Growing and declining areas in Louisiana - Which ones are which? (New Orleans: 2010, condo)

[Vicman]

Which areas in Louisiana are growing and which ones are declining?

I heard some talk about Baton Rouge surpassing New Orleans in terms of population since BR is inland. Is Baton Rouge on its way to becoming the largest city in Louisiana? How are Shreveport and Monroe doing?

As for other areas, what places besides New Orleans are declining in population and industry?

[darylwi]

Well, NOLA has been slowly growing since the hurricane and it's hard to believe that BTR is growing any more. I think our bubble is about to burst, just hope it isn't as painful as some other areas of the country. The major difference this time is I don't think there will be as large of an exodus out of the city. Baton Rouge is already too spread out.
I'm not looking at any real numbers this morning, but I'm sure that as far as city goes BTR is larger than NOLA but I think the NOLA metro still trumps BTR. Not sure though. We never seem to win any real big business or fortune 500 companies so I don't even worry about the industry aspect anymore.
Don't know about Shreveport, but I know some people here can help with that. I heard it was growing as well.
St. Benard and Plaquemines Parishes I estimate are the biggest losers post-Katrina.

[Vicman]

Originally Posted by darylwi

I'm not looking at any real numbers this morning, but I'm sure that as far as city goes BTR is larger than NOLA but I think the NOLA metro still trumps BTR.

In terms of 2000 census numbers:
* NOLA - 484,674
* Baton Rouge - 227,818

I wonder if within the NOLA Metro some surrounding parishes are benefiting while the overall population of NOLA and some other decline.

[darylwi]

Originally Posted by Vicman

In terms of 2000 census numbers:
* NOLA - 484,674
* Baton Rouge - 227,818

That's great, but you're talking about post-Katrina, so decide which numbers you're going to use. It's not like people are still fleeing NOLA or the population is still surging in BTR. That's long over with.
Or even better, wait until 2010 because we've had enough stupid bogus population estimates for both cities since Katrina to go around. We've had estimates in BTR that range all over the place although I imagine anything over 400,000 unlikely. 300,000 maybe. Ask CRPC about estimates and they'll give you a number over 500,000. (These are city specific estimates only, not EBR Parish.)
The last I heard, NOLA recently reached the 300,000 mark (post-Katrina).
Houston Hurricane Recovery - New beginnings for those once served by the Joint Hurricane Task Force

[Vampgrrl]

N.O. is definitely bigger than Red Stick as not too many who evacuated there stayed for good.

[holloway1010]

New Orleans metro area pre-Katrina was someplace around 1.3-1.4 million, now I think it is a little less than 1.2 million. Baton Rouge metro area was something like 700,000, and now around 750,000. Shreveport, Alexandria, and Lake Charles are all pretty much staying the same. Not much major population change or demographic shifts going on. Lafayette is booming. I don't know much about Monroe.

[Rmaf623]

The Alexandria metro area has seen a small increase in population over the past few years but there has been much business growth. Union Tank Car located here, a new power plant is under construction, major expansions are occurring at two local hospitals, Proctor & Gamble is expanding, and PlastiPak opened up a plant. McKesson is the one industry that I can think of that left Alexandria recently. A large number of new subdivisions and condo complexes have been constructed in the past few years or are being constructed now. However, there has been a noticeable slowdown in the housing market this year.

[hdwell]

Actually quite a few Shreveporters have/are moving to Bossier. The lower crime, decent schools and newly built areas have made this happen. Dare say Bossier City has passed 61,000 and the Parish is well over 100,000. Likewise Blanchard, Keithville, Stonewall, Greenwood, Haughton, Red Chute, and Benton are gaining new residents rapidly, most of these towns are 2-3000+ now in population. I don't believe SBC's growth may be as fast as BR's but it is fairly steady.

[holloway1010]

Originally Posted by hdwell

Actually quite a few Shreveporters have/are moving to Bossier. The lower crime, decent schools and newly built areas have made this happen. Dare say Bossier City has passed 61,000 and the Parish is well over 100,000. Likewise Blanchard, Keithville, Stonewall, Greenwood, Haughton, Red Chute, and Benton are gaining new residents rapidly, most of these towns are 2-3000+ now in population. I don't believe SBC's growth may be as fast as BR's but it is fairly steady.

Question is, Is it interior growth or exterior growth. Is a good majority of the growth coming from the outside or at the expense of Shreveport.

[buildings_and_bridges]

Originally Posted by Vampgrrl

N.O. is definitely bigger than Red Stick as not too many who evacuated there stayed for good.

I think I read somewhere that around 2006, there were over 600,000 in Baton Rouge. I have no idea if that was ever correct, or it was, that it's possible it's still correct or what. The posts above mine suggest that it was an overestimation. Driving is so awful that I would've thought we have still have over 600,000 easily.

Is it true that N.O. is just over 100,000 now? I've heard that number, but, as you said, many evacuees have moved back.