Room for one more GTer in Louisiana ??
 

Fin to move south upon graduation.

Never really considered Louisiana until now. ( preferably 2 hours or less from salt water)

Wondered if I could get a few words from locals?

Cost of living? Friendly to outsiders? Taxes? Best kept secrets? Gun laws to know other than what handgunlaw turns up?

:dunno:

I haven't been back in a few years, but I loved growing up there. Probably the only state I'd consider moving to.

Didn't know you were from there. Cool.

Which part?

About 30 miles SW of Lafayette, in the middle of nowhere. Loved it.

Welcome to GT.

I spent a fair time in central PA around Lancaster Co.

Love Yoder's Buffet.

Had a brain fart, sorry for lack of reading comprehension. Good luck.

Thanks Janice. Nice to meet you:whistling:

:rofl:

Sweet. So not too far to make weekend trips to the coast?

Afternoon trip even.

That's what I'm talkin about. PA has left me with near lethal salt deficiency.

Any of the day crew down there? I know we have more than one GTer in the state!

I live right outside of New Orleans. Come on down. Before you buy here check out Houston or Katy TX. Stayed in that area after Katrina and loved it.

1) Cost of living - Almost non-existent unless you want to live right in the center of a city.

2) Friendly to outsiders - As friendly as anywhere else I'd suppose...as long as you don't have something like a Boston accent, you'll be fine.

3) Taxes - Not bad at all. In line with the pay scale here so I can't complain.

4) Best kept secrets - Nothing is a secret here...but I'd say the food will pretty much hook you for life.

5) Gun laws - Almost none. Shall-issue. Open carry. Any number of firearms, anywhere in the vehicle, loaded or unloaded, with no permit required.

We also have a strong castle doctrine which means if anybody forces entry into your home, feel free to make some extra breathing holes in their chest.

Oh, and I'll have to mention the food one more time.

The Florida panhandle and the southern tip of Alabama (Gulf Shores/Orange Beach) are worth a look. WARNING: There are a lot of liberals in Baldwin county, but Alabama has a local-firearm-law preemption law.

What he said and more:

5. We aren't called the Sportsman's Paradise for nothing. Hunting, fishing, hiking, boating...you name it, we got it. All manner of inland and coastal recreational activities.

6. We have homestead exemption on the first $75,000 assessed value of your home.

7. Our new constitutional amendment (if passed next month) will almost assure us of constitutional carry and eliminate most local preemptions that were grandfathered in several years ago.

8. If you like casino gaming, in Northwest LA we have five riverboat casinos. There are several Indian reservation casinos and others along the Mississippi river.

9. Depending on where you settle, we are fairly close to attractions in Dallas, Houston, and other major metropolises.

Louisiana born ( Caddo parish ) and raised outside of Kinder, LA before moving to Texas. The western part of the state is great. Much cleaner and laid back than let's say the NOLA/METAIRE area.

I myself would reccommend anything from Baton Rouge west. North Louisiana is more like Texas or Arkansas, but still it's great place to live.

Overall taxes for common items are cheaper than most other places and gas prices are always cheaper than any think MidWest or NE states.

if you get bored of LA, you can escaped to the North, West or East and enter any of the border states with in 3-5 hours of driving time depending on where your at.

I've gotta go back soon, haven't had a proper gumbo or crawfish boil in years.

Everything pretty much spot on.

I'll elaborate some. West of Baton Rouge (like noway mentioned) is Acadiana (Cajun) territory. Not the same thing thing as New Orleans. The food will be different, the music will be different, and the culture will be different. Not that there's anything wrong with New Orleans, but Acadiana is where it's at.

And noway is spot on with the North Louisiana assessment. I'd suggest living at least as South as the Lafayette area, or you'll miss ALL of the state's cultural background. There's a reason we call anyone North of I-10 Yankees. The Northern part of the state is nothing like the South/Southwestern part. But, it still shares the same freedom as the rest of the state.

This. All of my dads family is in West Monroe (dad is born and rasied in Start then moved to West Monroe), been there for summer vacations. I enjoy LA.

Oh, and be sure to catch my buddy Steve (grammy-nominated multiple times) play around the Lafayette area. This is a show I filmed a little of:



Come on down, I'll catch a show with you and break you in good! :tongueout:

If you want to get out on the water really fast, choose somewhere close to Terrebonne Parish (Houma/Thibodaux area). Fishing out of Cocodrie and Dularge is always good. Hunting in the area is also very good.

The farthest away I would suggest is Baton Rouge and able to be close to hunting/fishing.

The food is second to none and friendly people are everywhere.

Depending on what job field you are in and what type position you're looking for will most likely determine which area is best for you to settle in.

Good luck! Everyone I know that visits wants to come back often.

I'd suggest Abbeville, LA. You'll be close to the coast, and of course Louisiana has more water than any other state in the country, so you'll be able to do some awesome freshwater fishing/trapping as well. Next September hook up with me and do some alligator huntin'. :thumbsup:

That's a great area, I'd go back in a heartbeat.

Some crawfish etouffee I fired up last night...enough reason to never leave here. (The peas are just for decoration...:rofl:)

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/a...y/IMG_0280.jpg

God that looks good, haven't had good étouffée in so long :crying: