Food lovers with an inkling for new culture and community involvement should consider Lafayette a prime place for retirement. That’s according to the most recent “Retire Here, Not There” column featured in The Wall Street Journal’s Smart Money Magazine.
In the March 26 Smart Money column, Catey Hill writes that the cost of living in Lafayette is 6.5 percent lower than the national average, also pointing out that the median home price in the Hub City is $159,000. With an unemployment rate of 6.5 percent, Hill says in her column that one of the only drawbacks in selecting Lafayette as a retirement destination is a crime rate that’s considered high when compared with other cities across the country. But she also notes that “experts say the town is generally safe for retirees, and that criminal activity is concentrated in just a few rough neighborhoods:”
On the plus side, it’s both inexpensive to live there ... and easy to get involved in the community, especially if you share a passion for all things Cajun. The frequent festivals and events are popular things for retirees to volunteer with and get involved in, says Kelly Strenge, the public relations manager for the Lafayette Convention and Visitor’s Commission. Retirees also like the continuing education classes in gardening (an art form in Louisiana), foreign language and many other subjects offered by the nearby university, she adds. And birdwatchers, prepare for heaven. This town is home to one of the largest wading-bird rookeries in the nation where tens of thousands of birds, including spoonbills and herons, nest each spring.
In effect: This is a good town for the foodie retiree who wants to dive into a different cultural experience.
Read the full column, where Hill also highlights Natchitoches and New Orleans as prime Pelican State places for retirees, here.
David Calhoun and Elizabeth “EB” Brooks are the first two employees of Lafayette Central Park Inc., the nonprofit charged with turning Lafayette Consolidated Government’s 100-acre Johnston Street Horse Farm property into a passive public park. Calhoun was named executive director, and Brooks is director of planning and design.
There will soon be a whole lot of shakin’ going on at Benny’s Sportshack Supplement Depot, a new concept by Opelousas native Benny Nele. Located at 2002 Johnston St., the supplement shop, smoothie bar and café, featuring hot off the press paninis and wraps, plans to open in late May.
This year’s Cool Town issue is all about people who are not native to South Louisiana but made a conscious decision to be here, to be among us, to participate in our culture and contribute to it.
A shelved ordinance transferring $200,000 from a northside drainage project to a south Lafayette development may not break any laws, but it stinks to high heaven.
An effort to restore a shuttered dancehall and document other vacant or razed honky-tonks could serve as a model for saving an endangered species of entertainment.
Lafayette’s gene pool has been host to a long line of eccentric characters who have blurred the lines between crazy, genius, disturbed and curiously entertaining.
Subscribe to this comment's feed