New Orleans is one of the world s special places and remains so even after Katrina devastated the city in 2005.To specifically answer your questions:Crime? New Orleans has a high murder rate because drug dealers are killing each other and the still-reduced population caused the rate to skyrocket (rate = population divided by crimes). It s a lot like the violence within the Yardie community in the UK. However, other crime is at or below the average for cities. Use very basic common sense + stay away from people who buy/sell/use crack cocaine and your chances of being the victim of anything worse than a parking ticket or hangover are very low.Social Divisions? African Americans are still disadvantaged but New Orleans was never as bad as most of the South and there has been enormous progress since the civil rights acts of the 1960s. In many ways, the Black/White conflict today is the self-serving belief among some community leaders that Blacks should now be able to discriminate against Whites. Basically a return to segregation, but with Blacks in charge. The rhetoric can be found in the public discussions regarding who should be the next Mayor (election next February). This is the New Orleans daily newspaper: http://www.nola.com/Good food? Oh, yeah - and all types. Bad restaurants simply don t survive in New Orleans.Sports? Mostly American. Baseball, basketball, US football. There are sports bars with multiple screens that will show European football on request - if you can deal with the time difference. An example near Tulane is Cooter Brown s: http://www.cooterbrowns.com/main.html If you mean personal sports, there is hunting, fishing, boating, canoeing, hiking, etc. nearby. Job Opportunities?New Orleans was not hit as badly by the current recession as many cities. International students can legally work, and you should be able to find a job. However, talk to the university about options and make sure you don t violate the visa requirements. Quality of Life?The city and metro area are still recovering from Katrina, and the process will take more years. Realize that Katrina was the worst natural disaster in US history and turned 90,000 square miles (an area larger than the UK) into a rubbish heap overnight. More buildings were destroyed in New Orleans alone (a small part of the disaster area) on the morning of August 29, 2005 than were destroyed in London by German bombs/rockets during all of WWII (the death toll in London was of course far, far higher). Fortunately, the historic parts of the city were all built on high ground and didn t flood. There has also been huge progress in the past 4 years and most of the metro area now looks like Katrina never happened. In practical terms, the city metro area are operating normally. Utilities like electricity/water/phone and city services like police/fire/ems/sanitation were all problematic in 2005-2006 but are back to normal. The area s entertainment industry has also recovered.The weather may be a factor for you. New Orleans has mild winters and the city stays green all year most years (rarely freezes and almost never snows). We pay for the nice winters with brutally hot humid summers (May to October). Most people love New Orleans but not all. I hope you like it!
Look:http://www.neworleansonline.com/