ST. BERNARD PARISH, La. — If you find that rent, home prices and taxes in New Orleans, Metairie and similar areas are too high for you, then St. Bernard parish is asking you to come and visit.
According to U.S. Census data released this week, St. Bernard leads every parish in the state in terms of growth.
We visited Rocky and Carlos Restaurant to get a sample of how that growth is being received. Before and after Hurricane Katrina, the restaurant has captured the essence of St. Bernard Parish.
“This restaurant was flooded in Katrina. It burned a few years after, they rebuilt it, people come back,” said Michael Bayham, a customer and former member of the St. Bernard Parish Council.
“You come to Rocky and Carlos and you look around and it’s mostly St. Bernardians,” Donald Picou said.
That said, nobody there was surprised in seeing some new faces trickling in at the restaurant in the past decade. Since 2010, more than 8,000 people have moved to St. Bernard. It may sound small, but when you consider the parish’s population was practically cut in half in the years after Katrina, this trend is significant.
The census puts the parish’s 21% growth rate top in the state. For comparison, the growth rate in the past decade for St. Tammany parish is 13%, Orleans grew at a rate of 11%, and Jefferson parish at roughly 2%.
“I was born and raised in St. Bernard Parish; I love it down here. I’m very excited, I’m raising my family down here. My wife relocated from Metairie,” said Jacques Alfonso, owner of St. Bernard Realty.
We met real Alfonso at a newly built house in the St. Claude Heights neighborhood where new construction is replacing many of the old ranch homes that flooded in 2005. Architecture in this part of Arabi is now more modern and mixed. When Alfonso meets with clients, he feels comfortable selling certain “lows” in the parish: Lower taxes, lower home prices and lower crime.
“It’s just a very safe community and we have excellent infrastructure here,” Alfonso said.
“The school system is wonderful. I think it’s a great opportunity for the young people to come St. Bernard Parish and be a part of it,” Donald Picou said.
There’s no shortage of praise for the parish, and certainly no shortage of honest takes on what it has to offer.
“I don’t think anybody is going to confuse Judge Perez drive with St. Charles Avenue,” Bayham said. “We’re very proud of our informality. We’re not a boring place.”
According to the latest census data, more people maybe discovering just that.