Baton Rouge, LA

[Alfi]

Hey everyone,

I know it might seem crazy, but for some reason I am palnnig to go to LSU (Louisiana State uni-Baton rouge). Well, I don't expect a fancy town, but what's it really like? I know living expenses are low. What about other things like people. Are they easy to get along with? By the way, how is safty and weather over there...?

[JordanJames]

I went to school in New Orleans for a while, and visited Baton Rouge a couple of times. The weather is hot and humid. Baton Rouge is fairly safe, but like everywhere, there are some rough neighborhoods. It's very blue-collar and laid back there. The food and the people are great. There is some racism, but overall, I don't think I've ever met people who were more friendly than the Louisiana natives. Also, Baton Rouge is not too far from New Orleans, and New Orleans is a great city. If you go to LSU, you will be required to like American college football. Welcome to SEC country!!! If you don't know what that means, you'll learn soon. There's nothing crazy about going to LSU, there is nothing wrong with the school, the state or the people. I hope you enjoy it there.

[unknownscholar]

Did you say colored????

uhm.okay. anyway.

I was born and raised in baton rouge, not very far from LSU, and although I never attended, I was often on or around the campus for other activities, so I was exposed to a lot of the "lsu culture," which is certainly centered on 'lettin' the good times roll' (look it up later; I don't know how to spell this in Creole). Like the above poster said, lots of football, lots of music, lots of people, lots of fun. If you want to feel like you are a part of the heart of Louisiana culture, you'll be in good company at LSU.

Sure there is racism in Louisiana. But I've lived in almost every part of the nation, with exception to the west, and I've seen it everywhere. I've never been exposed to overt racism (and I'm in the racial minority). But it has been my experience that a facial expression is worth a thousand words.

Weather: hot and humid, almost all the time. But the scenery is great in the summer.

Baton Rouge is a college town, centered on LSU. Take advantage of this. If you wear your LSU shirt anywhere outside your apartment, you're one of us.

[Alfi]

I am so sorry for my poor choice of word. I didn't really mean to offend anyone. I guess I should watch my words more. Anyway, my apologies :oops: and thanks for the info.

[ShamPain]

Baton Rouge is hot, yes, but the humidity is what really gets you. If you mind hot/humid weather, then you should like it. Downtown used to be terrible, but there's been a resurgence in the past few years. There are a number of good bars, a TON of good restaurants, a good college radio station (KLSU), and a lot of culture. Be sure to get out and try new things, new foods, new places.

Chelsea's is a good place to hang out, as is Red Star. Tsunami has the best sushi in town, Spanish Moon is the best place to see a band, and there are TONS of great places to get Po' Boys (take advantage of this). The Chimes is a preppier bar/restaurant, but still pretty cool.

Baton Rouge isn't especially dangerous. There are a few iffy neighborhoods, but no more than anywhere else.

[Xero735]

I'm from Massachusetts, went to school in Massachusetts and this will be my first time moving. Any recommendations on good areas to try to look for apartments in?

[coralou]

I say check out the Garden district which is pretty close to school. There's a fair amount of apts. on HIghland, Burbank, Nicholson, and Perkins road areas. Good luck!

[Xero735]

Thank you again, lots of help. Any hidden gems as far as places to eat, book stores, cafes, and such and so forth?

[OrestesMantra]

I will be attending LSU this Fall for their masters program in philosophy. I am still trying to decide whether I should look into a 1bedroom because they are so cheap, or save even more money and find a roommate. Save money...versus...risk of bad roommate. I definitely enjoy my privacy, but would be willing to share a house/apartment to get more space, etc provided I find another cool graduate student to live with. Anyone in a similar predicament? Im going to try and get in touch with other incoming philosophy students, but we'll see how that goes.

[geigwm6]

Does anyone have any advice/opinions concerning Baton Rouge (more specifically LSU) in terms of safety/culture/friendliness?

Thank you!

[philos]

Does anyone have any advice/opinions concerning Baton Rouge (more specifically LSU) in terms of safety/culture/friendliness?

Thank you!

