Claiborne Parish is dead. (Shreveport, Bossier City: motels, Home Depot, buy)

[Rainbow Island]

I live in Claiborne Parish in north Louisiana. It's quite a large parish as far as square mileage. There is absolutely nothing here. No wal-Mart, Lowes, Home Depot. Nowhere to eat except McDonalds, Sonic, Pizza Hut, KFC. Thats all I can think of. I'm not complaining, just wondering how many other parishes in Louisiana have this problem. Homer is the parish seat and it has nothing. There was a very small Wal-Mart there but for what ever reason, it folded. Tell me if there is another Parish seat that don't have a Wal-Mart in Louisiana. There may be, I'm asking. Now, this is probably good for the small places that we have. Piggly Wiggly, Freds, Faimly Dollar. The Piggly Wiggly {grocery store} is so high on everything. We usually only buy the things we run out of there til we can get to Minden, Shreveport, or Magnolia, Arkansas. I would love to know how your area compares to Claiborne Parish.

[Rosinante]

The idea of living out in the country where there is not much traffic, very little crime, and just a few neighbors sticking their noses in my business appeals to me greatly.

[Rainbow Island]

Originally Posted by Rosinante

The idea of living out in the country where there is not much traffic, very little crime, and just a few neighbors sticking their noses in my business appeals to me greatly.

Yeah, that would be nice. Unfortunately, I'm a 100 yards from Hwy.79 (very busy Hwy) and very close to the NO TELL MOTEL. And have had countless things stolen out of my yard and shed. I even had my trash can stolen one time.

[SBCmetroguy]

Originally Posted by Rainbow Island

I live in Claiborne Parish in north Louisiana. It's quite a large parish as far as square mileage. There is absolutely nothing here. No wal-Mart, Lowes, Home Depot. Nowhere to eat except McDonalds, Sonic, Pizza Hut, KFC. Thats all I can think of. I'm not complaining, just wondering how many other parishes in Louisiana have this problem. Homer is the parish seat and it has nothing. There was a very small Wal-Mart there but for what ever reason, it folded. Tell me if there is another Parish seat that don't have a Wal-Mart in Louisiana. There may be, I'm asking. Now, this is probably good for the small places that we have. Piggly Wiggly, Freds, Faimly Dollar. The Piggly Wiggly {grocery store} is so high on everything. We usually only buy the things we run out of there til we can get to Minden, Shreveport, or Magnolia, Arkansas. I would love to know how your area compares to Claiborne Parish.

Benton is the parish seat for Bossier Parish and it doesn't have a Wal-Mart. But I do believe that they will eventually get one with their growth.

I do recall the Homer Wal-Mart closing not long ago, as I believe they lost their business to the Minden location.

That does suck, but I do feel your pain. Living in Haughton if you want to shop or eat, you have to drive to either Bossier City or Minden, unless you want to shop at Brookshires, which I personally think is expensive. As far as restaurants go, Haughton has McDonald's, Sonic, Church's, a couple of pizza places, and not much else.

[Rainbow Island]

There is a Brookshires in Homer, ten miles from me in Haynesville. It is expensive and we seldom shop there either. Haynesville has a Sonic and Chick-A-Dilly. Sonic has been here only a couple or three years. They are very slow and usually screw up your order. The chicken joint stays so busy that is just not worth getting in the line. Well, Benton makes two, I wonder how many more there is.

[MetroBTR]

St. Francisville and Clinton (West and East Feliciana) do not have Wal-Mart. Point a la Hache (Plaquemines Parish) does not have one...though I do believe there is one in Belle Chasse. I don't think Cameron Parish has one. I don't believe Assumption Parish has one either...or St. Helena Parish.

[darylwi]

What about E. & W. Carroll? Now those are some pretty rural parishes, and in the delta farmland. It's been years since I've riden through those areas. But I know Lake Providence is pretty darn poor and delapidated.

[Rainbow Island]

Originally Posted by MetroBTR

St. Francisville and Clinton (West and East Feliciana) do not have Wal-Mart. Point a la Hache (Plaquemines Parish) does not have one...though I do believe there is one in Belle Chasse. I don't think Cameron Parish has one. I don't believe Assumption Parish has one either...or St. Helena Parish.

Well, I guess my assumption that Claiborne parish was the most backwoods, undeveloped, nowhere to shop place in Louisiana may not be so true. But I bet it's still a top contender. Fortunately, we are only about an hour away from Shreveport/Bossier. Thanks for all the feedback.

[Chris19]

Originally Posted by MetroBTR

St. Francisville and Clinton (West and East Feliciana) do not have Wal-Mart. Point a la Hache (Plaquemines Parish) does not have one...though I do believe there is one in Belle Chasse. I don't think Cameron Parish has one. I don't believe Assumption Parish has one either...or St. Helena Parish.

Given the proximity of communities in Lousiniana to each each other relative to some other parts of the nation, the proximity to the closest Wal-Mart in Claiborne County is not bad. In South Dakota, 11 of the 66 counties have a Wal-Mart and one can drive up to 80-100 miles easily before seeing any Wal-Mart and easily over 50 miles before seeing a McDonalds (driving 70-80 mph on the highway mitigates the distance factor). There are other open range places in the west where the distances to these conveniences are even greater. Try parts of Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Montana, Oregon (eastern), and Arizona (outside of Phoenix, Tuscon, and the I-40 corridor). To me, it seems as though there are towns everywhere in the south and some seem to run together, but then again I come from a state under a million people. What a person's perction of backwoods or isolated in Lousiana may be different than another's perception in a state like Nebraska and South Dakota.

[BRMan]

Originally Posted by Chris19

Given the proximity of communities in Lousiniana to each each other relative to some other parts of the nation, the proximity to the closest Wal-Mart in Claiborne County is not bad. In South Dakota, 11 of the 66 counties have a Wal-Mart and one can drive up to 80-100 miles easily before seeing any Wal-Mart and easily over 50 miles before seeing a McDonalds (driving 70-80 mph on the highway mitigates the distance factor). There are other open range places in the west where the distances to these conveniences are even greater. Try parts of Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Montana, Oregon (eastern), and Arizona (outside of Phoenix, Tuscon, and the I-40 corridor). To me, it seems as though there are towns everywhere in the south and some seem to run together, but then again I come from a state under a million people. What a person's perction of backwoods or isolated in Lousiana may be different than another's perception in a state like Nebraska and South Dakota.

And I will say it was an eye opener when we drove out west and discovered that in West Texas, you can easily go 100 miles between exits that have gas/motels/restaurants. So given that, the 50 mile stretches in some places where there is nothing along I-49 doesn't seem so bad.