Best Places to Raise a Family in Calcasieu Parish: Prien Leads 20

🐊 KNGT 🐊 | Lake Charles, LA — So I was lookin’ through Niche.com the other day, and they dropped a brand new list of the Best Places To Raise a Family in Calcasieu Parish. And let me tell you, the top three might surprise a few folks around here. Some of y’all probably already guessed them, but the order is what got me.

Top 3 Cities to Raise A Family in Calcasieu Parish

According to Niche, the number one place to raise your family in all of Calcasieu Parish is Prien. Now, if you are like me, you had to goto Google and see where exactly that is and its just south of the Prien Lake Park area. Prien took the top spot. And honestly, it makes a whole lot of sense now. Prien has nice neighborhoods, good schools, and it’s real close to everything in Lake Charles without feelin’ too busy. You got parks, sidewalks, families walkin’ their dogs in the evenings, kids ridin’ bikes, all that good stuff. It just feels safe and settled.

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Coming in second is Westlake. Now that one made me smile. Westlake has been growin’ and changin’ a lot, and people sometimes overlook it. But Niche took a real good look at the schools, the community feel, and the cost of livin’. Westlake checked a lot of boxes. You got a strong sports community, good small town vibes, and you’re right by the river. Plus with everything goin’ on in the refinery world, a whole lot of families end up plantin’ roots right there.

And in third place we’ve got Moss Bluff. The Bluff is always steady. Moss Bluff stays one of the most popular spots for families movin’ into Calcasieu Parish. It’s quiet, it’s safe, and it just feels like home.

Niche based all this on schools, safety, housing, cost of livin’, and how family friendly each area is. And honestly, the list feels pretty spot on for SWLA. Prien, Westlake, and Moss Bluff are three places where families stick around for years because it just works for them.

So if you’re lookin’ for a spot to raise your babies or settle down somewhere calm with good folks around you, looks like Niche says Calcasieu Parish has some strong choices. And I can’t argue with that, sha.

TRAFFIC NIGHTMARES: Top 5 Lake Charles & SWLA Streets to Avoid

You know the ones we are talking about. The streets where it seems like the traffic never stops. The ones that take you 10 minutes or more to pull out of a business to merge onto the street without getting run over, or where it seems that a thousand cars are coming down the road, and you feel like you will never be able to pull out.

Gallery Credit: Mike Soileau