Big Decision Comming. Can't Decide (1 Viewer)

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My wife is finishing graduate school in December and we have been debating on moving back to NOLA. We have been living in DC for 3.5 years now and have teetered back and forth on moving back when she is done.

Her mom is getting older, all of our friends and family live there, everything is cheaper except insurance, the Saints, the Tigers, fishing, crawfish boils, mild winters, etc. are all reasons to move back but there are many reasons not to.

I like my job and wouldn't have the same opportunity in NOLA, better schools, less crime, less frustration with local government, flooding, less pay, wouldnt have to lose money selling our condo, etc.

We have plenty time to figure it out but I still think about it all the time.

Advise?
 
we are in an economic crisis in new orleans. i would wait at least a year to see how jindal helps new orleans. service industries are having a hard time finding work here. so things might get hectic. i dont know what field you are in but this city is going through some pains.
 
If I had it to do over again I would try harder to be closer to family. I have been gone for 20 years now and it is hard to leave where I am out in life now (divorced with a teenager living with him mother in the area). Still young at 29 you will have many years to live where ever you choose way out in the future. My recommendation would be to consider it...at least get within a 1/2 drive maybe. Not sure if you have kids yet but it is good for the kiddies to grow up around family. My opinion anyway. Good luck with your decision.
 
Well, in my opinion, I would say the factors for staying outweigh the ones for going back to NOLA. I had to move to Houston (The Woodlands) and I'm not going back any time soon. I love New Orleans to death, and it is a part of me that can't be taken away, but I have had too many opportunities and have made too many friends here to go back. My career field doesn't exist in New Orleans, and if it did I would probably be making half as much as I do now.

I would love to mave back, but for the best possible future for myself and my family, I have to be a tourist to my own hometown. Don't worry though I still make red beans and rice on Mondays.
 
The Mike Houston is ALOT closer than DC though. I am in central NC and it is hard to get home. Driving in from Houston can be done almost at a moments notice but not from DC or where I am out. That is why I suggested a 1/2 day car ride away.
 
I can only speak for myself. I was away for awhile....had a decent job, lived in a nice neigborhood, had tons of sports around me, so on and so forth.

There were a million reasons not to move back to Louisiana. But there was one big reason to move back......

Cuz we're sick ****s who don't quite fit in anywhere else but down here. Period.
 
Not sure if you have kids yet but it is good for the kiddies to grow up around family. My opinion anyway. Good luck with your decision.

No kids yet but that is the biggest reason we are considering it. Both of us plan on working and kids are on the near horizon. I have friends up here with kids and they have no family around to help. I feel bad for them sometimes because it seems like they never get a break. I guess I should offer to babysit but the kid could easily be the spawn of satan.
 
I have struggled with the same question every day for the last 2 years. After 8 years in the Navy, I got out specifically to move back home. I got there 2 weeks before Katrina and now we are about 12 hours away from N.O. in Charleston, SC. I have been away for 10 years now and every rational bone in my body says that we should stay here but the personal emotional aspects of home keep pulling us back that way. Everyone we know and love still lives there. We have missed out on holidays, birthdays, and other special events at home. We have also lost the opportunity to share life's special events with family (i.e., the birth of our children). We have 3 small children and I can tell you it is very difficult without the support of family, especially when both parents work. When you weigh the pros and cons about going back, the cons usually win out. In the end, we are going back. The desire to be closer to family and have our kids grow up amongst family was too great to ignore. However, I am a Pharmacist, and I can find work just about anywhere in the country. I don't know if I would do it if I were in a profession where I couldn't find work in N.O. Good luck!!
 
No kids yet but that is the biggest reason we are considering it. Both of us plan on working and kids are on the near horizon. I have friends up here with kids and they have no family around to help. I feel bad for them sometimes because it seems like they never get a break.

We're basically in the boat you describe above. My wife and I moved here in 1998--we had no children at the time. We used to fly down to South LA about 4 times a year. Now that we have four kids, we only trek down twice a year (or as needed). We've had all our children Baptized in the Church where we were married and all the Godparents are from down there. My sister-in-law who is a teacher moved up here in 2000 and was able to increase her pay by a significant amount (she makes about 175% of what her friends she left behind make). She used to help out more when we had two kids but much less now that we have four. We're basically on our own and think about moving back, but the economic environment is relatively weak in our work fields.

I'll pass on a lesson learned. You're likely to start at a much higher pay scale in Washington than you'll get in NOLA. It'll be difficult from both a financial and psychological perspective to relocate and make significantly less money.

I know there are many factors to consider and the decision is challenging for you and your wife. If you want personalized help on anything feel free to PM me.
 
Seems there are a few people out there that are struggling with the same decision.

Both the wife and myself should be able to find work pretty easily in NOLA, its just that I have a government job which I have gotten acustomed to, and if I move back I will probably end up working for Avondale or Tidewater etc. which usually does not offer the benefits of flexibility that comes with a government position.

In the end I know we are moving back, but I have a problem with making decisions based on emotions rather than logic. The crime, lack of services, possible loss of house and possesions, uncertainty of the overall outcome of the city, raising of kids in such a crazy place, are going to make it hard to pull the trigger when it comes time.

I do have to say that being raised in NO does build character.
 
I was in a situation similar to yours a few months ago. I had lived in California for a few years and wanted to be closer to home in NOLA. The solution, for me, was to live near New Orleans but not in New Orleans-- like NCSaint suggested. I recently moved to Houston and it's great; I've met some fantastic people and have found a great job that I never would have gotten in NOLA. It usually takes me about five hours to go home (I have a lead foot), and I can make the trip as often or as little as I like... I'm single with no children, though, so not sure if it would work for you- but maybe worth considering.
 

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