Please look at this about shreveport!!! (Baton Rouge, Monroe: sex offenders, crimes, credit)

[holloway1010]

That downtown is wonderful compared to alot of places. Every been to Muncie, Indiana. I say if this guy really thinks it's trashy, let him go be better than everyone else sip lattes in downtown Seattle or visit wine and cheese shops in Downtown San Fran lol.

[lilj2008]

i love passing through shreveport on the way to houston, its skyline its jus nice and it has so much potential to be a big great city in the south!!!! havent really got to explore it jus pass thru it and go to the casinos but i really like the way it looks!

[hdwell]

I have lived in South Bossier eighteen years and I have never heard gunfire. It is clean and people care about the area and keep their yards looking nice. Any city is going to have some bad areas, but I think our nice areas far outnumber any bad areas of the city.

[Kajonangel]

Whats up with Bashing Shreveport... If you Personally dont like it get the hell out...
Dont sit here an complain about it...

I like it and cant wait to move back...

You go down to Baton Rouge and see how much you appreciate Shreveport...
I live in Lake Charles but I am from Bossier City and I know things have changed over the years b/c of RITA an Katrina but things will get better... Its only been 3 years... We are still tryin to get our lives back in order down here...

As far as you bashing Shreveport You Are a Loser~

[jacobcross]

Originally Posted by Daniel_T

I've thought about coming to Shreveport for college, but it looks real trashy. I don't like it very much. Is it really that bad? Here is a video from Yotube shot around downtown Shreveport.



YouTube - Quick look at Shreveport


Is Baton Rouge cleaner?

Daniel True

Hey Daniel!


I have to laugh after watching the video. I moved here about three years ago and thought the exact same thing. Unfortunately when you look at downtown Shreveport and the areas around it, you are seeing some of the oldest buildings and homes in the city. There are TONS of gorgeous places to live in shreveport bossier and surrounding and it's a pretty peaceful place to live.

[ILUVMAINE]

Well, I must put in my two cents worth. I am a Shreveport native AND after spending almost 28 years in another large southern city - I have moved back home. I am extremely impressed with the areas on the riverfront and I think that in time, someone will come along and propose a revitalization project to the city government for the numerous old empty buildings in the downtown area and the west end of downtown. BUT these structures have so much potential to be refurbished and saving so much of our history. If I thought Shreveport was so bad and dangerous, I would have never suggested to my family to move back and sacrificed their health and well being. Regarding New Orleans – I have only been to that city twice in my life, and this is just my opinion, but I felt safer in NYC than in NO AND that was many years before big K.

[UTLSU]

Ive recently moved back to Shreveport after living away for 9 years and I think the city has alot to offer. The truth is, that with oil & gas prices being as high as they are, and the discovery and development of the Haynesville shale, that North Louisiana and Shreveport are poised to grow more than they have in 30 years. While not everyone is in the oil & gas business, its success benefits nearly everyone in the Shreveport-Bossier area. Many people have economic opportunities now in Shreveport-Bossier that they wouldnt have dreamed of having just a year or two ago. Moreover, many of the Shreveport haters posting on this cite are writing about their memories of the city from years ago, when the city was caught in the grips of a long drawn out recession after the oil bust of the 80s. Unsuprisingly, when the major industry of the region expirenced a decline and it dragged down the whole city's economy, there was more unemployment, more crime, less money for schools, less money for new developments, and more of an incentive for people to leave. Living in Shreveport in the 80s and 90s was tough for alot of people, and it both accelerated alot of the decay in parts of the city and created an incentive for a mass exodus from the city. The substantial population decline of the 80s and early 90s contributed to a collective mentality of "we gotta get outta here" for many folks. I believe the opportunities now blossoming in the region will hopefully help turn around the negative image of a city that has alot of heart.

While I am a stalwart Shreveport supporter, I do think there is one problem in Shreveport-Bossier that hasnt gotten much attention on this board: higher education. I would argue that the very limited scope of available higher education within the city contributes greatly to many of the perceived problems in Shreveport-Bossier. While more college students wouldnt necessarily mean less crime in a specific sense, it would mean more opportunities for young people and it would likely correlate to more of them staying here in the city. There is a perceived shortage of youths in their late teens through mid 20s in the city. While LSUS, Centenary, and BPCC offer excellent educational opportunities, and LSUMC's med school is an excellent anchor to the medical community of the region; there still arent as many higher education opportunities as maybe there should be. La Tech, Northwestern at Natchitoches, and UL Monroe are all large educational institutions. ULM has over 8,000 students, although Monroe and W.Monroe have less than 80,000 people. Northwestern State has 10,000 students while natchitoches has less than 20,000 people. La Tech has 11,000 students, while Ruston itself only has just over 20,000 students. Meanwhile, Shreveport has 200,000 people, with Bossier having another 70,000 and a total metro area of 350,000 or so... yet LSUS has less than 4,000 students and Centenary has less than 1000 students. BPCC has just under 5,000 students but is only a 2 year college. LSUMC typically has less than 500 med students and grad students combined. What all those numbers tell me, is that Shreveport is lacking the college base that is so essential for most mid sized cities to thrive. That is definitely a problem in Shreveport, because many young folks are forced to leave Shreveport for college... which wouldnt be so bad if they actually came back. But make no mistake, the lack of a large college aged crowd definitely hurts the city. For a city area of Shreveport-Bossier, with at least 300,000 people in the urban/suburban areas to only have around 10,000 students total between LSUS, BPCC, Centenary, and LSUMC/HSC is a shame. It does create a large obstacle for attracting enough youths to the city or giving them a large enough cross section of their own population to be able create critical mass. This is a shortcoming that Shreveport-Bossier need to address, but are often constrained from fixing. There are certianly educational opportunities in Shreveport-Bossier, but the limits of those opportunities have spillover effects that robs the city of some of its best youths and doesnt create a system by which those vibrant young adults can be fully replaced. This brain drain within the city is a structural problem, and hopefully over time it can be addressed. With any luck, and some hard campaining, this Cyber Innovation Center will help bolster the opportunities for young adults. Maybe over time BPCC or even...gasp... LSUS... will be able to gain more state funding, to be able to expand their degree programs. BPCCs new campus is a giant leap in the right direction, but more needs to be done to bolster numbers. This isnt even a

