Snake Doctor

I have to make a decision in the next couple of days, and I'm really torn.

We're renting a place, so future property value isn't a concern.
We have 2 medium sized dogs (lab and a mutt), 4 indoor cats, and a newborn.

Place 1 is a duplex, 3BR/2BA with a small fenced in backyard on a quiet street. While the inside is a bit older, it's very white (floor tile, walls, cabinets etc, all white) so it would be really easy to decorate and look at and keep clean.
It would be about a 40 minute commute each way to my wife's office, and it's in a suburban area, so while it's not the boonies, it doesn't have all the conveniences of living in a city.

Place 2 is in the city in a great neighborhood. It's the upstairs unit of a two story duplex (big house that was converted into a duplex).
The location is incredible. There's a park literally across the street, the lakefront is 1/2-3/4 of a mile one way, and Veterans Blvd is 1/2-3/4 of a mile the other way. (Vets is the main street running through New Orleans, so literally anything you could want that the city has to offer is there)
It's 4 miles from my wife's office, she could be home at 5:15 everyday. It's also 5-8 minutes away from the New Orleans Arena/Superdome (we have Hornets season tickets) so it really couldn't be in a better location than it is.

The inside leaves alot to be desired. The floorplan is kind of weird, there's this really old wood flooring and trim. It's in good shape I'm just not crazy about the color.
The wall colors aren't my taste either, but they said we could paint them.
There's this huge room on the end that would be either the master bedroom or my office, and it's got paneling from floor to ceiling. It's not the cheap stuff they put in trailers, it's real thick wood, and it has a glossy finish....the owner is pretty proud of it and unfortunately it's not likely that he'd let us wallpaper over it or anything. I'm not sure that I could stand to look at it all the time.

Since it's upstairs, I'd have to go down with the dogs two or three times a day or more to walk them (while there's alot of great places for walking right there....it's still alot more work than opening the back door and letting them out)
We'd also have to walk up and down the stairs with the baby everyday.

So I guess the question comes down to, the better apartment or the better location?
I spend most of my time inside since I work from home, so I would have to look at the 4 walls around me quite a bit.
I've spent the last two years living in the boonies around a bunch of idiot rednecks though, and the thought of returning to civilization with it's little perks like being able to get chinese food delivered is appealing as well.

Mrs Lenny and I have been talking about this for a few days and aren't any closer to deciding than we were when we started.....so I thought I'd ask my friends here for their objective opinions.

Do I go with the perfect location in the apartment I don't really like that I'll have to do alot of work to? Or do I go with the place that's better on the inside and live without the conveniences of city living (plus Mrs Lenny's commute time)?

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