Monroe-haters (Lafayette, West Monroe, Swartz: buy, living, restaurant)

[LOUISIANA'SLEGEND]

okay, I understand all of u guys hatred of "Tha Roe"but u people are basing your statements on comparisions of other cities. The only problem Monroe has is marketing, and painting a....um....somewhat perfect picture like other places. I promise u Monroe has some of the same things great assets as other cities around Louisiana & other cities out of state and more. If its so bad why does the population is stable and college enrollment increases every year. I'll tell u why, because we residence know all the great things here, they are jus oblivios to outsiders and "monroe haters" who don't want 2 kno. Its all in bad marketing here why we appear 2 be so terrible. A motor speedway is being constructed, there are bullriding clubs here, the sage restaurant, the black bayou wildlife refuge, about 7 different bodies of waters here even a small beach. Rent u a boat, and ride around the city, u will see beautiful homes on the bayous and rivers. So many bars and events here. Be outgoing and adventous u can find it. Its just that people don't know about all this, and its hard 2 find. I'm glad I found this forum, I'll kno exacty what i'll need 2 market!!!A man just bought land and building along the river to build retail, hotels, restaurants. The guide plant is coming back as a construction plant for hybird like cars, the ouachita port is opening soon, amtrak is coming, the expansion to PS surgical Hospital have be complete for a few months. All of those are jobs!!! let me stop, i'll save some for the next post, u either hate it or love it, 150,000+ metro sombody love it!!

[hdwell]

I travel to Monroe every day on business and I have nev er lived there, but I actually enjoy the city. There are a lot of nice people I have made friends with, the metro area is a nice size, and really its not a bad place at all. Oh I imagine there are problems unique to them, but name a city that doesn't have them?

[finette]

I moved to Monroe in June 2007 and have to say that I actually like it. I am admittedly in the ULM bubble, so my colleagues are all open-minded and I work with students from all over the region, plus I can feel pretty secure in my job. Here are the pros and cons of Monroe as I see it:

Pros:

• Nice weather! (I'm from the frozen north...)
• Beautiful parks & recreation areas--I don't hunt or fish but I have a dog whom I take for walks at Black Bayou Lake NWR, on the levee at Forsythe Park, and along the bayou on the ULM campus
• Friendly people
• Great Southern cuisine--Cajun, Ray's PeGe, BBQ, etc.
• Good shopping for a city of its size

Cons:

• Yes, racism and homophobia do exist here as everywhere, sadly. I haven't encountered it in real life (like I said, ULM bubble--and I'm straight and caucasian), but I've learned to generally avoid the News-Star online forums like the plague
• *Not enough* parks--my hometown is now at about 160,000 people, so about the same as Monroe-West Monroe, but it has over 20 public parks. I know the city of Monroe has much more pressing economic concerns, but I think more parks would improve the quality of life and appeal of the whole city. (My *dream* is a fenced dog park, but I know that's highly unlikely, so I would settle for any new parks.)
• Recycling options are not very convenient. Again, I know the city has more important problems that must take economic priority.
• Not much cuisine *other* than those listed above and chains. Honestly I do sometimes get tired of choosing between fried chicken, fried fish, fried shrimp, etc. No, I exaggerate--like I said I like Ray's and BBQ also. However, I would love Indian or Thai, and most of all I miss gyros (I know there's a Greek place but I think it's out of my price range).
• Y'all are some crazy drivers

God, I sound like a total yuppie. But really, if that's all there is to complain about, I think we're doing pretty well. Note that I didn't even put the smell on my list of cons--I very rarely smell it up here in north Monroe, and even when I do, I don't think it's that bad. My hometown has a meatpacking plant, and that's much worse in my book. I do fervently hope that the revitalization of downtown Monroe succeeds, and I hadn't heard about Amtrak--that's exciting!

I had to put my two cents in here because I read these forums before I moved down here and had to make an effort not to let all the negative views of Monroe color my own perception of it. If you think the city is stagnant and crime ridden or whatever (I don't think that, but for the sake of argument...) and you want it to change, first stop scaring off people who might move here to contribute to the economy!

[blu banks]

oh well some people jus aint happy no matter so good for them if they like to find somethin wrong in a bar of purest gold just let em if thats what blows thier skirts up....... others of us know that the silver aint on the top its the people they are a treasure and a fact is a fact I LOVE YOU WEST MONROE/MONROE GOD BLESS YOU ALWAYS and IF YOU DONT LOVE IT DONT GO THERE OR FIND YOURSELF A SAN FRANCISCO WHERE YOU CAN FIT IN!

