My children interact a lot with children from several top notch schools in Baton Rouge: Baton Rouge Magnet, St. Josephs Academy, and Christian Life Academy. But our workaround for the sub-optimal Louisiana public schools is homeschooling. After several bad experiences with public schools, I just can't recommend going that route.
But if you can figure out the education thing, SW Louisiana has a lot of petroleum industry and the best fishing on the Gulf Coast with the possible exceptions of Grand Isle and Venice, which aren't really right for raising children. The cultural feel of Grand Isle is like a suburb of New Orleans. My children and I love to visit and go fishing, though.
Picking a spot in the LC area depends on your preferences. I like Hackberry a lot, but I wouldn't recommend buying a home south of the intracoastal waterway. I could see our family moving there though and renting a home if we could work out other details. Carlyss is very nice too. Headed north out of Lake Charles toward Deridder, there are some nice communities along Hwy 171 and 190 if you prefer more wooded and cow pasture like surroundings, being closer to fresh water fishing, and driving further for salt water fishing.
Some of the peeps on here might differ, but the fishing in VBay and the other salt water options between Big Lake and Terrebonne Bay (Cocodrie) are not nearly as promising as Big Lake and Terebonne, Timbalier, and Barataria. Houma and Thibodeaux are therefore much higher on my list than Lafayette. I like the friendly feel of those small towns (along with the smaller towns around Lake Charles) much more than Lafayette, Baton Rouge, and points east. To me, the towns in St Tammany seem too much like New Orleans now, as does Baton Rouge. There are some nice places to live in Livingston Parish, but I expect these will get squeezed in as Baton Rouge sprawls from the west and New Orleans metro sprawls from the southeast. Livingston parish would be great for a five year stint, but I think most would regret a 20 year settlement. In contrast, I doubt that Cameron or Beauregard parishes will see crowding in the next 20 years.
I'm often tempted to find a bit of ground at Holly Beach or Rutherford Beach (Cameron Parish) and plant a mobile home or trailer or some such when it's time to retire (or sooner). Maintain a good evacuation plan and be prepared to replace the mobile structure if you can't get it out when a hurricane is on the way, and it would be an awesome place to live if you don't mind the drive into town for gas and groceries.
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