Goodbye Lake Charles — The Story of a Rental Refugee

You know, I've lived in Lake Charles longer than I lived in my hometown, but now it's time to say goodbye. Of course, I'm still going to be on the air on 92.9 The Lake, but I just can't afford to live in Lake Charles and pay New York City rent prices. Our own Kristian Bland wrote an excellent article the other day about the ridiculous rent prices here. In that article, he tells about how he found beautiful places to live in New York at prices that would rent a shack in Lake Charles.

Now, I know everyone with a rent house thinks they are sitting on a gold mine because a lot of people are going to be relocating here, but there's one thing they are not considering; these people are working people, and it's not like they are coming here and making twice the income of the average Lake Charles resident. For some reason, it seems that the people who have homes to rent think that everyone who moves here is going to be an industry executive.

Well, the hard cold fact is that most of the people who are going to be moving to the area are going to be working people. They're going to be in roughly the same income bracket as those of us who already live here. Not only that, but the few (and I mean few) executives who move here are not going to pay $1,000 a month for a shack with a window unit sticking out of the front window. Neither will any of those hundreds of plain working people who are going to move here. Get it? No, you don't.

I've seen homes that should be demolished renting for $1,500 a month! The bottom line is that most of us looking for housing are going to have to search elsewhere to find a place to live. That means that we won't even be able to live where we work. Right now, it looks like I might have to commute from Vinton.

Let me give you an example. Here is a rental for only $650 a month. Well, you may think that is a reasonable price. The $650 a month is not for a home or an apartment; it's for a ROOM!!!

Here it is on craigslist.

Let me describe this to you. It's literally a room. One room for $650 a month.

It's time for a cold splash of reality. While there may soon be a bit of a housing shortage, it's not here now. The only shortage is one of common sense. It seems that people who own rental property are only interested in serving people who aren't here yet. Another cold splash of reality is that when all those people move here, they won't be able to afford the rent either.

I've spoken about this with other people who are looking. Without exception, they are all moving out of Lake Charles.

Now, I know I've made some excellent points here, but I know it will all fall on deaf ears. If you're looking for a place to live, I suggest the outlying areas. Unless you like being ripped off.