Adjusting to Shreveport LA (Many: fit in, crime rates, credit)

[North1]

I moved to Shreveport from CA after having grown up in the Midwest. How long does it take to adjust to the area? Right now I'm pretty much in shock and ready to move out of the south but my husband's job will have us here for several years. Any suggestions for adjusting faster? What has shocked me is the segregation/racism, the sexism, homophobia and ultra religious conservatism. I guess I became a liberal somewhere along the way!

[Tamzyn]

O no .. please dont say that! I'm a 26 year old, non-religious, liberal female from England who is in an interracial relationship. I'll be moving there with my husband next month - who is in the military so we will be stuck there for a while!

[SBCmetroguy]

Welcome to the south. I'm not a liberal but I'm far from an ultra-conservative. There are plenty of ultra-liberals in this area and many of them have adjusted fine, others never adjust and end up moving on.

I am a "big city" boy trapped in a smaller city, having been born and raised here. While it is home and I love it for that, I have never felt that I belong here. I am not religious, I do not hunt, I am highly intelligent, and I am a very artistic person. But it's all in what you make of it, and somehow I've made the best of it that I can. Perhaps it's because I was born here and this is home, but I'm fine here for now. Eventually I do want to move on to somewhere like Chicago, but for now this is fine.

Just a note, if the examples you mentioned are the reasons you don't like it here, you will definitely have to get out of the south. Even Dallas and Houston, though very large cities, are very southern places and much the same in those respects.

[hdwell]

Oh, come now, North1 ! I see mixes of people all the time around here. I really don't know of any segragated neighborhoods. Yes, there are race problems here, but tell me where it ain't? Same for homophobia, sexism, and ultrareligious conservatism. You know when you move south it won't be like the west coast or the NE. Read blogs on the local newspaper on line and you will see that there are plenty of people who are not religious, more liberal, etc. God no, SBC is no SF by anymeans, but then I don't know if I would like that. Way too left for me.

Many of us have other interests besides hunting and fishing. Many keep to ourselves and many like to travel and interact with people from outside this region. I am socially liberal with many things, fiscally conservative with politics, live and let live kind of guy. There are others around here. Ellerbe area is probably not your more liberal type neighborhhod. The bluer areas like highland are cool but suffer from higher crime. By and large, the crime is the main problem this city has. We need more patrol officers and with that you must have tax increases. I hope mayor Glover looks into this.

[EtherBunster]

We moved here because of the military. Once I got settled in at my job, I adjusted rather quickly.

Sure, there are a lot of things that were "better" where I lived before but seeing only those things blinded me to the things here that are "better".

Sometimes the "better" is something small that goes unnoticed after a few weeks like not having to wait in as much traffic as back home. Other times the "better" comes when I discover something new about this town that wasn't back home like a very scary Halloween haunted cornfield.

Basically, if you keep comparing where you are to where you have been you will never appreciate where you are.

[North1]

Have to admit I haven't gotten out in the general public so maybe I'm being overexposed to these things in my small circle of association. I'm really hoping so and that I can find a group that I can fit in with.

I did read a lot about Shreveport before we moved. Honestly didn't seem that bad. I compared crime rates to other cities we've lived in and it's really not that much worse. I think how vocal some people are about their views is what has upset me the most. I feel like they are trying to force their views on me and convert me to their thinking. The area I grew up - you didn't discuss touchy subjects so openly.

I am trying to not compare it to where I've lived before. I'm just trying to find a way to cope for the next 7-10 years.

What's really funny is that in CA I was considered pretty conservative!

[ahzzie]

Originally Posted by SBCmetroguy

Even Dallas and Houston, though very large cities, are very southern places and much the same in those respects.

Hate to break it to you but this could not be farther from the truth, at least as far as Houston goes. It is very diverse and tolerant of a lot of things. Can't speak for Dallas though because I've never been there.

[SBCmetroguy]

Originally Posted by ahzzie

Hate to break it to you but this could not be farther from the truth, at least as far as Houston goes. It is very diverse and tolerant of a lot of things. Can't speak for Dallas though because I've never been there.

I have never seen a larger concentration of rednecks anywhere compared to both Dallas and Houston. Yes, they are large cities and they do have a lot of diversity, but they also have a lot of rednecks. Though to be fair, Seattle has quite a redneck population, believe it or not.

And for the record, I love Dallas and Houston so I wouldn't intentionally try to discredit them, but I have encountered far more than my fair share of "non-progressive" people in both cities. Especially in north Dallas.

[garxhap]

I have to agree about Houston being diverse. I have lived here for many years and there are pleanty of liberals here. If Houston's so conservative, why does it have a mayor who is a Democrat? Maybe those who think Houston is so conservative have only experienced the suburban enclaves such as Katy, Pearland, etc. If you can't find liberals in Houston you're not trying.

[SBCmetroguy]

Originally Posted by garxhap

I have to agree about Houston. I have lived here for many years and there are pleanty of liberals here. If Houston's so conservative, why do we have a mayor who's a Democrat?

Shreveport's mayor is a democrat and a black man, but this is still an extremely conservative area.