Living & growing with Lake Charles is great.
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8/7/2007
I look at living in Lake Charles differently than some of the other reviews that I read. Actually, some of the things I read made me think of the old saying, "Is your glass half full or half empty?" Obviously, some of these people live with the half empty glass. My husband & I moved here from Houston in 2001, because a business opportunity came along. The statements about humidity are true, there is no denying that the humidity can be tough, as it is in most coastal southern cities. Yes, there are refineries here, that provide jobs for alot of people, they also provide products that we ALL use, such as fuel, plastics, chemicals, etc. Yes, our waterways are not crystal clear, however that is more because we are part of the Mississippi delta region than anything else. There are truly some of the most beautiful natural waterways anywhere here. The picturesque postcards of South with the 100 year old cypress trees along river, could have been taken right here on our Calcasieu River. Our housing is very affordable here and our property taxes are reasonable. Since 2001, the growth we have seen in Lake Charles has been dramatic. The casinos are thriving and giving back to our community. The voters passed the downtown development proposal by a landslide. There are alot of new businesses building new storefronts and buildings here (ours is one of them). We have virtually no traffic problems here. If you have to sit through 1 red light, it's called a traffic jam and if you don't think that's a huge plus for living here, go to Houston, Dallas, New Orleans or Lafayette for a week. Our city was changed drastically when Hurricane Rita hit. We lost a ton of trees but the upside is that people started landscaping more and some of the buildings that needed attention had to come down. Lake Charles and the surrounding communities have absolutely the best festivals anywhere. I believe Lake Charles' Mardi Gras is second only to New Orleans in size, however it is definitely the family oriented version. If you feel the need to blow the budget and shop for more than we have here, Beaumont is 45 minutes, Lafayette is 1 hour, Houston is 2 hours, and New Orleans is 3 hours. The absolute best thing about living in Lake Charles is without a doubt, the people. We have made so many close friends since moving back here, I can't imagine moving away. It just doesn't get any better, than our supper club dinners, our moonlight cruises around the lake with friends, our parties a
Lynn | Lake Charles, LA