West Bank Weekend Events: May 23-25, 2008
May 22, 2008 by lisa
Filed under Around Town, Blog, Family Fun
Are you getting ready for the long Memorial Day weekend? Planning that backyard BBQ? Before you fire up the grill, be sure to check out these grilling safety tips from the Home Safety Council.
When you’re not hard at work cooking over open flames, here are some other great things to do on the West Bank of New Orleans:
Toy Train Show
My experience with trains is limited to Thomas the Train and the track my husband bought one year to go around the Christmas tree that scared the cat. If, however, you are a train aficionado, check out the Toy Train Show this weekend at the KC Hall in Gretna, LA. Saturday from 9 am to 5 pm.
Gretna Farmer’s Market
Every Saturday from 8:30 am to 12:30 pm, the farmer’s market gears up with local vendors selling produce, arts and crafts, music and more. You might just find the perfect additions to your Memorial Day cookout right in Gretna, LA. Under the Market, Huey P. Long Avenue between 3rd and 4th Streets.
Fun at the Library
Every Saturday morning at 10:30 the Jefferson Parish West Bank Regional Library offers fun crafts for children of all ages in the Children’s Wing of the library. 2751 Manhattan Blvd. in Harvey.
Plaquemines Parish Seafood Festival
The festival kicks off on Friday evening at 7:30 and continues on Saturday and Sunday from 11 am to 11 pm. Helicopter rides, games, arts and crafts, music and (of course) the best seafood in the world! Some favorite local bands performing include The Chee-Weez, the Bucktown Allstars, Amanda Shaw and Bag of Donuts. All for the low admission cost of $4 for adults and $2 for children under 12. Taking place at Louisiana’s Medal of Honor Park in Belle Chasse. Visit the fair website for more information, directions and a music schedule.
Upcoming West Bank Events
Wednesday, May 28th. Oak Park Baptist Church in Algiers is having a community festival and block party from 4:30 to 7 pm. Games, food, live music, face painting and more. Open to the public, the event will be a welcoming party for a volunteer group coming from Chattanooga, TN to help in the continued recovery efforts of the city. A big thank you to these great volunteers!
Saturday, May 31st. The Confetti Kids will be holding a fundraiser to benefit both the Delcazel and Confetti Parks in Algiers Point. Food, wine and local art. Visit the Confetti Kids website for more information and tickets.
Make it a great West Bank weekend and have a safe and happy Memorial Day!
Here’s the disclaimer part: The opinions expressed here are strictly those of the author, but you are free to share yours in the comments. All information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
Copyright 2008. Lisa Heindel, All rights reserved.
My Little Green Bags
One of the casualties of Hurricane Katrina was the city sponsored curbside recycling program. 
Before the storm, I faithfully filled my little blue bin and placed it by the street every week for the recycling truck to come by and empty. Did I make a real impact? In a city that measures the success of an event by the tons of trash produced, probably not. But it sure did make me feel better to know that at least some of the garbage produced by my family wasn’t ending up in a landfill, taking up space better used by other items that could not be recycled.
One of my pet peeves is the huge number of plastic grocery bags I accumulate. With 2 kids still at home and 2 that come by to visit often, I buy a lot of groceries. Lots of groceries = lots of those plastic bags. More than I have room for.
But throwing them away makes me feel so guilty! Do I really need all of those bags just to get my groceries from the store to my house? There’s something to be said for the Sam’s Club practice of not using bags at all…except for the fact that it’s a big pain in the butt to schlep everything from the car to the house and I almost always break something in the process. Did I mention that I’m clumsy sometimes?
Then there is The Paper vs Plastic Debate. Plastic - bad. Paper - also bad. And some stores still don’t offer any options except plastic. Yikes! What’s a girl with hungry kids, dogs and a cat to do?
Standing in the checkout line at the store today, the solution was hanging on the rack - staring right at me from that “impulse buy” section filled with candy, gum, and the celebrity gossip magazines.
For only 99 cents each, I bought 2 reusable grocery bags that held all of the items I was buying with room left over for more. Had I let the checkout lady use the plastic bags, I’m sure she would have used way too many. After all, she tried to put the reusable bags into a plastic bag after she scanned them. Ahem…hello!
Anyway, I figure it’s a start to ridding myself of the guilt of bringing home throwing away all of those plastic bags. With a couple of more trips to the store, I should have enough reusable bags to do all of my weekly shopping. Thanks to the folks at Rouse’s Supermarket for giving me a chance to focus on all of the other things I should feel guilty about.
Need more information on recycling in New Orleans? Here are some resources:
- Recycle New Orleans - a directory of places that reuse and recycle materials in the New Orleans area
- Take part in a web campaign directed at the Mayor and Council Members of the City of New Orleans, asking for the return of curbside recycling in the city.
- New Orleans Group Sierra Club
- Greenlight New Orleans
- Participate in the City’s Recycling Survey
- Sign up for paid local recycling through Phoenix Recycling (No plastic grocery bags accepted)
Here’s the disclaimer part: The opinions expressed here are strictly those of the author, but you are free to share yours in the comments. All information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
Copyright 2008. Lisa Heindel, All rights reserved.
A Sunday on the Bayou
May 19, 2008 by lisa
Filed under Around Town, Blog, Family Fun
Have you ever heard that old saying about people who have "never met a stranger"? Well, that’s just a way of life in southeast Louisiana. Strangers become acquaintances, acquaintances become friends and friends become family. We have a tendency to celebrate for any reason, or sometimes for no reason at all. We live every day with joie de vivre (joy for life) and when there is a special occasion, we love to gather and rejoice in it.
Today was such a day. Some very dear friends of the family have a son who just graduated from Tulane University. In just 5 years, he earned both a bachelors and master degrees, all the while playing on the football team. Soon, he’ll be heading off to explore Europe for a few weeks and then moving to Washington D.C. to start his career. This is definitely cause for celebration!
