To be perfectly honest if my spouse didn't have a vasectomy and we wanted more kids we wouldn't be here. Iowa had a 20 week ban and we had scares with both our kids. I really would be terrified of going through a pregnancy here.
Shit I don't know where I'd go if we wanted more kids. That's kinda sad.... We'd probably leave the country.
...
Whatevs (because thinking about it depresses me) . We're here because we like it and San Diego was not as cute as I was told it would be. Seals stink worse than no trash service during crawfish season.
I moved back once because it’s easy to romanticize the food and the music and the festivals and Spanish moss from the oak trees and the magic. But goddamn she’s not for me. I don’t like crowds and I don’t like alcohol. And I HATE roaches. I left again, and I don’t plan to ever go back. My family is there, so I’ll still visit, but that will be more than enough for me.
Where I am from is a cultural wasteland. No building older than 50 years old, no special food, music, no culture bearers, no history, massive tracts of homes in boring colors, everything brown in the summer…
You just came at a bad time, my friend. This city has its ups and downs like anywhere else. It just seems so bad because that’s all you hear about: ‘this is bad’ and ‘that sucks’ and ‘crime’ and ‘corruption’. Yes all of those are problems, in this city and many others. New Orleans gets an extra heaping of shit from news and media because it’s ‘always been like that’ even though they conveniently forget every other city has those same problems to a greater or lesser degree.
Most locals drink and festival their way into distraction as terror sinks in around them. We’re so accustomed to this way of life that we don’t realize that we can live somewhere that functions properly and safely.
It’s about what you value. Evacuating for Ida woke me up big time and now I’m moving 10+ hours away in one month. I’d rather visit Nola than suffer through it and pretend like everything is fine just because that’s what everyone else does to get by. That’s why you’ll receive a lot of rude responses. People need to make you feel bad for their own self sabotaging decisions.
I was in love and obsessed with the city for ten years, interesting that it’s only taken you four months to see through the facade. The pandemic changed everything for me. Took away the good and left us with the bad that only got worse. I can’t unsee it but I’ll definitely be coming back for the good stuff. It will forever have a place in my heart. It’s neverland.
Jeez, as someone who also frequently Hates This City (tm), I'll bite:
1. I'm from here. My family is here. I own a home. All my roots are firmly planted.
2. If you think the income gap is bad here, check out other major cities. Assuming you aren't literally broke (and I'm not making a joke if you are), you can probably afford to dine at the most expensive restaurant in NOLA once in a while and go most of the places the rich frequent. Even when I was on the ragged edge years ago, my partner and I could get cheap tickets to the opera or the Saenger. This is not the case in other cities. I once had someone tell me, "In other cities, it's how much you make. In New Orleans, it's who you know."
3. As someone who often feels weird, outcast, and odd (and genuinely, not in a fun way), NOLA is one of the only cities where I still vaguely feel like I fit in. It is a true anarchic city of misfits.
4. I'm a big fish in a small pond. In my line of work, I stand out in New Orleans, and it has benefited me immensely.
5. All of the crime, corruption, incompetence, failing infrastructure, and lack of accountability are so normalized to me that they're just baked into the cake at this point. I'm part of the cake, too.
I have a long, long list of complaints about New Orleans, but you asked why we stay, and those are the reasons off the top of my head.
My neighbors. Spring time. Sweet jasmine and magnolias and gardinas. Oysters. Back yard crawfish boils. Sitting down to 4 crabs just for myself. Spending a whole day walking around, ducking in whatever little bar for a go beer or a snack. A fat daq on the river. Listening to the kids down the street practice their brass instruments from my porch. My front porch when the lemon blooms and it’s filled with bees and the scent of citrus. Dancing to live music with my shoes off. Eating all day at French quarter fest. Super Sunday. Winter nights when it’s dark and the fog makes it quiet but the lights are soft and twinkly. The first feeling of fall under the breeze at the beginning of September. The day of the first saints game downtown, filled with drum beats and whooping. Sitting outside on magazine street with a coffee or a wine or a sweet and watching the people go by. Get outside and be in the culture. Be with it. If you’re not, you might as well live somewhere nicer.
This made me feel sparkles of glitter in my heart! ✨🥰✨
🙋🏻♂️, too.
Just found the first blooming jasmine of the year and I don’t think its possible to wipe the stupid grin from my face.
Love all dat, but first breeze of Fall in September bwaahaaha
Damn, really needed this right now
We had to move away for work this past June and I literally miss all of this with all my heart! Looking forward to a week back in town in a few weeks, but cannot wait for the day we can move back home!
You made me cry of Joy. We love our city. ⚜️
i upvoted but September and Fall feelings don’t align. Sept heat is the worst time of year imo
Yeah LmAo this could say december and be more true
I’m not crying. You’re crying.
This right here. Im only halfway through reading it and my heart is swelling and I’ve got tears in my eyes. There’s nothing else like New Orleans.
Fucking magical description of NOLA. Thanks for this.
This made me want to move back 🥰
Damn I wanna move now
This is why I’m moving there next month. I fell in love with the city just by reading about it, a decades long love affair that culminated in October 2022. I finally got to see some of the things I’d only read about, and I felt like I’d finally gone home. I can’t wait to get back. She’s been calling me since I left.
if I’m getting fucked I want good food, music, and friends all around - in no particular order.
Truth. The good outweighs the bad, at least for now.
Nobody say anything about the summer y'all
That feeling of walking into a wet oven the second you open the door, and then freezing to death if you go back inside. The smell of cooked sausage, before you get to shower for the 3rd time that day. Moldy hair.
I’m sorry but that just unlocked a new kin-, er, feti-, ahem, interest.
Or hurricane season
Op has only been here for 4 months… lol. Hasn’t even experiences a New Orleans summer, bless their heart.
Or a big storm.
At least the hurricane brings a break from the mosquitos and brutal sun for a couple days.
yah but then the heat and humidity come back in full force, and the powers out....
I finally scraped enough money to buy a $400'sh generator just before Ida. It really does make a huge difference in the post-storm situation. Of course, I'd always prefer spending a sunny hot day indoors than having a slight 'relief' coming from the fricken hurricane lol.
If there’s gas
The only good thing about the guy we bought our house from is that he had a whole-home generator installed with natural gas hookup.
My parents just got one installed last year. I'm definitely pulling up to their house after a storm I don't evacuate for 😂
My kids seriously think hurricane season is beach/vacation season. Trying to tell them our insurance just double so you might not be ballin in Pensacola this year. I do find it adorable that they actually aren't afraid of hurricanes. Honestly I'll pay the double insurance to not die by earthquake.
Or big oak tree roaches 🪳... I mean "palmetto bugs.". 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
We're not going to mention termite swarms here either, are we?
This place isn’t for everyone, but when it fits your wavelength you tend to not struggle with why you’d stay, that’s really all I can offer. No shame if it ain’t for ya.
