Moving to Bossier City/Shreveport area

[Joammo]

How do you know which school your child must attend? Are there "borders" for each school? Do I need to live near Stockwell to have my child go there? How does that work. Sorry for the goof-ball question but I have lived overseas for the last eight years and the school choice was easy; on-base, off-base, or home school.

Thanks,
Wendell

[SBCmetroguy]

Originally Posted by Joammo

How do you know which school your child must attend? Are there "borders" for each school? Do I need to live near Stockwell to have my child go there? How does that work. Sorry for the goof-ball question but I have lived overseas for the last eight years and the school choice was easy; on-base, off-base, or home school.

Thanks,
Wendell

Yes, there are district lines and you must live in a specific school's district for your child to attend. Check with realtors about what district your desired neighborhood is in to find out what schools your children would be attenting.

[Joammo]

SBC,
Thanks for the reply, we have been able to narrow our choices down considerably. Do you know much about the area around Balmoral?

Thanks,
Wendell

[SBCmetroguy]

Originally Posted by Joammo

SBC,
Thanks for the reply, we have been able to narrow our choices down considerably. Do you know much about the area around Balmoral?

Thanks,
Wendell

Balmoral Drive in the Spring Lake area of Shreveport? If so, then yes I do. Let me know if that's the area you're talking about.

[Joammo]

Yes, that's the place. How is that neighborhood? I can only see if from Google street views and it looks pretty nice, older but nice. Does it back up to anywhere bad? I keep getting told by folks not to live in Shreveport but I find it hard to believe the entire city is bad.
Thanks!

[SBCmetroguy]

Originally Posted by Joammo

Yes, that's the place. How is that neighborhood? I can only see if from Google street views and it looks pretty nice, older but nice. Does it back up to anywhere bad? I keep getting told by folks not to live in Shreveport but I find it hard to believe the entire city is bad.
Thanks!

That side of Spring Lake DOES back up to Cedar Grove, which is a particularly bad neighborhood, but if there were any major problems I can assure you those people wouldn't be paying $250,000+ to live there. There are even homes on that side of Spring Lake priced in the millions, and they're literally within a short walking distance of Cedar Grove. I work in that area and in the decade I have been there, I have never had any problems. I often go to lunch at Popeye's, China Hot, Po-Boy Express, and other places right there in Cedar Grove and have never had any problems.

Shreveport is fine, and I will repeat what I tell others, it is what you make of it. Some will agree and some will disagree, but I stand firmly by that statement. If you come here expecting to like it, you will be fine; on the other hand, if you come here expecting to hate it, you will be miserable.

Best of luck and if you ever need anything, you can find me here. I work in that same area where you will be living and even lived in the Spring Lake Point apartments for a couple of years...I have spent a good portion of my adult life there, so I am very familiar with it.

[hindsight2020]

Originally Posted by Joammo

Yes, that's the place. How is that neighborhood? I can only see if from Google street views and it looks pretty nice, older but nice. Does it back up to anywhere bad? I keep getting told by folks not to live in Shreveport but I find it hard to believe the entire city is bad.
Thanks!

I generally agree with sbcmetro that there are certainly decent neighborhoods in shreveport, the problem is that Shreveport is a block by block affair. Just last week two people broke into a home in the western fringe of the broadmoor neighborhood, considered by most to be 'desirable'. Kicked in the door and when confronted by the homeowner they shot at him. These fellas were later apprehended in the 8400 block of david ave, which lies at the exact same latitude in the city as your balmoral drive, just on the west side of I-49. If you consider a quarter mile of open road and an elevated interstate as deterrent enough for the bad element to not spill over to your open street neighborhood, then the majority of Shreveport proper will suffice. I just have a tough time regarding open access roadway neighborhoods, such as most of Shreveport proper, as a safe long term bet when they are literally across the street. Don't get me wrong, aside the crappy neighborhoods that surround them, these areas are centrally located to almost any employer in the area and certainly beats the north bossier white flight 'heaven' 120+$/sqft cookie cutter racket any day of week and twice on sunday, but you'll have to evaluate the opportunity cost of having the element literally at the corner light from where the kids play down in Shreveport. Good luck.

[Joammo]

Thanks guys, both of your posts were very informative and helpful. We'll be flying in from Germany on the 24th of Feb, I hope the sun is shining and the culture shock of being out of the USA for 9 years is not too much! Thanks and if I think of anything else I'll definitely hit the forum up.

Wendell