NEW ORLEANS — If you’re looking for a bigger house with a relatively small mortgage, you may want to look at 70032 – that’s the zip code for Arabi.
"Even as you walk down this street you have new build, new build, new build,” Angie Lutrick with Entablature said, pointing out the growth that’s recently happened in the neighborhood.
Take a quick look around. You’ll find plenty of construction, for sale signs and something you don’t always find in New Orleans: Space.
"In New Orleans proper, we don't have garages,” Lutrick said. “You're lucky if you have off street parking. You're very lucky...so you do see you have garages in these new builds."
Angie Lutrick is with Entablature Realty. She says Arabi and Chalmette are going through a real estate resurgence. Last year, Realtor.com ranked Arabi as the sixth fastest growing suburb in the country.
"It's wonderful, you still can get a lot for your dollar over here,” she said. “So you're going to attract, yes you're going to get your young professionals, but you're also going to get people that don't necessarily have the higher paying jobs, you're teachers, your policemen, you're firemen, that they can come in and get a beautiful home and not break the bank, and not be house poor.”
Lutrick says you can easily find a three bedroom, 2 bath home in the 70032 zip code for under $300,000. But that’s not the only appeal of Arabi. Lutrick says Arabi has suburb appeal, but is only a 12 minute drive away from Downtown New Orleans.
Throw in lower taxes, lower crime and maybe some better roads and you kind of understand why the 70032 zip code is getting so much attention.
70116
But if you’re not that interested in living in “Da Parish,” maybe something in the 70116, the New Marigny, might interest you.
Following Hurricane Katrina, it’s no secret which zip codes and areas didn’t flood. Those neighborhoods are now flooded with development and demand. Lutrick says with the surge in short term rentals and gentrification, neighborhoods like the Marigny, Bywater and Uptown are basically at capacity in terms of where to build. Also, home prices in those respective neighborhoods can quickly push out certain buyers. That’s why Lutrick says the New Marigny is the new frontier for development in New Orleans.
"It's close to everything,” she noted.
Since this part of the 70116 is not under historical restrictions, there’s more freedom in what can be built. In this particular block of Frenchmen Street, it’s condos. With bedrooms and two bathrooms, the front units are $315,000 and the two rear condos are $299,000.
“These condos are wonderful because they’re turn key,” Lutrick said. “You can just walk in, put in your furniture and go!”
Lutrick doesn’t hide her love for the 70122 zip code. She grew up in Gentilly.
“Gentilly is another zip code that has been seeing a huge growth spurt,” she said. “I've kind of referred to it as one of the last New Orleans area to develop after Katrina, we're just seeing new buildings, new builds, going up all the time.”
She recently sold a newly built three-bedroom house on Warrington Drive for $250,000. She says there are plenty more like it.
Zip codes can show more than just what houses are available on the market and which neighborhoods are hot for developers. They can also be an indicator of culture.
70129
In New Orleans East, the 70129 zip code, you’ll hear some things you won’t hear anywhere else in New Orleans.
If you look at the demographics of 70129, it’s mainly Asian-Americans, specifically Vietnamese-Americans, many of whom settled in New Orleans East after escaping the war in Vietnam in the late 70s. Man of the refugees established businesses like Kim Hoa’s hair salon.
"From Bullard to Michoud ... We all live here, we all raise our children here and we live good here,” Tuyen Van Nguyen, who has lived in New Orleans East since 1976, said.
And if you head further East, away from “The East,” you won’t necessarily hear a different language, but a very distinct accent.
70032
“A lot of people say I sound like I’m from Boston,” Amanda Jeansonne, who works at Rocky and Carlo’s, said. "Some people instead of saying oysters, they'll say 'ersters,' instead of saying oil, they'll say earl.”
Rocky and Carlo’s Restaurant isn’t just a place to eat, it’s also a place where you can learn about the culture of St. Bernard Parish, which as we saw earlier, is enjoying a growing popularity.
And if you happen to be in the 70032 zip code, you apparently live in the “up the road” part of the parish.
"Like Chalmette, it's like city living,” Jeansonne said. “You meet a child from the down the road, it's completely different. They go fishin', huntin', this that and the other. My little girl is 16, she's like Annie Oakley, she can shoot any type of rifle, any kind of gun."
Jeansonne has worked at Rocky and Carlo’s for more than 20 years and she’s proud to say she’s from Poydras.
“Down the road is where the water meets the sky,” she said. “Down the road, our kids learn how to ride dirt bikes and four-wheelers, before they learn how to ride peddle bikes. Our kids ain't scared of water, our children can survive. Chalmatian children will have a hard time roughing it,” she said.
There’s plenty of information in a zip code, and as we’re finding out, it’s more about people than places.