Ellen Sitkin and Ben Cortopassi created their blissful oasis in the Irish Channel in 2019 after the birth of a second child tolled the bell on life in New York City.

“I was carrying a baby and lugging another child in a stroller in the snow and fighting my way onto the subway,” said Sitkin, a native of Cambridge, Massachusetts. “It was a nightmare. It had become impossible. My husband’s commute ate up hours a day, and I wanted to be somewhere warm. We were definitely not living our best lives.”

The couple narrowed their search to Savannah, Georgia, and New Orleans. Ultimately, Sitkin and Cortopassi, a financial software engineer, chose New Orleans due to its walkability.

“The city’s density is very similar to Cambridge,” Sitkin said. “We wanted everything within walking distance.”

They

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