Best Place to Live in Louisiana
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6/9/2011
I've lived in Mandeville for 11 years and truly believe it is the best place to live in Louisiana. I'm a LA native and have lived in other areas of South LA, but Mandeville beats them all hands down! People are friendly here and there's lots to do. Mandeville borders the northshore of Lake Pontchartrain and the Lakefront is a great place to jog or walk dogs, etc. There is also a boat launch. Old Mandeville is very nice with some really good restaurants and the Trailhead, which offers a community market every Saturday as well as free outdoor concerts in the spring, and water sprinklers for kids in the summer. It's a great place to access the Trace (biking trail that runs through Mandeville). In addition, there is an awesome playground for kids on Koop Drive in Mandeville near I-12 and I believe a children's museum is going to be built next to the playground soon. Mandeville also has two really awesome fitness clubs that you can pay to join. One is Francos Athletic Club, which has been featured on TV as one of the best fitness clubs in the U.S. (or maybe even the world). I belong to it and although it's not exactly perfect, they do offer A LOT...more than any other fitness club I've ever heard of. Four pools, big variety of exercise classes, and childcare just to name a few of the amenities! In Mandeville, the schools are excellent and it's a low-crime area where you can feel pretty safe. It's very family-oriented and if you get bored here, the surrounding areas offer even more entertainment. About 40 minutes away in Hammond, there is a great kids museum and the Columbia Theater. There is also a place called Global Wildlife, about 30 min. away in Robert, where you can go see zebras, giraffes, and a lot of other wildlife. They take you on a tram through their acres of lands and you can actually feed the animals if you want to. Ten minutes away, in Covington, you'll find lots more restaurants and shopping, not that Mandeville doesn't have enough restaurants and shopping! You'll find plenty of both. There are definitely some cons to living here...turns out our last mayor was a criminal; we're in an area prone to hurricanes; and the roads aren't great. But those are issues for any Southern Louisiana town. All in all, if you have to live in LA, especially the southern part, Mandeville is where you want to be!
Holly | Mandeville, LA