Pros and cons of living in New Iberia (New Orleans, Lafayette: crime, neighborhood)

[jinho]

Wife and I are retired and living in Thailand but looking to move back to the states.

Warm weather is important as well as outside activities. Have traveled through and thought it a beautiful town.

I'm American my wife is Thai so will need asian markets. Yelp shows some in Lafayette which, I believe, is not terribly far.

Prices seem reasonable, we are not rich but can afford a decent place looking at some of the RE websites.

So, living, and visiting, are completely different so hoping to hear what it is like to live there.

We like

Warm weather, Thailand is hot, and humid and we have no problems
Like to do outside activities, walks, kayak, fish
Need that asian market
Enjoy a quiet neighborhood
Enjoy eating out, doesn't have to be fancy
Also wondering about how my Thai wife would be accepted.

Thanks for any help!!

[Lizap]

How in the world did you come into considering New Iberia?

[jinho]

It's one of many under consideration. I've been there a few times and always liked it. We plan on spending a week in each place, narrow it down and then a month, or more to make sure we like it.

[Innotech]

Check out Broussard. Its closer to Lafayette and yes there are lots of good asian restaurants and 3 asian food markets. Two great thai restaurants are Pimon thai and Thai cuisine.

[aab7855]

New Iberia has definitely fallen on hard times for sure. They have a bit of crime problem, and a lot of people rely on the oilfield to survive, which obviously can be boom or bust and doesn´t do as well as it used to. There is definitely some money there though, and some nice areas. This demographic always chooses private (Catholic) school, and this results in a serious imbalance in terms of who attends public schools. I mean having grown up in New Orleans and lived on the Northside of Lafayette, the ¨hood¨ in New Iberia around Hopkins Street seems pretty tame, but it´s still not nice.

It´s really not that far from the marsh, so it´s pretty much only a matter of time until a strong enough hurricane takes it under. My fam over in Abbeville isn´t much better off..really right at about I-10 and all points above is where the potential of a monster storm surge becomes a non-issue. This is a projection over the long term of course...in the past, only places directly on the coast were usually in harm´s way.

I suppose if you have a good deal of money and can afford a nice area and private school for your family, the cost of living certainly is pretty low. People are friendly for sure. As a young boy and teenager later on, I used to enjoy visiting family there because there seems to be a high percentage of pretty girls in the city! The downtown is beautiful still...it´s an old city for sure. There was a time where it was more populated than Lafayette.

If Lafayette is too busy and you want something more quaint, I´d recommend Breaux Bridge. New Iberia is kind of between the two in size. There are many Asians (Vietnamese anyway) so you should find markets just about anywhere...I know there are definitely some in Abbeville.

[jinho]

Originally Posted by aab7855

New Iberia has definitely fallen on hard times for sure. They have a bit of crime problem, and a lot of people rely on the oilfield to survive, which obviously can be boom or bust and doesn´t do as well as it used to. There is definitely some money there though, and some nice areas. This demographic always chooses private (Catholic) school, and this results in a serious imbalance in terms of who attends public schools. I mean having grown up in New Orleans and lived on the Northside of Lafayette, the ¨hood¨ in New Iberia around Hopkins Street seems pretty tame, but it´s still not nice.

It´s really not that far from the marsh, so it´s pretty much only a matter of time until a strong enough hurricane takes it under. My fam over in Abbeville isn´t much better off..really right at about I-10 and all points above is where the potential of a monster storm surge becomes a non-issue. This is a projection over the long term of course...in the past, only places directly on the coast were usually in harm´s way.

I suppose if you have a good deal of money and can afford a nice area and private school for your family, the cost of living certainly is pretty low. People are friendly for sure. As a young boy and teenager later on, I used to enjoy visiting family there because there seems to be a high percentage of pretty girls in the city! The downtown is beautiful still...it´s an old city for sure. There was a time where it was more populated than Lafayette.

If Lafayette is too busy and you want something more quaint, I´d recommend Breaux Bridge. New Iberia is kind of between the two in size. There are many Asians (Vietnamese anyway) so you should find markets just about anywhere...I know there are definitely some in Abbeville.

Thank You! Very useful info. I forgot to mention kids are grown and out of the house.

[cBach]

I'll tell you that if you want Asian markets, New Orleans East is probably where you want to be. That's the center of the Vietnamese culture in Louisiana. It's not Thai but hopefully it'll do. That's my recommendation. RE is cheap there too but crime can be a problem.

[sluggermatt15]

Originally Posted by cBach

I'll tell you that if you want Asian markets, New Orleans East is probably where you want to be. That's the center of the Vietnamese culture in Louisiana. It's not Thai but hopefully it'll do. That's my recommendation. RE is cheap there too but crime can be a problem.

This would be my recommendation, too. You would also be close to many amenities in NOLA that you would not have access to in New Iberia.

I've never been to New Iberia, but there are other locations in LA I would consider before it. I also agree with Innotech above, Lafayette would also be a city to look into.