Help me figure out where to live
 

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)?

Oh, money isn't really an issue because while place 2 is more expensive....utilities are included in the rent and we'd save alot on gas with it only being 4 miles from Mrs Lenny's office. So it's about a wash, or maybe a difference of $100 a month.

I'd prefer downtown living personally but if the interior sucks I'd probably look elsewhere.

the city one sounds better to me and it sounds like you are leaning that way because of the lifestyle opportunities it offers.

you had such a nice new house in the woods i remember.

why would you leave this decision with the GFY imbeciles? Are you nuts?

i would go with 2 if i didnt have 2 dogs and baby.so 1 would be my choice

Hornets season tickets you wont trade that right

Yeah that's the thing...I fucking hate this place now.

Who cares how great it looks, nobody else ever sees it anyways because we're in the boonies. It's a very impressive house....that's right across the street from a run down trailer and down the road from a farm.
So I really whiffed on the location of this one.

I don't want to do a knee-jerk thing the other way though, and just do the opposite of what I did when I bought this place......so I'm taking some time to think it through and get different opinions.

Place 1 isn't in the boonies of course, it's actually a very upscale suburban area....but it's still a bit of a commute for my wife and lacks the "lifestyle opportunities" of the city place, as you put it.

1) Because I actually have friends here. I've been here since 2000.

2) Do you really think I'm going to tally up the suggestions in this thread and go with the majority? I'm going to make my own decision, I just want to get some different points of view.

Maybe some people here have faced similar situations before and I can learn from their experience.

why not keep looking then in the city for another place without the ugly panelling? how long is the lease on these places?

You didn't mention square footage on either or the number of bedrooms and baths for #2.

Alot depends on how long you are planning to live there. If you're looking at long-term (more than 3 years or so), I'd say #1 is a place your baby could grow up in without much worry. The dogs have a small yard. No hauling them in and out alot as with #2 (believe me that can get old with larger dogs). Also.. #2 is upstairs.. you're dealing with a downstairs neighbor and that can be a pain if they complain about noise (dogs, baby as it gets older, etc).

Another thing to consider is what things cost in the suburb versus the city. Where I live things like gas, groceries, etc are all quite a bit cheaper a few miles outside of town than they are in Seattle itself.

Crime in the area would be another thing to consider. Schools also (again if you are thinking long term).

Ultimately you have to live there..not us.

There really isn't much else and I'm moving the first week of December, so I need to lock a place up this week.

Square footage and whatnot is pretty much the same. I think #2 might actually have more, but #1 is laid out better.

Your points about the stairs and downstair neighbors are a couple of the things I'm struggling with. This will probably be our home for 2-3 years at least.

Crime isn't an issue since the city apartment is in the really good part of the city. Schools I don't have to worry about for 4 years anyways.

I know I have to live there, I'm just hoping some feedback from other keyboard warriors who work from home like me can give me some perspective.

If I didn't work from home I'd almost certainly take the place in the city, no question.
Since I spend so much time inside though, I'm worried that I'll go nuts with all of the things I don't like about the inside.