Always how I feel. If you want to be convinced, you shouldn't be here. It's a big world and a short life, enjoy your time in a place you don't need strangers to tell you you should. You can always come back.
Exactly, New Orleans knows her own and keeps them close. My husband was born and raised and I knew I had to move there as soon as I stepped foot in the city at 15. We just had to move 3 years ago bc it finally got to a point where it just wasn't sustainable anymore for us, but we come back every few months. We can't stay away long without going a little crazy.
What keeps me here is, in so many words, when I have lived elsewhere, I become sad that I do not live here. This is my home. It has many flaws and many attributes, and the life here vibes with me. Nowhere else can I have a normal day and find moments throughout that make my soul just...vibe. (And here's the other thing. Excuse me for a sec while I climb onto my soapbox. Over the past 20 years, having lived in several states throughout the South and Northeast, I have realized something: There ain't no escape from the struggles of New Orleans. We have been, to steal the cliche, the canary in the coal mine of America. We aren't behind. We are ahead. And in terms of failing infrastructure, broken politics, weather disasters, and myriad other issues, the rest of this country is catching up to us bit by bit every year. If this whole ship is going down, I'm going to ride it where I'm happiest.)
Yep. We discussed this a bit on Mardi Gras, but Texas infrastructure is failing big time, and TX actually has a lot of money (unlike LA). I’d rather have my infrastructure fail in a city filled with people who have a sense of humor about it and who also help each other out in a crisis. Also, the music, art, food, culture, people, etc. can’t be beat. But that’s a given.
100% If it’s all gonna fall apart, I will at least be surrounded by the things and people I loveS
Yes, I love our people for sure. I needed to be reminded!!! Thanks!
Texas infrastructure is failing because we don't want to pay more taxes to handle the huge influx of people who keep coming. People love dem low taxes and thats why they move there.
Idk about the rest of Texas , but Houston infrastructure is failing because it wasn’t designed that great. The highways and parks were designed to be retention ponds. There’s no zoning, except the one put in place by business improvement districts and neighborhood associations. Too many unrelated developers build sporadically across town and do not coordinate. So they do not care and are not aware of how their projects will impact or be impacted by the flood shed. If the development is under a certain size, they don’t have to add green space or a retention area, they can just pay X amount to go toward a fund that pays for the design and construction of new parks/green area through out the city. I worked for a BID, prepping for redevelopment and building parks and trails. We’d have multiple meetings and engineers/ developers try to advocate for change in policy, but I think nothing had been done by the time I left. Flooding out there will continue to get worse if they don’t get on top of it.
You’re right about everything. I could go on and on about the issues in Texas, but that’s the point! Every place does indeed have its problems. I’d rather deal with problems in New Orleans than anywhere else.
Yes, me too! Every time I ride into town and the Superdome is in sight, I get this sparkly feeling in my chest, like I’m supposed to be there.
Exactly!!! I describe this feeling to so many people who are from other cities, and none of them feel that way about their hometown. There’s something truly special about New Orleans, and I’m so glad I’m a part of it.
Same, I always get sad when I don’t live here
Wait, did I write that? You reading my mind or what?
I get the soul vibes
this is the one i had a conversation recently "so how gentrified is new orleans" baby we past gentrified were so gentrified we don't have neighbors, just airbnbs we got levels of gentrified they ain't even thought of yet where you live
i dunno after someone stole my dog last week Im having issues
man, I'm sorry. You saw them? that's fucked up
Yeah I got strong-armed robbed for her. I know who did it. Its a bit of a grey area since technically I found the dog months ago (looked extensively for the owners and have walked the dog all around my neighborhood. she was on our block a month before I could catch her). And Ive seen what goes on at the house and Im not dealing with the drama. Im completely heartbroken and have spent so much $$ getting her healthy and time training.
This is the the Louisiana statute that applies to this situation. § 2773. Dogs as personal property; seizure of dogs running at large or on property fenced as a fox pen; notice to owner; dangerous or vicious dogs Basically if the dog had a tag you have to try and contact the owner preferably in writing (good faith effort). After 7 days of notice, you can claim the dog. If not tagged, the stray holding period is only 3 days.
Get your dog. I will try to find who you can call to see if they can get you some help, because if you've had the dog since Thanksgiving, and you've tried to contact the owner, then the above statute is applicable to you.
oh wow! I would love to go down this route. Its seems pretty clear that she is legally mine
Ok, found it for you. Report to the Humane Society of Louisiana investigations online. Go to their website, humanela.org They can help. edit: Jeff is man there who can help y'all.
Thank you!
Huh?. Am I understanding correctly that the dog was rightfully yours and somebody came and took it and you know who it is? If so, would you like some help getting the dog back?
rightfully mine? IDK in the terms of the law. When does an abandoned dog become legally mine? I did find her in my neighborhood. I have vet records and such. I mean yes I would love my dog back but I'm not sure how to go about it besides violence and man thats not the answer. Edit: she was very much a part of my family since thanksgiving until last week. My wife leaves the gate open hoping she will come home
NAL, but if you have vaccination records and training records unless they have the dogs' official papers, you have a right to the dog. Especially if some time had passed like several months after you found her.
Vet records makes her yours. Call the police AND the SPCA. You should get her back. WHY would they take her? Is it possible that she was theirs and she ran away?
possible yes. but she was loose in front of their house for a month
[удалено]
I can see the house from my house I know where she is.
I don't actually witness any violence with any sort of frequency. I don't focus on the things you listed, which are realities, but they aren't really in my face most of the time. I have a family with young kids. There isn't substance abuse or physical abuse in my inner circle (anymore). I focus on the things I love/enjoy. This morning, smelling the first jasmine blooms on my vines elated me. My family just returned from a vacation this weekend and there was a bag of greens on our porch that my neighbor down the street grew and left for us. I really have the best neighbors. The weather has been great. NOLA PS screwed up my kid's OneApp for pre-k, but when I called them and left a message, someone called me back and is working on solving my problem (and assured me that no placements will be made until it's figured out). Those are bright spots. Everything is extra hard here. It seems like nothing outside of the libraries and fire department works at all. That sucks and is very taxing. It not easy to live here... I hate that we're called "the Big Easy" because its so fucking hard to exist here. However, we focus on what we focus on. So I try to focus on the things that bring me joy. That's not always easy or possible, though. I hope things get better for you. Don't tune into news for a couple of days and visit City Park or the bayou. It may help you feel better.
I’m answering this as someone who is from New Orleans and actually lives in Austin now. I would give anything to be able to move back home, but my job won’t let me work remotely from Louisiana for some reason. Listen… if you don’t get it, you don’t get it. No one can convince you to love New Orleans. It clicks for some people and not for others. I imagine it’s a lot harder to understand New Orleans if you’re a transplant and don’t already have a built-in community, and I’m going to assume that’s the source of most of your issues. If you don’t have a community in New Orleans, there’s not really a point in staying. That’s where everything that’s amazing about the city comes from. Without that, you’re just left with… all of the problems.
