Terrebonne voter registrar retiring after 36 years
February 3, 2015OUR VIEW: Good times begin to roll across region this week
February 3, 2015
Most of you living in the Bayou Region already know it’s a great place to raise a family.
After all, that’s why you’re here.
But statewide recognition is always a welcome occurrence, and according to nerdwallet.com, five of the 24 top places for young families in the state reside in Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes.
With five of the remaining 80 cities also being in the Bayou Region, half of our ranked areas find themselves in better than the top quarter of the rankings.
Using four weighted categories including home affordability (30 percent), growth and prosperity (20 percent), family friendliness (30 percent) and educational quality (20 percent), nerdwallet.com ranked the Chackbay Census Designated Place (CDC) as the second-best city in the state for young families to settle down before bringing children into the world.
Other Bayou Region cities to make the top 25 include the Cut Off CDP (No. 10), the Schriever CDP (No. 13), the Larose CDP (No. 17) and the Galliano CDP (No. 24).
Trailing only Youngsville – the runaway winner, according to the data – the northern Lafourche hidden gem scored well in all four categories, especially financially with a 2013 median home value of $106,900 and a median family income of $75,390, according to the data.
“You’re located between the Mississippi River, which has more industry in Louisiana than almost any other state, and the Intracoastal [Canal] and the Gulf of Mexico, which is oil producing, oil related, ship-building, ship-fitting, coast guard-[ship]building,” explained the area’s Lafourche Parish Councilman Mike Delatte. “If you’re not working down here, it’s because you don’t want to work.”
Delatte said the No. 1 thing in his mind that makes Chackbay, and the surrounding areas in his district, a great place to live is the quality of the schools. According to data released by the Louisiana Department of Education in October, Chackbay Elementary and Sixth Ward Middle School were the highest-ranking non-charter schools in the parish in 2014.
“They don’t put up with a whole lot of nonsense. If a problem comes up, they take care of it immediately, and I take my hats off to the teachers and the school board for doing a fine job with the schools in that area because we’ve got some great teachers,” said Delatte who added that he’s seen many families move to Chackbay and the surrounding areas just so that their children can attend the local schools.
Secondarily, Delatte said Chackbay is just simply a great place to live with it’s pretty scenery and swamps.
“It’s good old country living,” he said. “You’re kind of situated in between Lake Boeuf and Lac Des Allemands. It’s really a hunter’s paradise and fishing is unbelievable. In most cases in either direction, most people can get to their hunting lease or a great fishing spot, and it’s not a five-hour travel. It’s in your back yard.”
The study also noted the annual Chackbay Gumbo Festival, held every Fall as the main fundraiser for local fire department efforts. In fact, Delatte said the Chackbay Fire Department and the nearby Bayou Boeuf Fire Department are two of the few fire departments in the state that does not operate off any taxpayer money and is fully funded through fundraisers and donations.
“That tells you the quality of the people,” he said.
As for the top ranking Terrebonne Parish area, according to nerdwallet.com, the Schriever CDP features advantages the rest of the “Good Earth” Parish doesn’t enjoy, according to area Councilwoman Beryl Amedee.
“Compared to the rest of our parish, it’s a sought after place because the property is elevated. You don’t have flooding problems. You’re not in a flooding zone in most of Schriever, so the real estate is really good,” said Amedee.
From a location standpoint, Amedee touts Schriever being directly between Houma and Thibodaux and easy access to Louisiana Hwy. 90 to get to New Orleans or Lafayette. Additionally, Schriever’s train station connects to a national hub in New Orleans to the east as well as a track all the way to West Coast, and the Thibodaux airport, although not used commercially for passengers, is physically located in Schriever and benefits local businesses.
The data on nerdwallet.com listed Schriever’s median home value at $103,500.
“The area around Schriever is the fastest-developing place in Terrebonne Parish,” Amedee said. “We’ve seen the most growth, the most increase in residential, industrial and commercial than any other part of our parish. Jobs are available. Life is good. You’re close to everything. You’re not going to flood. We have lots of quiet, residential areas that are low in crime.”
Of the 104 Louisiana cities, with the qualifying factor of a population of 5,000 or more, ranked by nerdwallet.com, other Terrebonne and Lafourche areas were the Bayou Cane CDP (No. 36), Houma (No. 44), Thibodaux (No. 46), the Raceland CDP (No. 71) and the Gray CDP (No. 79).
For a full list of Louisiana rankings, visit nerdwallet.com.
The annual Chackbay Gumbo Festival is one of many reasons why nerdwallet.com ranked the northern Lafourche jewel No. 2 on its list of Louisiana’s top cities for young families.
