I looked into living on Cross Lake and Caddo Lake about 2 years ago when I was getting ready to move back to Shreveport after living away for 9 years, and I think they have pluses and minuses.
Caddo Lake is a beautiful Lake, but its not always that clear. There is alot of excellent fishing on Caddo Lake, but there may be some cleanliness issues with the lake, or at least parts of it. Im honestly not familiar with the western or Northern shores of Caddo Lake, mostly with the area around Mooringsport. Historically there was alot of oil drilling in that area around Caddo Lake, (thats about where Oil City is located), and I believe that I read somewhere that Caddo Lake was the site of the first "off shore" oil drilling platform back around the 1920s or so when the first oil boom was in swing in the area. While there may be elements of charm in Mooringsport, I think the area has seen better days and its a pretty long drive from Shreveport (maybe 45 mins) on Hwy 1. If you are planning on commuting into Shreveport-Bossier for work, it could be a pretty far drive.
Cross lake is also a mixed bag. Its a very pretty lake, and there are some very nice gated neighborhoods next to the lake off South Lakeshore Dr. There are also a few nice gated neighborhoods, and gated homes off the northshore, just south of Blanchard. I am a stalwart defender of the Shreveport-Bossier area and a proud resident. But that wouldnt prevent me from giving you an honest opinion, that just outside some of the nicer neighborhoods around Cross Lake are some not-so-nice neighborhoods that tend to have lousey school districts and rather higher crime. Some of the neighborhoods are transitional, at best, but I can honestly say that while I had several friends who lived in those more affordable neighborhoods about a mile south of the lake in the 90s; I doubt few of them would recognize their neighborhoods now.
That being said, the newer gated neighborhoods off S. Lakeshore are quite nice, and quite expensive by Shreveport standards. If you are headed North on the 220 loop (Hwy 3132) towards the cross lake bridge the last Exit is S. lakeshore. If you turn left at the stopsign, and head towards S. lakeshore drive, there will be a series of neighborhoods off to the right in the area of Willow Point/Willow Ridge. All along the area are many nice homes, in gated communities, many with Lake views (for high premiums) and some right on the water or with nearby dock/boathouse access. Alot of the homes in those neighborhoods were built in the 90s, and there is also a new gated neighborhood that is still partiall under construction right on cross lake, off S. Lakeshore. The 1970s-ish Shreveport Yacht Club is not far down the road from these neighborhoods as well. There are more nice homes located off Risinger lane, and surrounding areas, most of them seem to have been built in the 70s and some in the 80s. The word on the street, urban legend wise from a few friends of mine who live in the gated neighborhoods on S. Lakeshore is that Kevin Costner loved Cross lake when he was in town filming movies, and that he either bought or rented a home (no doubt in one of the swanky gated communities) on cross lake while he was in town shooting several movies. I dont know if thats true, but it wouldnt suprise me. The other advantage of Cross lake, is that its a very close drive into Shreveport because its right off 3132/220, which makes for about as short of a drive as you could reasonably have. Overall, the area around Cross lake is very beautiful, rather expensive; but you have to be mindful that it is directly adjacent to some not-so-nice neighborhoods. If thats an issue for you, Id think gated neighborhoods or perhaps look someplace else.
An area you really should also look into is Cypress Lake (Cypress Bayou Reservoir) near Benton, La. Benton is a booming area, with good schools and so much development off La Hwy 3, you wouldnt believe it. I do not know anyone who lives directly on lakefront property on Cypress Lake, but I have some friends that live near it in Benton and they love it. Its still a fair commute into Shreveport-Bossier, perhaps 40 mins, with alot of traffic (by Shreveport standards) on Benton Rd.
Benton, like much of Bossier tends to have good schools and low crime. (I dont want to get into a schools debate, because Im ultimately an advocate that the Caddo Parish Magnet schools are far superior academically to Bossiers best schools, if you dont believe me just go to the La. Dept of Ed website and check out the school report cards section under accountability; here
2006-2007 School Report Cards and Accountability Reports) BUT... that being said, its an undeniable fact that the Benton schools are definitely better than the "average" of Caddo Parish public schools. Thats probably a point for another thread, but its also worth noting that the school districts for Benton are certianly better than the district schools for both Caddo Lake and Cross Lake... although if your kids enter the magnet system in Caddo parish (which you can do from anywhere in Caddo Parish, regardless of what neighborhood you are in, just based on grades and test scores) and stick to the Eden Gardens/South Highlands/Caddo Middle Magnet/Caddo Magnet High/Byrd High (Magnet) track they will get an excellent education. Of course, there are always private schools as well (also another discussion).... even then, that presumes that you have children still in school. Either way, the entire Benton school system is very reputable and they have some great students; the folks are friendly and the crime is pretty low. Benton is growing so fast though, Id expect home prices to continue to increase in that area, just as so much of Bossier is still growing.
So thats my long winded $0.02 on the Lake living issue. I would personally love to live on either Cypress Lake in Benton or in one of the Gated neighborhoods on Cross Lake; but they were out of my price range, so I settled for a nice neighborhood in South East Shreveport off Youree Dr/Hwy 1 South. Its not as beautiful as Cross Lake living or Cypress Lake/Bayou... but its more affordable, so thats what I went with.
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Lake Caddo or Cross Lake Livin'
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