re: Southeast Louisiana vs Southwest Louisiana

If south Louisiana breaks away and gives the rest of the state away, does it annex Natchitoches? I mean, it was the first permanent European settlement.

They're very different. There was a good faith argument that could have been made a couple years ago that SWLA might be better, but the hurricane that wrecked Lake Charles completely dispelled any such delusions.

I will say, there are certain things about Southwest Louisiana that I really like. If you want to raise a few kids and settle down in the suburbs, there's few places in the state better suited for that than Lafayette and its surrounding burbs. There's a fair number of cute quaint cajun towns in SWLA with great traditions, food, and culture. SWLA built a solid economy with sugarcane, rice, crawfish, cattle-ranching, and the oil fields, but that last one has been basically destroyed since 2010.

On the flip side, SELA has the petrochemical industry, which provides thousands of good paying jobs supporting an unrivaled standard of living. SELA has the great communities of the North Shore, as well as the historic charm and nightlife of New Orleans.

In addition, with big city amenities comes big city problems. SELA is absolutely riddled with crime, crippling poverty, traffic, and flooding issues. While SWLA experiences similar problems around Lake Charles, the rest of SWLA is noticeably more stable, with fewer people at the very top and very bottom of the economic spectrum. Southwest LA doesn't have the crippling ghetto poverty of BR or Nola, nor does it have the detached upper class of Audubon Place, St. Charles Avenue, Highland Road, or the LSU Lakes.

All in all, I grew up and live in SELA (in my little Mayberry-esque corner of Baton Rouge), but I could absolutely see myself very happy living in Lafayette or one of the small Acadiana towns not called Opelousas. I could also see myself enjoying life in Hammond, Mandeville, St. Amant, or Covington.

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Louisiana without New Orleans would be….. Mississippi

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Without New Orleans we would not have had JB Edwards. That would have been worth it alone.

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I could also see myself enjoying life in Hammond, Mandeville, St. Amant, or Covington.

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I moved to mandeville about 2 years ago. I got the last house. We’re closed now.

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Now, in Texas? Damn right they do that. Hell, these idiots even smother boiled crawfish in some buttery/hot sauce blend.

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I have news for you, baw. I've seen many in SELA do that too. I don't approve;I'm just reporting what I've seen.

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My Haynesville Shale gas well provides pretty well to my family and revenue for the rest of the state.

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Some of those parishes send a huge amount in severance tax revenues to Baton Rouge and don’t get their fair share coming back.

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I have news for you, baw. I've seen many in SELA do that too. I don't approve;I'm just reporting what I've seen

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Mostly north of 190

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Holy shat!….South La folks never tire of saying this . Why?! It’s annoying as hellllllll.

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I think most of the ones who repeatedly assert this are dumbasses, ones that spell "Ouachita" starting with a "Q". But, they consider themselves authorities, nonetheless.

As someone from SE, SW wins the cooking competition for multiple reasons, but more specifically tomatoes aren’t present in fricking everything.

Swamp Cajuns vs. Prairie Cajuns
Pee-rog vs. Pee-row
Nicholls vs. USL
Boudin vs. Boudin Balls
Duck hunting vs. Goose hunting
Sugar cane vs. Rice
What did I miss?