[SBCmetroguy]

Originally Posted by finette

I moved to Monroe in June 2007 and have to say that I actually like it. I am admittedly in the ULM bubble, so my colleagues are all open-minded and I work with students from all over the region, plus I can feel pretty secure in my job. Here are the pros and cons of Monroe as I see it:

Pros:

• Nice weather! (I'm from the frozen north...)
• Beautiful parks & recreation areas--I don't hunt or fish but I have a dog whom I take for walks at Black Bayou Lake NWR, on the levee at Forsythe Park, and along the bayou on the ULM campus
• Friendly people
• Great Southern cuisine--Cajun, Ray's PeGe, BBQ, etc.
• Good shopping for a city of its size

Cons:

• Yes, racism and homophobia do exist here as everywhere, sadly. I haven't encountered it in real life (like I said, ULM bubble--and I'm straight and caucasian), but I've learned to generally avoid the News-Star online forums like the plague
• *Not enough* parks--my hometown is now at about 160,000 people, so about the same as Monroe-West Monroe, but it has over 20 public parks. I know the city of Monroe has much more pressing economic concerns, but I think more parks would improve the quality of life and appeal of the whole city. (My *dream* is a fenced dog park, but I know that's highly unlikely, so I would settle for any new parks.)
• Recycling options are not very convenient. Again, I know the city has more important problems that must take economic priority.
• Not much cuisine *other* than those listed above and chains. Honestly I do sometimes get tired of choosing between fried chicken, fried fish, fried shrimp, etc. No, I exaggerate--like I said I like Ray's and BBQ also. However, I would love Indian or Thai, and most of all I miss gyros (I know there's a Greek place but I think it's out of my price range).
• Y'all are some crazy drivers

God, I sound like a total yuppie. But really, if that's all there is to complain about, I think we're doing pretty well. Note that I didn't even put the smell on my list of cons--I very rarely smell it up here in north Monroe, and even when I do, I don't think it's that bad. My hometown has a meatpacking plant, and that's much worse in my book. I do fervently hope that the revitalization of downtown Monroe succeeds, and I hadn't heard about Amtrak--that's exciting!

I had to put my two cents in here because I read these forums before I moved down here and had to make an effort not to let all the negative views of Monroe color my own perception of it. If you think the city is stagnant and crime ridden or whatever (I don't think that, but for the sake of argument...) and you want it to change, first stop scaring off people who might move here to contribute to the economy!

Don't feel alone in the dog park issue. Even over here in Shreveport-Bossier we can't seem to get one. There was a woman heading up a group to petition for one, but she recently moved to Austin, TX and had to give up on her dog park plans for this region. I do hope someone else will try and get the ball rolling agian on that.

But hers is a model that you could use... start a petition online, pass it around to EVERYONE you know in Monroe-West Monroe and have them pass it around as well. Eventually you will have hundreds of signatures and you can forward it on to the mayors of both cities. Who knows... West Monroe's mayor might see it as an opportunity to one-up Monroe and take the issue on. Sometimes that competitive nature between mayors of hyphenated cities (Monroe-West Monroe, Shreveport-Bossier, etc) is just enough to get things done. Shreveport wanted a nice hockey arena with about 15,000 seats. While they were "thinking" about it, Bossier said "we'll build one!" From this competitive nature the CenturyTel Center was born... and it's a fantastic venue that has brought major concerts back to this region in huge numbers.

Think about it, seriously... if West Monroe's mayor wants to do something like that, he just might be interested in the dog park. I know it sounds like such a simple thing to so many people, but regions with dog parks are typically regarded as regions with a high quality of life.

[LOUISIANA'SLEGEND]

Lol, dog park huh, well this is the deep south, I dont think we love our dog in the way you guys do up north. Our dogs are for security. I live on a street where almost every home has a dog in the back yard, thats right....I said back yard!!!! They let there dogs roam around at nite. It actual works, I stay in the high crime areas and my street seem to be a little safer than the rest. People take there dogs to the high school tracks(I hate that). Monroe and West Monroe are fiercely competing right now, so I think it will be easy to get something like that around here.

[mrkool]

Originally Posted by Ldunn1001

MrKool, I appreciate your response but if you hate it so bad, why don't you go some place else? .

Umm... I *am* someplace else.

[SBCmetroguy]

Originally Posted by blu banks

oh well some people jus aint happy no matter so good for them if they like to find somethin wrong in a bar of purest gold just let em if thats what blows thier skirts up....... others of us know that the silver aint on the top its the people they are a treasure and a fact is a fact I LOVE YOU WEST MONROE/MONROE GOD BLESS YOU ALWAYS and IF YOU DONT LOVE IT DONT GO THERE OR FIND YOURSELF A SAN FRANCISCO WHERE YOU CAN FIT IN!

What?

[LOUISIANA'SLEGEND]

lol, aww let the man be poetic.......you guys are so crazy.....haha

[SBCmetroguy]

Originally Posted by finette

[*]Not much cuisine *other* than those listed above and chains. Honestly I do sometimes get tired of choosing between fried chicken, fried fish, fried shrimp, etc. No, I exaggerate--like I said I like Ray's and BBQ also. However, I would love Indian or Thai, and most of all I miss gyros (I know there's a Greek place but I think it's out of my price range).

Don't worry about that, since you're in north Louisiana just come over to Shreveport on a weekend to stroll the Boardwalk or hit the casinos, and while you're here take in our Thai, Indian, and Greek places. We have 3 Greek places with a 4th one getting ready to open, a couple of Indian places, a couple of Thai places, Vietnamese, Polynesian, etc.

By the way, when it comes to Greek I suggest you try our newest Greek place, Mona's. It's a New Orleans restaurant chain with 4 locations down there and now 1 up here. They not only have awesome Greek food but a Greek grocery store as well so you can take home the ingredients if you ever want to make it for yourself.