Baton Rouge might be overshadowed by New Orleans on a national scale, but in Louisiana, Baton Rouge plays a major role in the state culturally as well as economically. With a steady real estate market, Baton Rouge should be one of the top cities for anyone looking at homes for sale in Louisiana. Not convinced? Here are 6 reasons to relocate to Baton Rouge.
Baton Rouge Has A Unique Job Market
Home to Louisiana State University (LSU) as well as the state capital, Baton Rouge offers employment opportunities to teachers, government officials, and small business entrepreneurs looking to take advantage of the young college-educated population. The government employs well over 20,000 locals which, in a city of just 222K, means roughly one in every ten of the people you meet work for the government in some way.
LSU adds another 35K to the Baton Rouge population. If you’re looking to relocate to Baton Rouge and start your own restaurant, bar, salon, or nightclub, you name it, you’ll find a dedicated population of potential customers to draw business from.
Over the years Baton Rouge has made a point of keeping business in its downtown, rather than spreading far and wide across the city. There’s plenty of commercial space downtown and you can bet on a fair amount of street traffic thanks to the nearby LSU campus.
Couple these small business opportunities with the local oil refinery industry and shipping, and you have a diversified modern economy where almost anyone can succeed.
Family Comes First In Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge is a very family-centric city. The local families are typically quite large and extended, and Sundays often consist of everyone congregating with whoever has the largest house to eat together. If you’re relocating to Baton Rouge, as soon as you make some friends expect an invitation to a rowdy, good-natured dinner. If you like hosting dinner parties yourself, you can quickly turn your house into a homecoming, with kids and cousins running around all over the place and grandparents occupying their places of honor on the back porch.
Community events in general are expected to be family-oriented, meaning you can take your kids to Mardi Gras celebrations and to LSU tailgates without worrying about what they might hear or see. The local library system is excellent, and overall, with a little help from a local real estate agent, you can find a ton of perfect family-friendly neighborhoods all around Baton Rouge.
Baton Rouge Has A Solid Real Estate Market
In all of Louisiana real estate, Baton Rouge has one of the most stable markets. The median home price in Baton Rouge is $299K, making the city simultaneously very affordable by national standards and high-valued by Louisiana standards. The median home price in Louisiana is $215K, and only New Orleans and Lafayette feature higher median prices compared to Baton Rouge. But the markets in those two cities are liable to major jumps in prices, and unsteady appreciation rates.
Baton Rouge real estate, on the other hand, has seen minimal rapid price changes and has appreciated nearly 50% over the last 5 years. Single-family homes make up over half of all properties in Baton Rouge, which is surprising for a college town with a large government workforce. If you’re looking to relocate to Baton Rouge, you’ll find a solid, stable market anchored by a strong local economy, LSU, and the state government.
Lots Of Outdoor Activities
If you enjoy getting out in the great outdoors, hunting, fishing, or just taking a walk, you’ll find a surprising amount of things to do outside in Baton Rouge. Just because there are no mountains nearby doesn’t mean you can’t lace up your hiking boots and break into a sweat.
There are a couple of rivers and creeks beside the Mississippi that you can fish and kayak at your leisure, such as the Atchafalaya River and the Little Tensas Bayou. We’d recommend staying away from the Mississippi because you’ll be spending a good amount of time dodging container ships.
Some nearby parks you should check out are the Atchafalaya National Wildlife Refuge and the Joyce Wildlife Management Area. Lower Louisiana has a lot of unique ecosystems you won’t find in much of the U.S, so go and explore the bayous and the swamps on the weekends!
Alternatively, you can enjoy any of the numerous city parks in Baton Rouge. They’re run by BREC, which somehow stands for (Recreation and Park Commission for the Parish of East Baton Rouge) and are well-beloved by the locals. We recommend checking out the Bluebonnet Swamp Nature Center, LSU AgCenter Botanical Gardens, and the Burden Museum and Gardens.
Baton Rouge Has A Great Community Culture
Baton Rouge residents are very proud of their city and suspicious of all other cities in Louisiana. Southern charm is far from a myth down here but a living reality. Be prepared to be called “sugar, sweetheart, etc” even when checking out at the grocery store. If you’re relocating to Baton Rouge from outside of the South, this might be a bit jarring, but believe us when we say it’s totally normal and impersonal.
We must talk about the food culture. Perhaps New Orleans takes all the credit for southern cuisine, but that’s far from fair for cities like Baton Rouge whose local food culture is beloved both for its quality and variety. Believe it or not, some of the most popular restaurants in Baton Rouge are Lebanese and Greek restaurants, although you can definitely still find classic southern fare. The food here is one of the main reasons why people relocate to Baton Rouge.
Lastly, everyone looks forward to Mardi Gras in Baton Rouge. Though you won’t find the massive floats common in New Orleans, you also won’t have to deal with all the tourists that descend on New Orleans at the end of every February.
Baton Rouge Has Great Tap Water
Ask the locals what they love about Baton Rouge and eventually, they’ll bring up the tap water. People who leave Baton Rouge say the great drinking water is one of the things they miss most about Baton Rouge. Though we don’t expect you to relocate to Baton Rouge just to get a good drink of water, knowing you don’t have to worry about refilling a Brita every day or installing a home water purification system, is just the cherry on top of these 6 reasons to relocate to Baton Rouge. If you’re unsure about Baton Rouge but still want to buy a home in Louisiana, check out 7 reasons to relocate to New Orleans and discover this delightful city!
