Are you considering a move to St. Tammany Parish in southern Louisiana? If you could live your life surrounded by incredible bayou scenery, boating and other fun water activities as well as nights out to attend the theatre, check out an art gallery or take in an annual music or arts festival, then this is the place for you. Things to do in St. Tammany Parish
The parish is home to roughly 256,000 people who live in the cities of:
- Slidell
- Covington
- Mandeville
- Madisonville
- Lacombe
- Abita Springs
- Folsom
- Pearl River
- Eden Isle
- Sun
It is the fifth most populated parish in the state and is part of the New Orleans metro area. With a proximity to New Orleans, visitors as well as residents have the option to venture into the metro area ta anytime to take advantage of a wide array of popular dining, shopping and dance venues or even tours of various art galleries and local historical tours throughout the region.
Real Estate
Finding a new home in St. Tammany Parish can be a daunting task. Not because the choices are slim, but because there are many single-family homes dispersed throughout the region. Your toughest choice may be choosing whether to live in the city or to locate a home in a more rural area. We can help with your questions.
Once you find your dream home, or the home you plan to stay in for a while, you will need to find a quality Louisiana Real Estate Appraiser to go over the details of the home to ensure you are getting what you pay for. By the time you close on the new home, you should already have a moving company in mind to take care of your belongings during the relocation. You can check moving company credentials by visiting the FMCSA to verify company ratings, location and how long they have been in operation.
Transportation
You can find several local taxi services as well as car rental agencies, shuttle buses and even limo services for traveling throughout the parish. The best way to go however is to have your own personal vehicle so you won’t have to wait on a taxi or pay for public transit that may have limited hours or over populated When you find a moving company to move your belongings, be sure to ask upfront about vehicle transportation and have your personal car moved at the same time to bundle and save a little money on the move.
Climate
Snow is a precipitation that you will most likely only witness in a good holiday movie once you move to St. Tammany Parish, but you may want to get some rubber boots because it does rain quite a bit throughout the year. Thankfully however, you’re going to see upwards of 200 days or more of sunshine and warmer temperatures than you would find in other areas across the U.S. July and August are the hottest months while October, April and November usually offer comfortable warm temperatures.
Employment and Cost of Living
The unemployment rate in St. Tammany Parish hovers around 4% and jobs can be found in many of the large corporations including Walmart, Chevron. Gilsbar, Inc., Hornbeck Offshore Services and others. The median household income varies but is nearly $50,000 or more throughout the parish.
The overall cost of living at the local level is lower than many of the metro areas around the United States and while the average cost to purchase a home in St. Tammany Parish is a little more than in other areas of the state, it is more affordable than many U.S. cities and states. The income and sales tax rates in the parish are a little high at 6% and 9.2% but job growth is well on the rise and is expected to continue rising more over the coming decade.
Crime
Local crime is comparable to cities across the U.S. with no excessive violent crime. Property crimes including larceny and burglary are the crimes most prevalent while violent crime including murder, rape and robbery are lower in St. Tammany Parish than in the large metro areas of Louisiana.
Things to Do in St. Tammany Parish
Louisiana is gifted in natural scenery with the beautiful bayous and lakes, but did you know there is also a rich cultural scene here as well? On any given day you may run into a local or national filmmaker shooting scenes for a new film, a sidewalk art or music show or models posing in a new designers clothing in one of the many local parks or recreation areas.
You can also easily find a wealth of outdoor activities to participate in from swimming or boating to hunting, fishing, camping and more. Take note that the waters of the bayous are known to have gators, so you may want to visit the public pools or larger lakefront beaches for swimming.
If food is your passion then St. Tammany has numerous offerings. You can find all types of restaurants that will meet the demand of your pallet.
Need More Information?
Need information on homes in the area or real estate in general? Joseph Mier & Associates have been serving the Northshore including St. Tammany Parish for over 20 years and can assist you with your real estate appraisal needs. Send us your questions at AskAnApprasier.com