Housing in particular is reasonably priced in New Orleans, making living here an attractive option if you are buying your first home or renting a charming apartment in the heart of the city.
Nine reasons the Crescent City is a great place to buy a home
Relocate to a vibrant, culturally rich, historically significant American city: New Orleans. A unique blend of French, African, Spanish, and Creole influences, the Big Easy offers a one-of-a-kind experience.
- Rich Cultural Heritage
Colonized by the French in 1682 and founded in 1718 under the name La Nouvelle-Orleans, New Orleans has a lot of history. The city’s diverse architecture, music, cuisine, and cultural traditions reflect French, Spanish, African, and Creole influences. From the historic French Quarter to vibrant Tremé, the neighborhoods are a testament to the city’s multicultural past. The music scene is especially renowned. Jazz and blues clubs dot the streets, and you can find live music any day of the week. (Niche awards New Orleans an A+ for nightlife and an A for diversity.)
- World-Famous Cuisine
Known for unique Creole and Cajun flavors, the outstanding cuisine is one of the town’s greatest attractions. Your culinary adventure ranges from savory gumbo and jambalaya to sweet beignets and pralines. And don’t forget the po-boys, charbroiled oysters, red beans and rice, and boiled crawfish.
If you crave soul food or fresh seafood, this is the place for you. New Orleans is a food lover’s paradise, with new restaurants opening all the time and a ton of festivals featuring beignets, fried chicken, oysters, the Creole tomato, and other local food. Few American cities can boast as many James Beard–winning chefs gracing the restaurant scene as New Orleans.
- Live Music Everywhere
As the birthplace of jazz, New Orleans offers an unparalleled music scene, with countless clubs, bars, and festivals. A few blocks of Frenchmen Street in the Marigny are lined with clubs featuring live music. Every night, iconic music venues like Tipitina’s in Uptown and Fritzel’s European Jazz Pub in the French Quarter draw visitors from all over the world. Between going on tour and performing at local festivals, world-famous musicians play gigs around town.
- Southern Hospitality
New Orleans is famous for its warm and welcoming residents. In fact, people are one of the best things about the town, where you’ll quickly discover the spirit of lagniappe (a Creole word for “a little something extra”).
People readily make eye contact, greet strangers on the street, and strike up conversations in grocery store lines. Your neighbors look out for you as if you were family. Everywhere you go, you are greeted with a smile, and you may well be invited to join the celebration of the next neighborhood gathering.
- Low Cost of Living
Unlike many other major cities in the United States, New Orleans is relatively affordable. Housing in particular is reasonably priced, making living here an attractive option if you are buying your first home or renting a charming apartment in the heart of the city.
Numbeo estimates the monthly costs for a family of four, excluding rent, at $4,328. The same for a single person is $1,203. On average, rent in New Orleans is 55.7% lower than rent in New York.
AreaVibes gives New Orleans an A+ for amenities, health, and commute, and a livability score of 74% out of 100%, considered excellent. AreaVibes gauges the relative cost of living to be 101%, 1% higher than the national average and 9% higher than that of Louisiana, 92%.
Costs of groceries (99%), transportation (97%), and utilities (76%) are all lower than the national average of 100%. Higher, though, are goods and services (107%), healthcare (117%), and housing (104%).
- Affordable Housing
You can still find reasonably priced housing in New
- Laid-Back Lifestyle
In the South, things are laid back, and New Orleans is laid back too. The pace of life is often slower here. Drivers stop to chat in the middle of the block. Musicians go on stage a little late, maybe an hour. A bartender takes his time to mix your drink. If you too are comfortable with this kind of pace, you’ll love living here.
- Vibrant Art Scene
Good art is easy to find. The diverse museums include the incredible National World War II Museum, the New Orleans Museum of Art, the Contemporary Art Center, and the Ogden Museum of Southern Art. Vibrant art galleries line Julia Street in the Warehouse District of the Central Business District.
You will also find the historic Louisiana State Museums, a treasure trove of an archive at The Historic New Orleans Collection, and many historic homes that offer tours; as well as many impressive smaller museums showcasing aspects of local culture, like the New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum. And don’t neglect the street art in places like Jackson Square, where you can buy local art and crafts and have your portrait drawn.
- Our Famous Resilience
New Orleans is more than a continuous display of joie de vivre. Our 300-plus-year history is also marred by war, natural and man-made disasters, and other tribulations.
Perhaps that’s why we tend to enjoy life a little more than people in other towns. The joie de vivre comes with a high dose of resilience. As Mardi Gras Indians say, “Won’t bow, don’t know how.” Here we slow down, relax, enjoy the magic, don’t sweat the small stuff, and are ready — when life comes at you — to get up and keep going.
If you are ready to call New Orleans home, contact our Realtors to help you find a great property in the neighborhood of your choice.