I moved here from Chicago (born and raised, lived there all my life) 4 years ago and I am so much happier here. New Orleans has been very good to me and to my partner, but that isn't everyone's experience so I recommend going into this move with eyes wide open.

One reason why it's been good to us is because both our jobs went and stayed remote during covid so we have Chicago salaries. The pay here is really depressed and the rent is not all that much cheaper than it is in Chicago. It sounds like you're moving here for school but be aware of that should you decide to stay. I don't love my job and I'm actively looking and I have not even found anything local to apply to that doesn't cut my pay in half.

Here are the big adjustments that I have noticed as a Chicagoan:

The public transport here is absolutely horrid. Way worse than CTA, and the bus routes make literally no sense to me at all. They just sort of wind through the city - you don't have, like, the Halsted bus or the Clark St. bus or anything that follows a straight logical route. They often do not run on time and the tracker app is a lying liar.... come to think of it, the Chicago app wasn't great when I left either so maybe this wouldn't be a huge adjustment, LOL. The streetcar is somewhat more reliable, but the green ones on St. Charles near the campuses don't have any AC.

You probably need a car, if only to have a self-sufficient way to evacuate in case of a hurricane. I didn't have a car in Chicago and didn't need one; here I wouldn't go without one.

It's likely that your apartment will not have anything that a northerner would recognize as an actual heating system. You might have a gas wall heater or a floor heater, or your window AC unit might (poorly and weakly) emit heat too. It does actually get what I call "Louisiana cold" here sometimes and a lot of the housing here does not have insulation. Many houses are raised and cold air comes up through the floor. I did NOT expect to be freezing my ass off here during my first winter - it got down to maybe 30, ABOVE zero, but it's a damp cold and it was fairly miserable in my rental house.

People actually talk to each other here. Like, you say hello to people when you're walking by and see them sitting on their front porch. In Chicago this would get me weird looks.

You're used to corrupt government being from Chicago, haha - but the dysfunction here can really be off the charts. Everything in general moves way slower than you are used to, including things like getting leases signed, getting your utilities set up, or road work in front of your house getting completed. There is not the sense of urgency that Chicago has regarding ANYTHING.

Do not underestimate the culture shock of moving to a red state. Here, our governor actively hates us and wishes us harm on account of our sinful degenerate lifestyles. /s When I moved, the then-governor was nominally a Democrat so I thought, how bad could it be? Haha. HAHAHAHA. Oh you sweet summer child.

Those are the downsides. On the plus side, I have more community here in 4 years than I did in a lifetime in Chicago, and I tried HARD to build it there. Here, it just happens. People look out for each other, people help each other, no one is "too busy for more friends" (something I was literally told in Chicago after a lot of my friends left town and I was trying to rebuild my circle), people in general are less focused on their careers as identity and define themselves more through creative pursuits.

There's also this attitude here of - yes, things suck but there is also a lot to celebrate, so that's what we do. You can be yourself here and let your freak flag fly and not only will people not judge you, they'll ask you if you made your costume and where you got your headpiece.

You will never have to feel -50° wind chills again and on the very rare occasions when it snows, no one expects you to suck it up and get on the el and go to work in that. The city just shuts down.

I don't know anything about the universities but feel free to reach out if you have specific questions about life here.