I've been at LSU for a couple years now. Baton Rouge is a pretty lame town, but you can figure out the cool stuff...and if you really take advantage of the benefits of Louisiana, you can have a really good time. Important to know is that you generally live either south or north of campus...south is the ritzy area, north is the crummy area. Don't go north if you want to live someplace with no cockroaches/sealed moulding/etc (to be fair, the cockroaches will find you wherever you go)...I picked north because I a) didn't know better, and it's cheaper. Avoid Tigerland...it's a sort of student housing apartment area that gets very raucous. As far as safety goes, it's generally safe, although there's a bad side of the tracks that you hit rapidly if you go north of Aster and east of Iowa Street. But I've never really felt unsafe. Much more dangerous is the absolutely awful driving ability you'll find here...drive DEFENSIVELY. Stop signs seem to be optional for some drivers here, bikers go whichever direction they please when they please, etc. Because of the post-Katrina population overflow from New Orleans folk who stayed in Baton Rouge, traffic is terrible in the mornings, afternoons, and evenings. Get used to hitting traffic basically all the time, and just try not to go out from 4-7. Also, safety-wise, be aware that hurricanes are a reality, and take them seriously...get water ahead of time, and be sure to stock up on alcohol...if you lose power in the Louisiana summer for a week and a half, you'll want some red wine.

As for culture, Baton Rouge is a bit lacking in my mind, but it's there. There are some good bars and pizza places. Get to know po'boys...I thought they were just subs when I moved here, but I was wrong...they are miracles of cuisine. Crawfish, when in season, is spectacularly good. Get season tickets to Tigers football the summer beforehand...it's like $90 for students, and well worth it for the experience. I'd never encountered anything like the Saturday of an LSU game here, and I'll miss going to see the Tigers play. There are some nice parks to visit. And New Orleans is fairly close, and is an absolutely great city.

And LSU is the jewel of the city...the campus (the quad, anyway) is beautiful. If you've never seen live oaks, you will, and they're incredible. So you'll have a good time (just get ready for the humidity...it makes the summers hotter and the winters colder).

[FingersCrossedX]

I lived in Baton Rouge for a year. Not as a student so I don't know the student apartment complexes. I can tell you this about the different neighborhoods that might be listed on Craigslist.

Garden District- Neighborhood near campus. Nice old houses many of which have back apartments. Those are sometimes rented by families, sometimes just the back apartment to a house that is also rented out. Either way they are unattached and bill are usually separated. The garden district is mostly families or grad students. Safe, but there is a sketchy part. You'll know if you see it driving or look at the address on google maps. The houses are in bad condition.

Tigerland- Undergrad central. Enough said.

Beauregard Town- older neighborhood. Safe enough but has iffy pockets. Look on google maps.

Spanish Town- Downtown but a nice area. Not lofts or anything like the gentrification in most cities. Its the oldest part of the city I believe (could be wrong). Its next to the state capitol. Its full of 20 something idealists and middle aged hippies. Everything is recycled, people walk to things downtown. I think the only hybrids in Baton Rouge are there (kidding but not really).

College Heights- Nice houses. A lot of families and professors. Super close to campus.

Anything that says LSU is probably student housing. I really have no idea what housing is mostly undergrads and what isn't. Anything on Brightside/Nicholson is where students live mostly. That housing probably isn't listed on Craigslist yet. Driving through neighborhoods when you get there you can probably find a place that's not student housing. However, if that's what you're looking for.

Also the traffic in Baton Rouge is surprisingly bad. The interstate is a standstill at rush hour. The city grew so fast after Katrina and the suburbs grew enormously. I'd stay away from them just because of the traffic. That's areas like Walker, Baker Denham Springs, Zachary, etc.

[sm2012]

Wow, FingersCrossedX this is super helpful! I still feel so lost though when looking through apartment listings - craigslist has nothing! Also, any suggestions on finding a roommate that is not a crazy undergrad? <-- obviously a question for people who attended or are attending LSU.

Thanks!

[Mr. David Jay]

I'm a grad student at LSU and I live on Highland. I would encourage you to find an apartment close to campus or close to downtown. Where we live, it is relatively safe, but you have to drive everywhere--about 20 minutes or more, no matter how close it is. Even if you have to pay a little more in rent, you make up for it in gas money.

[FingersCrossedX]

Wow, FingersCrossedX this is super helpful! I still feel so lost though when looking through apartment listings - craigslist has nothing! Also, any suggestions on finding a roommate that is not a crazy undergrad? <-- obviously a question for people who attended or are attending LSU.

Thanks!

If you find something and want to know if its a decent area, feel free to PM me. I'll look at where it is and tell you what I can about the area. However, I'm not much help with the LSU centric housing but I can try.

[justntime]

Will be going LSU as well in the Fall....if anyone needs a roommate let me know

[jennyw89]

I currently go to LSU, and am deciding between here and University of Louisville for grad school.

As for friendliness, everybody's easy to get along with.

