Good Nawleans Neighborhoods

[Andre Crabb]

Hey all!

My sister and her soon to be husband successfully couples matched for doctor residencies in New Orleans! They will be moving there in the next couple months for the next five years at least.

My sister will be at LSU and he is going to Ochsner Clinic.

Any suggestions on which neighborhoods/zipcodes to live would be greatly appreciated! Also, does it make more sense to buy or rent for those 5 years? I'm starting the research too, but would love to hear from those with feet on the ground.

Cheers,

Andre

[Corey Gregg]

EDIT: I realized that this thread was old after posting, but I'll leave it here in case any one else finds it useful.

I just finished residency in New Orleans (moved from a different state), and I have rented since I moved here, but I am considering buying a multifamily property now.

New Orleans is really a block by block city.  You can be in a good neighborhood and just a few blocks over would be a worse neighborhood.  Where to live depends upon their personalities, of course, but I would recommend--for a couple working at those two hospital in the city, to live either Uptown, the Garden District, the Lower Garden District, the Irish Channel, Mid-City, or Bayou St. John.  Further east into the Marigny might be a hassle to get to Ochsner, further west (Metairie) is definitely do-able (I know many LSU residents that did this), but I personally think that it would be a hassle to get to LSU's hospitals from Metairie unless they live very close to I-10.  I don't like commuting more than 15 minutes or so and I'm not a fan of the suburbs (much of Metairie).  If they want to live in high rise apartments with amenities, then the Central Business District is where to do that, but it sounds like they might want to buy a dublex, so I'd recommend those other neighborhoods.

As far as individual streets within neighborhoods, I look for neighborhoods with lots of trees and people walking around.  Between St. Charles and the River essentially from Audubon Park to the edge of the Central Business District is generally walkable and liveable.  The closer you get to Magazine street the better, in my opinion.  Around Mid-city and Bayou St. John, the best areas are very close to the Bayou and/or City Park in Bayou St. John, or on or very close to what's now called the Norman C Francis Parkway.

Personally, I rented a place for 6 months at the beginning of residency in the Lower Garden District, then moved a few blocks away to a less expensive apartment for the remainder of residency.  If they want to buy a multifamily, make sure they run the numbers well and consider a property manager even if they're living in one apartment because residency will be very busy for them and they won't want the hassle.