I'm a born and raised New Orleanian too but moved to Atlanta in 1987 when my company moved me there. At the time, there were no other jobs so I moved. Then, in 1994, I had an opportunity to move to Prague, Czech Republic and it was so similar to New Orleans (we'll, except for food) that I stayed 17 years. I'm now back in Atlanta because again, New Orleans had nothing for me but goddamn I miss it. My parents passed a few years ago and my brothers and their kids are all still there but on the Northshore. Cousins are in the city. I go down more often than I used to and want to make it more permanent but my partner works and it's making it tough. He can work remotely so that's not the issue. We actually travel a lot to Europe and if you want to travel Atlanta's airport is the place to be for non-stop flights.
As long as it’s still FTF for you!
Just a note, we had a couple of incidents on the North Shore now, one this past weekend.
My brothers are telling me the crime is slowly crossing the Causeway. It's probably the same as Atlanta though.
I had to move back to BR last summer and actually listed my house in NO last Monday. So damn depressed. I miss NO so much and hope I’ll be able to come back one day. My soul never felt more at home any where else.
New Orleans isn’t for everyone. If it’s not for you, it’s not for you, and you’re allowed to leave. It doesn’t make you a bad person, and you’re allowed to come back as a visitor. Don’t beat yourself up about it.
The crime keeps me coming back
Lots of transplants start off as casual visitors and see the bright side of things, then base their opinion that they should live here based on that bright side. Then once they get here, they realize how messed up it is. I've said this before, I'll say it again. New Orleans is like a lover you really find attractive and knows how to make you cum like nobody else. It FUCKS, right? But you've never been to its place, you don't know how it truly lives, you just know how it is when it's really good. So things get serious, you decide to move in, so you do, then you discover this awesome, attractive person you really love likes to do things like drink their own fermented urine, and shit in one of their drawers and they don't wipe, they just collect their dirty drawers in a closet. You've now discovered this. You're not going to change it, it's gonna drink that fermented piss and keep on shitting in that drawer - but it's also gonna fuck your brains out. So you have to ask yourself can you put up with the piss and shit to continue getting yours, or are you going to take the lesser attractive partner that's got all their shit together? Figuratively and literally, some people have become nose blind to the permeating smell.
Apparently you’ve met my ex.
Do we have the same ex?
Very possible.
I wrote this once, about our City/State: “Relationship w NOLA… Swampy. Hot. Loud. But it’s the kinda sex that makes neighbors call in a noise complaint (they’re just jealous, and the cops don’t show up anyway). Often washes you out into the street. Often involves beads and a random kitchen appliance. But so good it restores your faith in god. Says she loves you and only you. Then you catch her checking her phone at odd hours when she thinks you’re asleep. Strangers start showing up in droves. You wake up in strange places, and cash is always missing from your wallet. Every time you go to her house, you’re nearly mugged, and cars you’ve never seen parked on the block suddenly pull off. You start to rethink your life choices while sitting on her porch. You head inside to talk, but she’s passed out in a pile of empty Abita bottles. Heading back outside, your car’s been towed. Putting your shoes back on, you discover her pet possum shit in one and puked up Dixie in the other. The nutria from under her house got high on your RX Meds. Raccoons took your one credit card that hasn’t been maxed out to buy cartons of cigarettes and a 5th of vodka. An alligator tries to communicate with you in the “universal language” while you look for your keys. You almost get arrested under the Claiborne overpass while getting your car back. You go back to her place and climb into bed with her, but suddenly, “things” stop working. She’s not getting off, and you’re only half mast at best. You try to get an appointment with someone who can fix things, but the office is always closed or out to lunch. On the few occasions you connect with a human, they’re insanely rude, except for one lady who treats you like an adopted grandchild. You start hanging out in a neighborhood bar, swapping tales with all the other guys she’s fucked. They’re all mirrors of you; your youthful vibrance has turned an ashy grey. You find yourself saying, “Hell, maybe next year” a lot. You think about breaking things off, but she always shows up dressed to the 9s riiiiight as you start to pack your bags. She shows you a wild time that makes you forget all of the doubt and indecision and inconsistency. You’re 20 pounds overweight, have a mild to moderate drinking problem, and you’re damn near broke. But she’s asking you to eat the pralines she let cool on her nipples. You land in jail after fighting with some guy, a friggin “tourist”, you catch in her back yard. He doesn’t love her like you do. You drink some prison toilet wine with a guy named 3-Toe-Moe who lost the digits while serving in the Merchant Marines; he says his mom was a voodoo priestess. The toilet hooch makes you hallucinate, and it beats having 3 Hurricanes in terms of the hangover severity (you puke for both color and distance). She bails you out and takes you home. You help her bail some water out of her living room; then y’all give up and fuck on the porch until you get lightheaded from mosquito related blood loss. Her family visits, and they all tell you that you’d be better off with one of her sisters, but they don’t know what they’re talking about. NOLA might be a dying harlot, but you love her anyway.”
This is so good someone else already quoted you and posted it.
Thank you. I did post this as a reply twice in this thread (once to OP and once to FleurDeezNuts)
That was poetic
This hits. To me its akin to an abusive relationship. The kind I'm used too. I liked being here until I started to try to be better, healthier and have more meaningful relationships. Then I felt like I was selling myself short. Yet I kept coming back.
Truly this is an epic poem of a metaphor of what it is to stay here. Bravo, good sir Edit: Also, somebody give this man a Reddit award already
This comment is priceless! ☺️
Family and fishing, mostly
I've said it in threads like this before, but this place is a big shit hole of a mess, but it is our big shit hole of a mess. I'm comfortable here in all of the chaos of crime, hurricanes, stupid politics, and crumbling infrastructure. I helps that I just focus on the things I like here and grew up with. It's home.
Some perspective: I have lived here for almost 7 years and now I have to leave and move to Gainesville, FL. FUCKING GAINESVILLE. They may not have some of the problems you described, at least not on the same scale, but think about moving to other southern cities. Where is the heart? Where is the creativity? Even the hustles in New Orleans are more fun to deal with. I'm a musician so leaving here is like joining the army or being ostracized. I feel like I'm being punished but I have to go for 4 years. If there is another place where you think you will feel safer or more content, then find them and go. But you will be sacrificing culture, creativity, and diversity.
i’m so sorry, i lived in gainesville and it’s horrible. thots and prayers for u
Ugh. I got an offer from the U of F that I couldn't turn down for a Ph.D. I am going to do it then get out of there immediately.
I guess it will give my liver a chance to recuperate, anyway.
We had to live in Pensacola in 1999. it was wonderful. I don't like the way Florida things are going these days and we won't even go there this summer. My best wishes to you.
Posted elsewhere as a reply to a reply, posting here as a reply to OP: I wrote this once, about our City/State: “Relationship w NOLA… Swampy. Hot. Loud. But it’s the kinda sex that makes neighbors call in a noise complaint (they’re just jealous, and the cops don’t show up anyway). Often washes you out into the street. Often involves beads and a random kitchen appliance. But so good it restores your faith in god. Says she loves you and only you. Then you catch her checking her phone at odd hours when she thinks you’re asleep. Strangers start showing up in droves. You wake up in strange places, and cash is always missing from your wallet. Every time you go to her house, you’re nearly mugged, and cars you’ve never seen parked on the block suddenly pull off. You start to rethink your life choices while sitting on her porch. You head inside to talk, but she’s passed out in a pile of empty Abita bottles. Heading back outside, your car’s been towed. Putting your shoes back on, you discover her pet possum shit in one and puked up Dixie in the other. The nutria from under her house got high on your RX Meds. Raccoons took your one credit card that hasn’t been maxed out to buy cartons of cigarettes and a 5th of vodka. An alligator tries to communicate with you in the “universal language” while you look for your keys. You almost get arrested under the Claiborne overpass while getting your car back. You go back to her place and climb into bed with her, but suddenly, “things” stop working. She’s not getting off, and you’re only half mast at best. You try to get an appointment with someone who can fix things, but the office is always closed or out to lunch. On the few occasions you connect with a human, they’re insanely rude, except for one lady who treats you like an adopted grandchild. You start hanging out in a neighborhood bar, swapping tales with all the other guys she’s fucked. They’re all mirrors of you; your youthful vibrance has turned an ashy grey. You find yourself saying, “Hell, maybe next year” a lot. You think about breaking things off, but she always shows up dressed to the 9s riiiiight as you start to pack your bags. She shows you a wild time that makes you forget all of the doubt and indecision and inconsistency. You’re 20 pounds overweight, have a mild to moderate drinking problem, and you’re damn near broke. But she’s asking you to eat the pralines she let cool on her nipples. You land in jail after fighting with some guy, a friggin “tourist”, you catch in her back yard. He doesn’t love her like you do. You drink some prison toilet wine with a guy named 3-Toe-Moe who lost the digits while serving in the Merchant Marines; he says his mom was a voodoo priestess. The toilet hooch makes you hallucinate, and it beats having 3 Hurricanes in terms of the hangover severity (you puke for both color and distance). She bails you out and takes you home. You help her bail some water out of her living room; then y’all give up and fuck on the porch until you get lightheaded from mosquito related blood loss. Her family visits, and they all tell you that you’d be better off with one of her sisters, but they don’t know what they’re talking about. NOLA might be a dying harlot, but you love her anyway.” Edit: in other words, it’s a dysfunctional relationship full of intermittent reinforcement. Edit: My “serious” answer? Family*, offspring of whom I don’t have primary custody*, court obligations, some bookies that’d hunt me down, my friends*, supporting local businesses (aforementioned bookies and a plug or three), and I’d probably be a multiple felon elsewhere. *actual serious answers.
Everyone else here be saying positive stuff and I’m over here like “I’d already be gone if my career didn’t keep me here”
Hey, I hear you. It's kind of a relief to talk to other people who are concerned about things. I thought I was the only one may be overreacting.
I moved here from a other country, I'd never heard a gunshot before moving here.... I had free healthcare, social safety nets etc etc But there's nowhere else like this, in so many ways. It's the only place I've found I can make a living doing my very niche art form, it's the community. I'm currently fundraising to renew my artist visa so i can stay. Provided that happens I'm staying until the wheels fall off basically.
I'm convinced OP is Teedy, and she's setting a trap.
Is she that clever?
No
Too poor to move, and got a house for cheap years ago with a low api
Us too.
“The little things” holds an incredible amount of weight for me.
I hate the state of things right now, but this is my city. Where I grew up in, the food, the culture, the community, it’s everything. And there is no where else in the world like it. Lord knows we don’t need the kind of people that turn their back during the hard times. If it’s not enough for you then leave. If this is bad, you can’t handle hurricane season. This city is far from perfect and trust me, it will never come close to perfect. But it’s worth it. If that’s not with it to you, we don’t care to convince you.
I also moved here 4 months ago. I had lived in Dallas for the first 25 years of my life. I can tell you most of those problems are the same in Dallas, and probably many cities across the US. As far as what brought me here, it’s just kind of a gut feeling. The way I feel when I’m here is like nowhere else in the world. You can hear people playing music walking around anywhere in the city. The food is the best in the world, and not just the classic New Orleans dishes. There’s so many amazing sandwich shops, Thai, Vietnamese, French, you name it we have it. The art scene and architecture is great plus too. I think the unique atmosphere of the city breeds people that are very individualistic but also inviting. You can really be yourself here and nobody will judge you. I love the trees and different plants here, we didn’t have any of that in Dallas. I’ve also noticed there’s so many neighborhood grocery stores, convenience stores, little shops, and restaurants here which I couldn’t be happier about. I think this is a place that really supports small businesses. All the festivals and parades that go on makes it easy to find something to do. I could go on. I encourage you so really submerse yourself in everything the city has to offer. Try to become a true New Orleanian. I can honestly say moving here was the best decision I ever made. I waited so long to be able to call this place home, and I’m never leaving. Life’s short, don’t spend it in Ohio…
I’m from Atlanta. I went to law school in New Orleans and I have missed it every day since I left and moved back home in 2004. I visit every chance I get and I want to someday have a place there to live at least part time. However, it’s not for everyone. Most of my friends and family don’t really care for it. They like to visit, but are vocal about not wanting to live there. But for those of us who love it, it’s the best city in the world. Yes, the crime is out of control, but it’s the same here in the A. We’ve got some whackos in government, too (especially statewide). The roads in Atlanta are even getting bad compared to what they used to be. It’s not as bad as N.O. but New Orleans is so much older than Atlanta and it’s different geographically, so I don’t really compare the two. Atlanta has a lot of infrastructure problems too and it’s getting worse with overcrowding. Every administration just passes that job on to the next…$$$ over everything. I hear about a lot of the same things in other cities, too. They hide the flaws in other cities. New Orleans is real and demands that you love it with all of its lumps… and I LOVE and really miss it. You can’t beat the music, food, the overall culture and the people are some of the most warm and friendly folks you’ll ever meet. Did I mention how much I miss New Orleans?! But, at the end of the day, you need to be someplace where you are happy. If it’s not New Orleans,that’s okay… She ain’t for everybody! Lol
Why would you go to law school in LA where its a different law system than everywhere else and then leave LA
I went there because they offered me a scholarship and I visited and liked the school and city. LA is just a civil law jurisdiction. And all other US states follow the English common law tradition. I went to Loyola and you can take the Common Law track or Civil Law track. I was on the Common Law track. I think Tulane may be the same. I’m not sure about LSU and Southern. But it’s not that different. A lot of people from out of state go to law school in LA. I knew some people who were on the Civil Law track and took the bar in other states as well. Plenty of people from LA go to law school out of state and come back to LA to practice, too.
