Metairie and New Orleans
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8/18/2015
Metairie is an infinitely better place to live than N.O. proper. It might be a bland suburb, but nearly all of the good schools are here as well as a much, much lower crime rate. The truth is that the people of New Orleans have a love affair with their city which isn't entirely merited. Yes, it has a fabulously unique culture with its music, food, laid back atmosphere, history and friendly people. It's more Caribbean than any other city in America, with all of the good and all of the bad that implies. The local government is abominable, rife with corruption and incompetence. The streets and the schools are a disgrace. Race relations are terrible, and drugs and black on black violence are out of control. Geraldo Rivera did a news piece a couple of years ago about how inmates in the parish prison had access to guns and drugs. The percentage of New Orleanians who had actually been incarcerated in the jail was well over 50%. Throw in the worst police force in America, the sleaze of Bourbon street, the broiling hot summers with 100% humidity, staggering poverty with almost no high-wage jobs, and having to flee hurricanes about once every 5-6 years, and you have a formula for some real misery. I left after Hurricane Katrina for all those reasons and because I didn't expect the Army Corps of Engineers or the national, state and local governments to get anything fixed. New Orleans is strictly a place for people who like to party, but if you must live there, find a place to live in Metairie or across the lake.
Kelly | Metairie, LA