Safety: there have actually been quite a few robberies at gun point this year. I hadn't ever heard of them before with any commonality... but this year, they seem to happen every other week. A couple of my friend's boyfriends were robbed at gunpoint. That was only between midnight-3am by tigerland and on brightside. Don't live too far down brightside, that seems to be a popular robbery area. One of my friend's apartments was broken into while we were at a football game this past fall. And don't live in the northgate area, its sketchy over there. Just to clarify, Baton Rouge isn't a scary place- just like any city, there are areas to avoid. Cost: it's not as cheap as you'd think. Overall, baton rouge has cheap cost of living, but when it comes to living near campus, the cost gets jacked up big time. The demand is just too high, and the apartment complex management can get away with it.

Places TO live:

-If I decide to go to LSU, I'm going to live at Place du Plantier. They are near campus, but far away enough from Tigerland. They have a no party policy, so there aren't crazy drunken parties til 4am every night of the week like at most other apartments. I have a few friends that live there now that are very school-focused, and they really like it. And since it's grad school, my goal is to be more school-focused. It's not on the LSU bus route, but it's less than a 5 minute drive to campus. It's not the nicest place in the world, but it's definitely the nicest for the money. It's one of the best-priced apartment complexes that is near campus. Not gated, but far enough away from the craziness to not need to be. (And they have two pools, which is really nice when it gets to be so dang hot over here.)

-Another one of my friends lives in Brook Hollow. These are really nice, spacious apartments, and really close to campus. I really like the layout of her apartment. They are closer to Tigerland, but not actually in Tigerland. She says the only downside is that it is not gated, and she gets a little nervous about that when it's late at night.

-Highland Plantation is another apartment that I've considered. It's on the Highland road, which runs right through campus, so very short distance. On the LSU bus route, so that's a plus if you're planning on getting to campus that way. I don't have any friends that live there, even though it's a huge place. It seems really convenient, and I know a lot of the units have been re-done recently.

-There's also a lot of smaller complexes close to campus that are in walking distance. I had a couple friends living together in Ivy Condominiums off of West Parker, and they really liked it there. It's a tiny complex. They had a great landlord. They moved over to Brightside to save money on rent, but regret it (they're the ones that had there apartment broken into... definitely ended up not being a good decision to move over there).

Let me know if you have any other questions! Geaux Tigers!!!!!!!!! You'll love it here

[sm2012]

Does anyone have suggestions for apartments off campus, not in Tigerland, and accessible from public transportation? I do not want to live in a super loud/crazy apartment complex BUT I also do not have a car.

THANKS!!

[justntime]

Need a roommate for the upcoming year asap!

[Mr. David Jay]

Does anyone have suggestions for apartments off campus, not in Tigerland, and accessible from public transportation? I do not want to live in a super loud/crazy apartment complex BUT I also do not have a car.

THANKS!!

Here's the LSU bus loops: http://lsu.transloc.com/. Warning, it's not as reliable as most mass transit (weird hours, long waits), but the LSU busses are free. You want to live near a stop if you're going to LSU, but ideally you should also be able to walk or ride a bike.

[SilverS]

I am also looking for roommate, please contact me!

[davidpeter12]

Take the kids for a ride on the food court’s carousel at the Mall of Louisiana, where two bucks can still buy a kid a little taste of magic and you can visit FYIfly.com to know more about current event happening in Baton Rouge.

[eph630]

Traffic is seriously abysmal. Don't attempt to get on I-10 from 7am-9am or 3pm-6pm. Smaller cross streets and highways even get bogged up during lunch time and lock up during rush hours. But I have to say that you do need a car, unfortunately. Not a big fan of BR at all.

Edited January 7, 2012 by eph630

[nietzschebot]

I'm going for the grad program in English at LSU for the fall, and I was wondering about housing. Does anyone know how early you have to rent apartments? What are some good complexes/locations? I'm planning now of coming (all the way from California) in mid-July. Fortunately (or unfortunately) I'm originally from South Carolina, so I'll be used to the humidity somewhat, but I still want to cut down on the drudgery of apartment finding as much as possible. Thanks in advance!

[MsManatee]

If you live in BR, you most likely are going to need a car. That's not to say that you won't be able to get around town without one, but our CATS bus system is terrible (unreliable and unsafe) and BR isn't bike friendly. Living near campus should be easier for those with a bike, but I'd still warn you to be very careful. We've had several bikers killed by people who were drunk driving or just not paying attention. 

Yes, the traffic is bad especially after Hurricane Katrina uprooted so many people and thousands traveled to BR. But it is survivable if you allot enough time to deal with traffic. If someone says you can get somewhere in 10 minutes, allot at least 15 to 20 minutes depending on the time of day. It can't hurt to be early anyway

 

Also, our real estate is ridiculously expensive. I'm not sure how much the rental properties go for around LSU, but I know you should start looking ASAP.