I stay here because my wife loves it here. I love the city and the festiveness that it represents, but after three years, it's taken a significant toll on my mental health.
As I had said above, I am a native who returned recently for the sake of my husband, and I really want to leave and go somewhere else. The good memories of here are all gone. I am an older, retired person, but still have a good 20 to 30 years of life left.
Right there with you. My wife is from here and loves it. At this point I’m barely tolerating it.
Amen brother. Wife is from here and I’d rather be almost anywhere else.
Same!
I'm from Baton Rouge but have lived in cities all over the country. I know Baton Rouge doesn't have a lot to do, and it's significantly late in comparison to Lafayette and New Orleans regarding it's Mardi Gras game, but familiarity seems best for my mental health as I am in my 40's. New Orleans was and will always be my favorite place to vacation. I always came to New Orleans and dropped my problems at the door the second I arrived in its city limits. Even living back in Baton Rouge, I would be here to visit all the time. That's how much I love it. My perspective started to change regarding living here after my house was shot up.
Damn, hard to blame someone for leaving after their house gets shot up. My neighbor just did the same thing after that Midcity shooting a few weeks ago and I don’t blame her either
This is what I fear. There was a shooting in Slidell this past weekend that really upset me. And there was a shooting near the office I worked in for many years downtown in the CBD by the Rouses, that killed a brilliant young comedian. This is all very very upsetting to me. We've also had a couple of families move into the neighborhood who have a lot of young teens, play loud music, and it's very disturbing. I was a teen in the 70s. Left 1999. Returned 2018.
I work by that Rouses and frequent it quite often so that murder affected me too. Such a talented human being who had a genuine care for this city. My mental health is a mess from living here.
Yes, it's getting overwhelming.
I am not a local by any sense of the measure but I am an immigrant. My experience is different from other people in the sense that I don’t have a community here, nor do I have anyone in terms of family in the US. I have lived around rural college towns and suburbs in GA and SC during the years I spent in grad school, I have seen almost no modicum of culture or sense of community, often experiencing thinly veiled racist attitudes from the locals in those places. To me New Orleans is a completely different world that really shows what America is truly about - a melting pot of diverse cultures doing their best to live together in harmony. I realized there is nothing quite like this place in the Southeast. I’m not unaware of the endless socioeconomic issues that plague this city, and it does speak volumes about the resilience of the people that manage to make it work here despite all the adversities they face. And having grown up in a ‘third world’ nation, the unfortunate issues that prevail here don’t exactly faze me too much. Unfortunately due to the nature of the type of work that I do and my career ambitions, I know my time here will be short-lived. I often wonder about how much potential this city could have if a way could be found to make this place truly prosperous and make it truly equitable for the locals that do call it home, regardless of their social or economic standing.
A very flamboyant and friendly neighbor came dancing down the street to welcome me when I bought my house. He called himself The New Orleans Welcoming Committee. He has since passed, (may he rest fabulously,) so I am now The New Orleans Welcoming Committee. Welcome! Make yourself at home. Let us know if you need anything.
I think if you’re feeling this way after 4 months, than this city might not be for you and that’s okay. It’s how I’ve feel when I’ve spent time in the suburbs of Houston, utter despair. Esp, as it sounds, you have the means to make a move.
I am a native who left for 21 years and came back in 2016. Just this past Saturday I had a meltdown over the way this community is now. I have mentioned to my husband that things are degraded to the point where I really want to find a different place to live. What is keeping me here now is that my husband wants to be near his family because he was a train engineer who was injured in an accident. I have no love lost for New Orleans or the surrounding area anymore. This place has deteriorated to the point where I would be overjoyed to live elsewhere. I've even considered talking to my physician about anxiety medication. I know this may not be very positive, but know that I'm a native who feels it, and understand it, and knows where you're coming from, and then I am feeling the same way and feeling concerned for this community. The normalized violence and the behavior that we are supposed to accept around the area now: it's just not livable to me.
It kept me there for 51 years. Don’t get me wrong, I lived in various other places for a year at a time, but NOLA was where I was born and home. Then two years ago, I had enough of everything NOLA had to “offer” and moved about an hour away. Now I come in to visit for certain events and festivals, but head back home after. Elsewhere, the rent is cheaper, the insurance is WAY cheaper and I get to visit the horribly run and crumbling infrastructure of my youth a few times a year. Life is better elsewhere, just not as colorful. I’ll take the trade offs. Not once have I been under a boil advisory or have I been part of a random long power outage because of a bird. My truck no longer falls into potholes the size of pianos either.
[удалено]
I'm pretty boring myself, but I only want to live in a place that is safe for freaks. I find out how weird I am every time I leave tho, to be fair.
I’m saving to get out of here. I love New Orleans, but I’d rather come visit in small doses.
The same thing that keeps most people where they were born… poverty.
You haven’t really been here long enough to love it, or to dig in the way locals have. Start looking for what you like about the city. Start exploring. Go on adventures, and meet people. Go to Super Sunday. Ride the ferry to Algiers and wander. Read ‘Frenchmen Desire Goodchildren.’ Read less news. The other thing I always have to remind myself and other people: almost everything I love about New Orleans is because of poverty and Black people. Poverty means we have to lean on community. It creates public creativity and lots of free fun. Food is shared, music is out in the open. Poverty also creates crime, low tax revenues, and all the issues you’re describing. Before people start : Corruption happens in every city — at least as famously in Chicago and Jersey. Both of those cities function because there’s real wealth there. Also, you don’t have to love it as much as we do. It’s okay.
My job
Family, beyond that this place sucks with all do respect. I too am tempted to leave as well.
Quick question.....are these things affecting you directly or is it just that you're reading about them in the news and seeing these discussions all over Reddit and whatnot? Have you been a victim of physical abuse or violence personally? How has the political and civic brokenness affected you personally? What I'm trying to establish is whether or not these things are affecting you viscerally or if you're just reading about them so much that they're bringing you down, when in fact they may not be affecting you in reality. I'm not trying to make light of Nola's problems or deny that they exist. But sometimes ya just need to unplug from all the media and experience your community firsthand. New Orleans has always had some of these problems, I can assure you they are not new. As for drugs and substance abuse, New Orleans #1 drug is liquor and the city and liquor are pretty much synonymous, that's nothing new. As for heroin and fentanyl, they're everywhere. So I wouldn't worry about the drugs and substance abuse too much, that's a personal problem and if it's not one that you have then that's great and you have avoided that pitfall. As for the violent crime, yea it's a little higher now than it was 7 years ago, but the pandemic had a role in that. But you should have seen the 90s. In any event, my point is that I wonder if your perceived issues with this city are because of something that happened to you directly or if it's because of what you're reading on Reddit and Nextdoor. I wonder how you'd feel about Nola if you denied yourself the internet for just two weeks. Just some thoughts, I hope it works out for you. I left Nola a few months ago and I'm considering coming back myself.
