Is new orleans a safe place to live now?

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re.gibbs

barry- quit telling people to stay away from crack and they will be fine. the 56 year old man who was killed in a car jacking last night wasn't involved in drug activity. the 3 year old who was shot a few months ago wasn't doing crack. my friend who had a stray bullet fly through his living room window inches from his head has nothing to do with drugs. it makes me sick everytime i see you give that answer. you sound like nagin, "come on back, everything's fine!" i've got news for both of you, no it's not.

NO! this city is not safe overall, there are some areas better than others and tourist areas are fine, but new orleans as a whole is incredibly unsafe. i don't know why some people here are living in denial. we have the highest murder rate in the country, higher than cities with 5x our population. and our DA's office can't keep the offenders in jail if the police do catch them. does that sound safe to you?

eric l

It has the highest murder rate in the country. The DA office is not working and less than 5% of the murders end in conviction.

eviechatter

I don't believe New Orleans or any costal city is safe during hurricane season. I know I wouldn't want to live near the coast.

traveler

I think the areas such as the French Quarter, Uptown/Garden District and most of the Marigny are safe and wonderful places to live. There is of course areas that are still devastated by the storm and will be a long time before they come back. Some of the areas have seen high crime returning to them. But like with any major city this happens and hopefully will improve as the city rebuilds and restructures. I think its a wonderful city and will only get better.

Christy

hell no!!! My mom wants me to go out of city for college for that reason!!!

Glutenfreegirl

In my opinion, no. I live on the nortshore and the crime is even picking up over here.
Go to www.nopd.com and clicko n their map that details all crimes in the area.

Dee

I would not say. The crime is horrible.There are killings everyday...

Deutschlander

No, it is not and won't be for awhile.

travelnut

Yes. Its a great place to live. The historical areas that have always been safe are still safe. Just have to select the area that is right for you.

Joseph, II

It's every bit as "safe" -as it was, the day BEFORE Katrina hit... (Think about that VERY CAREFULLY- before you think about moving down there...).

Kelsey

The police department is under staffed, and the city goverment officals are all crooked - not much is being done to help anyone. I just saw a story on cnn which said that the most people who are arrested for violent crimes are quickly set free at arraignment because the D.A. office isn't doing it's job in building cases and gathering witnesses.

It's a sad, scary, dirty place.

sir velvet

I hate to say it, but I agree with Barry. If you are not involved in criminal activities then your chances of being affected by crime are very very low. If you are involved in criminal activity then please don't move here anyway!

Having said that, New Orleans is a challenging place to live and was so before Katrina as well (but maybe less so). Almost nothing works in New Orleans like it does in the rest of the country, from government to retail shopping to the economic model that drives us. However, for accepting the challenge that comes with living here is a payoff that is is incomparable from the rest of the country.

The history, culture, food, and music are unique here and are not duplicated anywhere else. The mix of people, cultures, demographics, and opportunities can (and should) make life here more fulfilling and much more interesting.

NOLA guy

Questions like yours about New Orleans tend to attract highly negative answers from people who do not live here and who do not know what they are talking about. That includes all of the previous "answers" to your question.

Major crime in New Orleans is driven by drug competition, and almost all of the murders & shootings are the result of disputes between drug characters. That doesn't make the crimes OK, but stay away from crack cocaine and the people who sell or buy it and you will be fine.

New Orleans is one of the world's special places with an ambience unique in North America, and remains so even after Katrina devastated it in 2005.

Katrina flooded about 80% of New Orleans with salt water, and the water stayed for almost a month. Much of the city is still struggling to recover and all you have to do to see devastation is drive around. It will take years for NOLA to fully recover from Katrina.

However, the parts of the city that tourists usually visit were not flooded. It's not a coincidence - the French Quarter and other old parts of the city were built on relatively high ground and only suffered wind damage from Katrina. Almost all of the damage has been repaired and you have to look closely in the FQ and city center to see that Katrina happened at all.

Note that the City of New Orleans is only part of the greater New Orleans area. The GNO area had a population of about 1,300,000 before Katrina and is estimated at about 1,100,000 now (July, 2007). The absent 200,000 are from the City of New Orleans and the parishes of Plaquemines and Saint Bernard, which were the worst-flooded parts of the metro area. Jefferson Parish - just to the west of the City - suffered only minor flooding and has fully recovered.

The job market in the GNO area has exploded as companies and organizations reopen and look for staff.

You can drink the water, the electricity & phones work, and services like the post office, hospitals, schools, police/fire/EMS, and stores & shopping centers are operating.

Municipal services like street cleaning & trash collection collapsed after Katrina. Those services were fully restored in late 2006 and it is no longer an issue.

New Orleans has mild weather from late October to early May and the city stays green all year most years (rarely freezes and almost never snows). Summers are hot & humid, particularly in July and August - take it easy or stick to indoor activities during the middle of the day at that time of year. The good news for summer visitors is that hotel prices are usually lower.

Camille

I wouldn't live IN New Orleans if I were you (highest murder rate in the country), but Kenner is like 10 minutes out of New Orleans, and thats a nice place to live.

LDW

I agree with Barry. New Orleans is no more dangerous than any other city. If you an "Average Joe", with a family and job, and are not into the "drug or thug" scene, then you will be fine in New Orleans. As with any other city in the United States, New Orleans has its share of problems, especially since Hurricane Katrina. What people fail to realize or the media does not report is that a lot of the crime we have now is not being committed by locals. New Orleans has had a large influx of people from other states who have come here to find work and help rebuild New Orleans. Unfortunately (and I'm not trying to single out a particular culture), a large percentage of our population now is Hispanic, and that group is trying to make a place for themselves in New Orleans, including the local "drug scene". Don't get me wrong, most of the people that have come here to help are doing just that. But, we have gotten some of the tag alongs who are just as bad or equal to what New Orleans had pre-Katrina. However, the news and other people who bad mouth New Orleans would like you to believe that this is an everyday norm and that all these crimes are being committed by the same people who were here before the storm. A lot of people don't want to see New Orleans thrive and this is their way of making that happen. As long as there is a New Orleans, I'll always be a "New Orleanian". There is no other place on the face of the earth that can match our culture and diversity. No one can take that from us but GOD!

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