So early this afternoon, we packed the lawn chairs in the car and headed south to Crown Point, Louisiana. Even though it’s just 30 minutes from our home in Algiers, it feels like a world away from the suburban lifestyle we live every day. We drove through the Barataria Preserve and 
came out on the banks of the Intracoastal Canal, taking in the views of some of the spectacular homes hugging the opposite bank in Lafitte, LA and passing swamp tour operations along the way.
But, we had no need to stop for a tour…we were heading to a little piece of paradise tucked away at the end of a road. Wouldn’t you like to sit on your back porch and take in this view?
It wouldn’t be a true Louisiana celebration without food and there was plenty! The burners were blazing away, boiling the crawfish, crabs and shrimp. The grill was fired up for the hot dogs and hamburgers. The dessert table was groaning under the weight of brownies, cakes, muffins and bread pudding. A pirogue was pulled into use to ice down the drinks for all of the guests.
Once the kids had a chance to eat, it was time for their own, private swamp tour as they piled into the boat and headed down the bayou…passing other boats along the way.
One of the highlights of the paid swamp tours is when the alligators swim up to the boats. They do this because the tour operators feed them and why hunt for food when someone will bring it to you? Well, this little guy must have been hungry, because he showed up to snack on the leftover crawfish tails and shrimp shells…
It was a terrific Sunday afternoon on the bayou. I wonder what next weekend will bring?
When buying or selling a home on the West Bank of New Orleans or relocating to the New Orleans West Bank, you deserve local expertise and advice. Lisa Heindel provides full time, professional real estate services to buyers, sellers and military transferees in Algiers, Algiers Point, Belle Chasse, Gretna, Terrytown, Harvey, Marrero, Westwego and more.
Here’s the disclaimer part: The opinions expressed here are strictly those of the author, but you are free to share yours in the comments. All information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed,
Copyright 2008. Lisa Heindel, All rights reserved.
English Turn: May 2008 Real Estate Absorption Report
May 16, 2008 by lisa
Filed under Blog, English Turn, Market Updates
The overall supply of homes for sale in English Turn has increased from the 18.7 months observed in April to the current 21.5 month supply. Keep in mind that a balanced real estate market has a 5-6 month supply of homes for sale…more than that indicates a buyers market for the area.
English Turn continues to suffer from lagging home sales in every price range and continues to have over a one and a half year supply of homes for sale across the community. The number of homes listed for sale has remained steady with the same number of listings that we saw at this time last month.
With so much competition for buyers in the area, sellers are being forced to become more flexible in both price and terms when selling their English Turn home. As shown in the chart below, homes under $400,000 are in demand, but there are not any currently listed homes in that price range.
The over $500,000 price range has always been a harder sell on the West Bank, but with over 40 competing homes for sale in English Turn, now is the time to be sure that your marketing plan is reaching the largest number of potential buyers and that your home is staged and ready to sell. Amazingly enough, 35% of the homes for sale in English Turn have no virtual tour or less than the maximum number of photos allowed in the Multiple Listing Service.
English Turn Subdivision
Data provided by Latter & Blum REALTORS® and is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed.
If you would like a custom market report for your home, please contact Lisa Heindel, REALTOR®. I’d be happy to help keep you up to date with your piece of the English Turn real estate market.
Related Reading:
Algiers, LA 70131: May 2008 Real Estate Absorption Report
English Turn: April 2008 Home Sales and Real Estate Market Report
Make Your Home the Star of the Neighborhood - Stage It!
5 Steps to Choosing Your New Orleans West Bank Real Estate Agent
Here’s the disclaimer part: The opinions expressed here are strictly those of the author, but you are free to share yours in the comments. All information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed,
Copyright 2008. Lisa Heindel, All rights reserved.
Algiers, LA 70131: May 2008 Real Estate Absorption Report
May 16, 2008 by lisa
Filed under Algiers, Blog, Market Updates
The overall supply of homes for sale in Algiers, LA has decreased from the 14.9 months observed in April to the current 13.2 month supply. Keep in mind that a balanced real estate market has a 5-6 month supply of homes for sale…more than that indicates a buyers market for the area.
Algiers (70131) continues to suffer from lagging home sales in almost every price range and continues to have over a one year supply of homes for sale across the community. The number of homes listed for sale has remained steady with the same number of listings that we saw at this time last month.
With so much competition for buyers in the area, sellers are being forced to become more flexible in both price and terms when selling their Algiers home, particularly in the over $275,000 price range. Many of the changes to the lending market and the elimination of 100% financing are forcing buyers, especially first time buyers, to request assistance from the sellers with closing costs and other pre-paid items that are required to purchase a home. I recommend that you consult with a West Bank REALTOR® who knows and understands not only the Algiers market but also the normal concessions that owners are making in order to successfully sell their home.
Algiers, LA 70131
(including English Turn)
Data provided by Latter & Blum REALTORS® and is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed.
Remember, this report is for the entire zip code 70131. If you would like a personalized report for your home and neighborhood, please contact Lisa Heindel, REALTOR®. I’d be happy to help keep you up to date with your piece of the Algiers real estate market.
Related Reading:
Algiers, LA 70114: May 2008 Real Estate Absorption Report
Algiers Point: May 2008 Real Estate Absorption Report
Algiers, LA 70131: April 2008 Home Sales and Real Estate Market Update
Make Your Home the Star of the Neighborhood - Stage It!
5 Steps to Choosing Your New Orleans West Bank Real Estate Agent
Here’s the disclaimer part: The opinions expressed here are strictly those of the author, but you are free to share yours in the comments. All information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed,
Copyright 2008. Lisa Heindel, All rights reserved.