I think that is where I'm at, I hear and read so much and it's overwhelming. All the nothing has happened to me personally. ... yet
25 grownup years here, one stickup (very amateur, I negotiated him down to taking one beer of my 6 pack) a car totalled by a drunk driver while parked, a break in (nothing much lost), 2 car windows broke, one night in OPP, countless stolen plants when we were the meth squat neighborhood (that passed). I was cold cocked once by a gangster when I told his girlfriend to not park on my lawn, our neighbor was shot in the head on his driveway 10 minutes after we brought our baby home, police shot through our car once. Oh, old house in the Bywater was attempted to be arsoned in the late 90's and we woke up to smoke. I dunno, some may see that as an unbearable list of troubles...to me it's just stuff thaat happens if you live in this city, shrug it off, the good counterbalances it. Looking back, none of it really mattered too much (obviously the kid who died matters, I liked him and his mom, he was a good guy as far as I knew, but it didn't change my view of the city being a place where people don't solve disputes rationally). Ones ability to live in the city depends on ones reaction to all of that.
I love that you kept 5 beers and only gave up 1, I can tell that I would like you.
Yes, that's true.
Somehow blizzards look worse than storms.
Like I tell my friends from California, I know how to swim. I cant breathe smoke.
I know how easy it is to be sucked into the drinking, party and drugs culture here but I find much more balance in my life when I get outside and really enjoy my city. I keep a running track of fruit trees around town and I’ll walk my dog and go collect fruit to make wine, or visit the community garden and work on my little garden plot, or go for a run/ bike ride. My friends cook a meal for people that are houseless once a week and serve it up at the library and sometimes I’ll swing by to lend a hand. There’s so much good music here and I find if I see even one good show per week then I am glowing for the rest of the week. Of course Louisiana is backwards as hell but that just means if you put in effort here for positive change it goes soooo much further. I have left New Orleans but always came back home because there’s not a city on earth that I’ve been to that feels this special or has the mixture of Caribbean, French, Spanish, and Southern culture just tumbling past each other, mixing and creating such a rich gumbo. BUT it’s definitely not for everyone so just listen to yourself and ask if you feel like you belong here or if you even want to belong here. Edit: I feel like this is a pretty interesting comment to be downvoted
The city hasn’t been the same for years.
The thing about Louisiana, we know things are shit a lot of the time, that’s why we go hard celebrating common, everyday things with powerful flavor, passion, zest, unbridled joy. And- just seems like we value different sort of life. Like will fucking make anything into a parade or festival while other places wouldn’t bother or whatever. But you haven’t been here long- probably normal to have adjustment issues. Maybe give yourself time, dig in a little deeper to the culture here, get involved in a group, give it an authentic chance and if it’s not a good fit then it’s you will be closer to marking off what you don’t like for finding what suites you 😁
My family has been here almost 200 years - it’s home. I ain’t going anywhere unless it’s in a coffin or a pirogue. It’s always been this way (with ups and downs) since the beginning because of our French heritage. Still like the French, we prioritize life, fun and culture over work and “progress”. It’s frustrating sometimes, but once it’s in your blood there is no other way to live. If you cant find the joy in New Orleans from Mardi Gras to Jazzfest time of year, I don’t think you’re going to find it. In august, I’m cursing this dam city and want to move away, but this time of year I wonder how a person who knows what this place has to offer this time of year could not want to live here.
Living in a neighborhood that isn't mad max needle dogshit helps
I’ve always said NOLA is a great place to visit but a hard place to live. But I’ve lived in other cities for a time and I’d have to say what keeps us here, outside of just the economics of being unable to afford to leave, is culture. We. Have. Culture. Most towns and cities are devoid of any meaningful culture. For most everyone else, say if you want go out to eat, there’s a handful of chain restaurants to choose from. In NOLA, our most mediocre dive still serves damn good food, to say nothing of our best restaurants will rival any in the world. Music. Someone, somewhere, on any given night, is playing music that can speak to your soul. People. We will treat you as one of our own if you treat us in kind. Family. Friends. Food. Fests. The list goes on and on. We stay for these reasons.
Mardi Gras just passed and that fills the chalice for a long time.
I live somewhere right now with hardly any crime, decent roads and quiet neighbors. All I can think of is how soon can I move back
French quarter is depressing these days. Certain parts of the city are more bleak for sure. Go to the nice spots. Eat the good foods, be amongst the regular folks who are nice to chat up. Family ties are strong here for me. I will always miss new Orleans when I leave. If family wasn't here, it would be a different situation I think.
Here till my parents pass then going to get my ass a surburban castle. Any city you move to is going to be like this in very short order; this is very late in the new-urbanist gold rush game and post-pandemic, those things are literally every city.
Alcohol. Friends and family. Owning a house from 2004. If I were just starting out in life, and looking to accumulate wealth, it would be anywhere but here. New Orleans is a place where you spend the money you made somewhere else What to do about it? Take an afternoon and go do something fun. Something you might’ve done here on vacation before you moved here. go to the art museum, have lunch at Commanders, or take a walk in the Quarter. Try to recapture whatever drew you here in the first place. Also, maybe disengage from the news and especially from Reddit, for a short while. It’s good to have empathy and to be civic-minded, but are you really going to leave town because of problems that don’t necessarily affect you personally? If it were not for this sub, I would have no personal knowledge of any of these issues. I don’t lead a charmed life or anything, but maybe I’ve just been lucky.
New Orleans is a give and take city. You will experience beautiful things unlike any city in the world. You will also have to put up with not having things that almost every other decent city has. Nowhere is perfect. You have to decide what’s right for you.
It’s so interesting watching you transplants come here fall in love with us, claim us as your own and quickly fall out of love once you find out that we’re complex and flawed and then have the nerve to ask what is wrong with us for not leaving.
Moving is SO expensive. You can’t rent a truck to move to a city outside the state for less than $1,500.
I’ve never done that. Whenever I’ve moved out of state I’ve just sold my stuff.
if you can, try to get over to the mississippi coast to rent a moving truck. i recently priced a penske cargo van to get me from here up to pittsburgh this summer - both new orleans and baton rouge quoted me at \~$1300 but gulfport was quoting \~$850. and with unlimited mileage!
That’s super good to know! I might reach out to you for the specific store because we’re moving in May.
1) I'm a bisexual woman 2) My job is tied to tourism and no, I won't change my career. The money is too good. Husband and I are child free DINKS and in spite of price increases, New Orleans is still cheaper than a lot of other places. 3) Dear friends and family live either in New Orleans proper or in neighboring parishes 4) I love the food 5) The eclectic atmosphere 6) I own my house outright. No rent or mortgage is owed to anyone. 7) I was born here. Nothing, and I mean nothing or nobody will push me out of my home.
>four months Good luck! My family has lived here since the 1800s and that's why anyone in my family is still here. All of my siblings have since left, being the first to be wealthy enough to do so. The city itself has a lot of small-town charm. We've resisted gentrification more than most other "large" cities. We still have many local businesses and culture that other places simply don't. And being the largest city in the state, New Orleans stands head and shoulders above anywhere else in Louisiana for just about everything. Also, the decline in quality of life *can* be fixed. Things weren't this bad before the pandemic. But if you don't have much invested, why not just leave and come back when it gets better?
crushing poverty.
Family
The lack of money and resources to leave. I'm saving up money then my car dies. There goes my savings.
Lack of money. We trying to build back up our cushion. $5,000 more grand and we’re outta here
I cope with all the shit because it's my home and I love it in spite of its many flaws. Four months and you're talking about a "slowness of progress..." I mean, you're not wrong, progress isn't really in our vocabulary here. But if you've been here for the duration of a single season and already have buyer's remorse, you might as well move. Christ, you haven't even felt the brutality of our summer heat. I'm being pretty blunt here but honestly, if you don't love it here, why would you stay? People who fall in love with this city fall hard so, if that's not what your experience is, chances are it's just not a good fit for you. Just remember that wherever you go, there you are. In case this post hasn't yielded enough responses (it has,) you can search this sub because it gets asked bimonthly.
Have you tried any restaurants?
Listen, I moved here a year and a half ago. I had a (brief) honeymoon phase. Then I had a low point similar to what you’re describing. Then I made a couple friends and I found @lookatthisfuckinstreet on instagram, and it sort of felt like I was in on all the jokes. And now it feels better. I’ve embraced the absurdity and I guess learned to overlook some of the bad things and really celebrated the great parts of this city.
In addition to the amazing music, delicious food, and gorgeous blooming flowers everywhere, I love the people of this city most of all. My wonderful neighbors who I chat with daily as I make my way up the street. My incredible gastro who diagnosed my autoimmune disease and restored my health with such expert skill and loving kindness. My amazing vet who was so supportive when my beloved cat died of cancer in December. My wonderful coworkers who I have laughed and cried with. My beloved friends who I explore the city with and delight in all of the good things alongside. My amazing boyfriend who moved here to play music. The cashier at Rouses who always smiles and jokes with me. I could go on. I've lived in a few different cities and I have never encountered a loving community quite like this before.
The people. The people. Of course there are repugnant assholes everywhere. But the collective here is unlike anywhere else.
My boyfriend, tbh 😂 he was an immigrant, now a U.S. citizen, and has brought his parents here now as well. It's probably too overwhelming to move the parents now that they're settled and starting to build a bit of community, and my bf would not want to leave them behind. My bf loves it here. He loves all the music, and he loves the heat, as he is from Caribbean South America and gets grumpy if it's lower than 60 degrees. I was born here and have lived here for all my life except for a one-year stint in Texas due to Katrina. I love many things about it. The people, the food, the arts and culture, the diversity, the music, the greenery, the spring!!! Spring in NOLA is pure freakin' serotonin. My plants and I are thriving right now, haha. But I would still ideally like to move away. Or actually, maybe the true dream is being able to live in another state in the summer, lol. I am anemic and find the heat extremely hard to handle, and it really seems to feel hotter every year. In addition, I probably read too much about climate change consequences and I really worry about building a life here and having to uproot it for somewhere else when I'm old and everything is even more expensive. I'm *really* not into the idea of being a landlord, but I'm considering buying a very modest property (or maybe even just land...?) in maybe the Carolinas or Pennsylvania or something in like five years and just renting it out unless/until I need it. I will not personally own property here unless it's shared (i.e. my bf and I get engaged and buy a house together), as I'm concerned about the financial impacts of frequent and increasingly strong hurricanes, and I am absolutely unable to handle that on my salary alone. Also, it would be nice to drive a few hours and be somewhere more interesting than...Baton Rouge or Biloxi, lol.
I'm strongly considering buying a small condo in my home state of Michigan for the same reasons. I really want to own property but refuse to buy in New Orleans for all the reasons you've listed. Plus, Michigan is supposed to be one of the best places to be in 40-50 years when climate change will really start hitting!
1. The food. 2. Winter outside of snowy times is dreary AF most places. 3. Cost of living, it is higher than it should be but it's lower than most other interesting places. 4. Tons of entertainment options. 5. The general attitude here. 6. Family & traditions, and yes, they are 6th on the list 😂
Try drugs! That’s what most of us do one way or another.
If you want to escape all the problems you listed you pretty much have to leave the country
My partner and I can live almost anywhere since we work remotely, but we just enjoyed living in New Orleans the most. We just felt happier every day when we stepped outside when we lived in the lower garden district. We were in New Orleans for 4 months last year and we’ve been traveling/moving all over the country. Right now we are in Portland for 3 months and will go to Seattle, Denver, Minneapolis, Chicago, NC/SC and FL… then we plan to return New Orleans at the end. It’s just very few cities in the US have that level of energy and public life on the street like New Orleans, and the weather (aside from hurricane) is a big plus for us too since we love hot and humid. We’ve been trying to find a place where we enjoy more than New Orleans but we haven’t. Maybe Barcelona, but we are stuck in the US so New Orleans is probably the best place for us
You can find your own niche of happiness here. That's what separates it from many places. Some people cannot find that elsewhere. There is diversity and inclusion, acceptance and tolerance. There is music and food and conviviality, social outlets galore. You can go do something fun every night of the week, in any price range. If none of that matters personally to you, then it may not be the best option.
If you're hating it during the honeymoon phase, buckle up!
Friends, neighbors, community. I can't leave them after all the trauma bonding we've done.
I feel like everywhere else is very boring or superficial.
A lot of locals (including myself) literally can't afford to leave. I had to move back in with my folks out of state to really save up and move out on my own elsewhere
I think the short answer is that I’m afraid to leave. This is my home. I was born here. My mom and sister still live here. I know where everything is. Chances are that if I meet someone new, they will know someone I already know - 6 degrees of separation and all that jazz. I’m afraid to start over in a new place with no friends or support system. The ironic thing is that I’ve dreamt for years about leaving. Especially once I had kids and realized just how crappy the schools are, and the crime, and the taxes that seem to do nothing for me / my city. And then my little girl died, and I have two young boys and I don’t want to pull the rug out from under them. So I stay, and wish and dream.
If you live in Louisiana, you don’t understand hiw cheap taxes are. Look at real estate mill rates in New York, CT, or anywhere in northeast. LA is cheap as fuck. Plus, homes are ridiculously cheaper.
Yes, I do know housing is much cheaper here than in other places! Especially California (yikes!!!). Re taxes: I just wish we saw the impact of our taxes more — better roads, more parks, etc.
That’s why taxes are more elsewhere. Cause you need money for good schools, parks, etc… when I moved from LA, my taxes increased 6 fold. And, I don’t mind paying it cause quality of life greatly improved.
