Elmwood may be easy to say, but depending on your accent you may have a tough time talking about its neighbor, New Orleans. For the un-introduced, get practicing: Nah-lins!
Elmwood, Louisiana, is a census designated place located near New Orleans and Kenner
Elmwood may be easy to say, but depending on your accent you may have a tough time talking about its neighbor, New Orleans. For the un-introduced, get practicing: Nah-lins!
Elmwood, Louisiana, is a census designated place located near New Orleans and Kenner. Unlike its noisy neighbors, Elmwood knows how to relax. The area of Elmwood consists of highly traveled streets such as Edwards Avenue, Dickory Avenue, Jefferson Highway, Elmwood Park Boulevard and Mounes Street. Interstate 90 cuts through the eastern half of Elmwood and runs from the Mississippi River all the way up through New Orleans (remember, it's Nah-lins).
Although Louisiana is often known for its beautiful detached homes, Elmwood has a large variety of one and two-bedroom apartments for rent, and these apartments are nothing short of luxury pads. Apartments such as the Maritime, Emerald Pointe and Gatehouse attract many out-of-towners for their space, look and on-site amenities.
Availability
There are always apartments available in the Elmwood area, although it's best to start your search for places to live in Elmwood in the spring between March and May; this will give you more choice for your money, maybe even an apartment with paid utilities.
Apartment Amenities
Elmwood does heat up quite a bit in the summer, so almost all of the apartments have swimming pools and shaded park areas. The newer apartment complexes also have off-street parking and tennis courts, and the more high-end luxury apartments have parking garages in the apartment complex.
Rent Specials and Application Requirements
Since there are a number of properties in the Elmwood area, many rental properties run move-in specials that waive the deposit or first month's rent. However, these specials aren't always advertised online, so it's best to call ahead of time to find out what specials are available at the apartment buildings you are interested in.
Also, before applying for an apartment, do a quick credit check. Many apartment managers require a minimum credit score of 600 before you can move in. They also require a deposit and first month's rent.
In order to make an application for rental, have all of your references, job information, your previous residential information and application fee on hand. Credit checks in Elmwood may take up to 48 hours, but this includes calling your references and gathering other application-related information. Although there are some complexes in the area that have same-day move-in specials, the application process may take a little longer than a day if you're moving from another city, state or country. If you are pretty eager about moving in, you can drop your bags at a storage facility and post up in one of the area's many hotels.
Since Elmwood is a census designated place, it is actually a city within a city, so it doesn't have neighborhoods as such. Don't feel bad for it; it didn't want neighborhoods in the first place. If you're looking to move to Elmwood, you might be tempted to venture outside of the borders to see what the neighboring towns have to offer, and if you do, you won't be disappointed. Some of the towns worth mentioning are River Ridge, Kenner and Metairie.
River Ridge: River Ridge is a huge city that's best known for its camping trail, located right along the Mississippi River. There's also quite a large park here in case you just can't get enough of seeing parks. However, most River Ridge visitors come for the fishing. There are so many lakes here that there's no way you'll fish them all in a day. For those of you who would rather buy your seafood nicely frozen, you can head over to the local Highland Square Shopping Mall to catch the latest retail sales and promotions.
Kenner: The Kenner residential area is highly sought-after by people who work in New Orleans but want to live outside the hustle and bustle. This area has so many things to do that locals never have to leave to have fun. Transportation also isn't a problem here, especially for out-of-town guests. Many of these guests fly in through Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport or come to the city via Greyhound/New Orleans.
If you're moving to Elmwood, but you don't mind traveling a little to do some shopping, come to Kenner. There are too many shopping centers to name here, but there are a few that are worth mentioning: Barlon Plaza Shopping Center, Esplanade Mall and Pavilion at Esplanade.
Of these shopping centers, the Esplanade Mall is by far the most frequented. This shopping center has more than 100 retail stores, ranging from Forever 21 to Macy's. The good thing about shopping in Kenner is that you don't have to go on a wild goose chase to find a good mall, unless of course, you want to chase geese; then that's your prerogative. All of the above-listed malls and more are located right off of Interstate 10, which runs east to west through Kenner. Oh, we almost forgot to mention that tech lovers won't have much luck at these shopping centers, so if you love anything that contains a microchip, head east into neighboring Metairie.
Metairie: Metairie is truly home of the shopping center. There are so many shopping centers here it's hard to decide where to shop. You'll find some pretty decent tech stores here at the Pontchartrain Place Shopping Center, Apple Store at Lakeside Shopping Center and the Lakeshore Smith-Lupo Center.
This is also the perfect place to enjoy a brisk walk or a long day of fishing. There are too many parks to list here, but City Park is by far the largest. Think of it as the "Central Park" of Metairie. This park has walking trails, fishing areas and loads of biking paths. If you want to catch carp -- they are tasty, but boy are they ugly -- cast your line in Lake Pontchartrain. If you didn't catch anything, you could always Photoshop a fish into a photo with you and say that you did. We won't tell.
Swing Batta, Batta, Batta
Residents in this area are right at home if they're big baseball fans. There's easy access to Elmwood Village or to New Orleans to watch a good game. Mention-worthy stadiums in the area are Zachary's Baseball Stadium, John Ryan Stadium and the Big Easy Sportsplex.
Easy to Navigate
There's a highly industrial area located northwest of Elmwood, in Jefferson. All of the local trains meet up in this area and so do all the highways. Getting around Elmwood isn't that difficult; it's highly accessible by car and bus. However, buses are limited in this area, so getting home after 9 p.m. may pose a slight problem. (If you work at night -- this could be a big problem.)
Lots and Lots of Water
Typical of Louisiana neighborhoods, Elmwood has a creek that runs through the city. It's also located just a few miles north of the Mississippi River and Bridge City. If you don't want to travel outside the city -- unless someone is twisting your arm -- there are plenty of things to do here. There's the Adventure Quest Laser Tag Center, Elmwood Gymnastics Academy and plenty of restaurants, all accessible by Jefferson Transit. To see what else the area has to offer, simply hop on E8 or the W10.