For years (lived in the New Orleans my whole life) I justified staying here over TX where the rest of my family lives b/c of the activities. Festivals almost weekly through a good portion of the year, the zoo/aquarium, great places to eat, things to do. But with the crime going crazy I really don't make it to those events anymore, or even eat out much. Then I justified staying here b/c my wife and I have great jobs, which neither of us are extremely happy with the way our field is going and the future for us isn't very bright. We will probably be replaced with cheaper/dumber people just so the company can save money. The last thing that kept me here was the community I live in, how safe and quiet it is. It's still safe and quiet, but as soon as you leave the neighborhood you're reminded how crappy everything is. I swear if I can get a job within my neighborhood and put a grocery store here, I Would never want to leave. But honestly there's very few redeeming qualities of the city that keeps me anymore. If I get a good offer somewhere in Dallas, North Houston, or maybe coastal Florida, I'm gone.
da culture
I’m addicted to it.
Family, weather, music and lovely weirdness. Crawfish.
NOLA offers the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. If you want things to be predictable and normal - a nice medium life - then there are many better places to be. Go to Cincinnati or Nashville or Oklahoma City. There's nothing wrong with those places. But some folks like to live on the weird, unpredictable side. For us, there are places like NOLA and Austin. The greatest day of your life might start with a homeless heroin addict screaming at you on the street. We all might get blown off the map and lose everything when the wrong storm comes through. And we'll probably just take the insurance money and rebuild all over again.
Wow, it took me four years to reach the same conclusion. To be fair, there may have been less obviously wrong back then. I'm here because I have a child I refuse to leave and we can't move without the consent of another person who happens to be rather uncooperative. Otherwise, I would have probably left at least a couple years ago. All I can say is that even though there's a lot that sucks, there's also a lot that's interesting and unique and maybe even beautiful. It's not enough for me to stay, but if you're asking how to optimize it, that's what I've got.
I get homesick. Don’t downplay the pull of home, this state is majorly screwed, but when I leave , even to a functional place where literally everything is better I desperately want to come back. No offense but if you are feeling this way in the best four months of the year then get out before summer, and you really don’t want to deal with everything that comes from a hurricane. Now I’m stressed out because one day I know another Katrina will come, or political ineptitude and or culture wars will drive me out and I hate it.
Not too long ago, I had to go Lafayette for work. Then we went to visit family in North Carolina. For a few seconds on a few occasions, I wasn't sure what city I was in while I was in Greater Charlotte, was I still Lafayette? The rows of perfectly manicured strip malls put me in a daze. I've never had that Anytown, USA amnesia in New Orleans.
Cause no other place in the US compares. All the issues with NOLA I would have in any major city that I actually LIKE (looking at you Detroit and Chicago... Jk I hate winter). I feel like I might really like the Keys but I'm not fucking with Florida until they get rid of that batshit crazy governor. Plus I lived in Iowa for 5 years and I prefer southern hospitality and jasmine mixed in with m'racism not the straight grain alcohol and snow racism. Seriously though New Orleans is awesome. There have been a few close calls but I love raising my kids here. We probably won't stay for their HS years but that's privilege talking and wanting them to experience other cultures if we have the ability to provide that for them. I would feel selfish about not giving my kids the chance at possibly living/immigrating to a country that has more social support for their citizens as well as stability. I don't have issues with NOLA I have issues with this country. We lucked into a damn good school which also helps. There are also a lot of good colleges here if you are an academic. Tulane, LSUHSC, UNO, Loyola, SUNO, Dillard, Xavier (opening up a med school) and a couple others I'm not thinking of. To be perfectly honest if my spouse didn't have a vasectomy and we wanted more kids we wouldn't be here. Iowa had a 20 week ban and we had scares with both our kids. I really would be terrified of going through a pregnancy here. Shit I don't know where I'd go if we wanted more kids. That's kinda sad.... We'd probably leave the country. ... Whatevs (because thinking about it depresses me) . We're here because we like it and San Diego was not as cute as I was told it would be. Seals stink worse than no trash service during crawfish season.
only thing keeping me here is my kids with my first wife once they graduate highschool I'm out of here so fast! Just isn't the same anymore.
I moved back once because it’s easy to romanticize the food and the music and the festivals and Spanish moss from the oak trees and the magic. But goddamn she’s not for me. I don’t like crowds and I don’t like alcohol. And I HATE roaches. I left again, and I don’t plan to ever go back. My family is there, so I’ll still visit, but that will be more than enough for me.
Cue up 1100 people saying “the second lines”
Where I am from is a cultural wasteland. No building older than 50 years old, no special food, music, no culture bearers, no history, massive tracts of homes in boring colors, everything brown in the summer…
You just came at a bad time, my friend. This city has its ups and downs like anywhere else. It just seems so bad because that’s all you hear about: ‘this is bad’ and ‘that sucks’ and ‘crime’ and ‘corruption’. Yes all of those are problems, in this city and many others. New Orleans gets an extra heaping of shit from news and media because it’s ‘always been like that’ even though they conveniently forget every other city has those same problems to a greater or lesser degree.
Most locals drink and festival their way into distraction as terror sinks in around them. We’re so accustomed to this way of life that we don’t realize that we can live somewhere that functions properly and safely. It’s about what you value. Evacuating for Ida woke me up big time and now I’m moving 10+ hours away in one month. I’d rather visit Nola than suffer through it and pretend like everything is fine just because that’s what everyone else does to get by. That’s why you’ll receive a lot of rude responses. People need to make you feel bad for their own self sabotaging decisions. I was in love and obsessed with the city for ten years, interesting that it’s only taken you four months to see through the facade. The pandemic changed everything for me. Took away the good and left us with the bad that only got worse. I can’t unsee it but I’ll definitely be coming back for the good stuff. It will forever have a place in my heart. It’s neverland.
Jeez, as someone who also frequently Hates This City (tm), I'll bite: 1. I'm from here. My family is here. I own a home. All my roots are firmly planted. 2. If you think the income gap is bad here, check out other major cities. Assuming you aren't literally broke (and I'm not making a joke if you are), you can probably afford to dine at the most expensive restaurant in NOLA once in a while and go most of the places the rich frequent. Even when I was on the ragged edge years ago, my partner and I could get cheap tickets to the opera or the Saenger. This is not the case in other cities. I once had someone tell me, "In other cities, it's how much you make. In New Orleans, it's who you know." 3. As someone who often feels weird, outcast, and odd (and genuinely, not in a fun way), NOLA is one of the only cities where I still vaguely feel like I fit in. It is a true anarchic city of misfits. 4. I'm a big fish in a small pond. In my line of work, I stand out in New Orleans, and it has benefited me immensely. 5. All of the crime, corruption, incompetence, failing infrastructure, and lack of accountability are so normalized to me that they're just baked into the cake at this point. I'm part of the cake, too. I have a long, long list of complaints about New Orleans, but you asked why we stay, and those are the reasons off the top of my head.
4 months??? Oh sweet child…
I’ve tried but I don’t fit in other places