The fact that there are nearly three times as many people in SBC Metro as their are in Monroe, Natchitoches, and Ruston combined... yet there are roughly 3 times as many college students in those smaller cities as their are in SBC means that there are far fewer college opportunities per capita in SBC than there are in other parts of the state. While I dont think this issue is decisive, its perhaps an under appriciated consequence.

[UTLSU]

While I got off on a ramble about the genuine lack of a centralizing college in Shreveport as a problem that I wish we could do something about, I wanted to also articulate an answer to some of the other claims folks have made against the city.

Crime: Yes, Shreveport has more crime than the "average" city nationally...But that statistic is highly misleading, and many of the mainstay middle class neighborhoods of Shreveport are very safe and very nice. The higher end neighborhoods in Shreveport are typically extremely safe and usually far more affordable than similarly situated neighborhoods in larger cities. The crime is overwhelmingly concentrated in very economically deprived areas. As far as personal/violent crime is concerned, the middle class and affluent neighborhoods such as Broadmoor, South Highlands, Spring Lake, Ellerbe Rd, all have very low personal crime. Even in West Shreveport, Southern Hills and some of the surrounding southward neighborhoods still have relatively low rates of personal crime, although that may change over time. Certianly if you look at the gated communities off the Southern Loop such as Long Lake, Southern Trace, and the other gated subdivisions like Hidden Trace, St Charles Place, Norris Ferry Estates, or Acadiana Place and the like the relative crime rate drops to practically nothing.... By comparison, the overwhelming preponderance of violent crime in Shreveport is in poorer neighborhoods like Allendale, Queensbourough, Cedar Grove, etc. The tremendous statistical differences between those parts of town mean that "crime average" for Shreveport isnt the best way to look at it. Just like everywhere else, there are neighborhoods with more crime and ones with less crime. If a family moving here moves into a good neighborhood, then they are very likely to be in a good school district and very likely to have low crime rates.


Schools: Again, the statistics on public education in Shreveport can be very misleading. Raw numbers dont tell the whole story, and anyone who merely takes a look at very basic data for the whole parish school system is missing the point. Three schools in particular in Shreveport are considered to be very good schools: Byrd HS, Shreve HS and Caddo Magnet HS. The enriched/honors level classes at Byrd and Shreve are good, and both have magnet systems allowing sharp students to test into the school even if they are out of district, but still living in the parish. Byrd has been particularly successful in recent years in improving its top range educational opportunities, and has become quite competitive for academically inclined students. And while Caddo Magnet HS may lack the traditional sports base such as football, basketball and baseball; they do have other athletic opportunities (like a mens soccer team that just won 5a state this year, and a womens soccer team that got 2nd in the state not many years ago) to compliment an outstanding academic reputation. Caddo Magnet High in fact routinely has astronomical percentages of its graduating seniors who enroll and graduate from college, and almost always ranks in the top 10 high schools in the state academically as far as total number of national merit scholars produced. Obviously, not every HS in Caddo Parish will have as strong of numbers as Byrd, Shreve or Caddo Magnet, but those schools certianly stand out as school districts of distinction within Shreveport. The coordinate middle schools of Youree Drive Middle, Broadmoor Middle Lab, and Caddo Middle Magnet are all good schools as well. Similarly, there are many strong elementry schools in Shreveport including South Highlands, Eden Gardens, Riverside, University, A.C. Steer, Shreve Island and Arthur Circle. While other schools in the city may have good students and good teachers, those schools jump to mind as public schools that have always maintained a consistent level of quality that is on par with most discerning parents educational expectations.

The trick of the Eye: One theory about why Shreveport's crime and Shreveport's school statistics seem so skewed in comparison to other cities, particularly the large suburban developments in places like Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, etc ... is the nature of Independant School Districts and small City Incorporation. The "best cities to live in" type of lists will often list places like "Plano, Denton, Lewisville, Colleyville, McKinney, etc" but not list Dallas proper. Same with the list of best schools. Same with the overall statistical crime rates. Because those suburbs of Dallas (or any other large metro area) are independantly incorporated, and their school districts are Independantly operated and funded through higher property taxes; it creates a fundamental shift in the way those neighborhoods and communities operate. But, it also creates a skew in the statistics. The quality of nice homes in Southern Trace can certianly go toe to toe with many of the nicest homes in Plano or Highland Park in Dallas. The top academic students from Caddo Magnet High can, and do, go toe to toe against the best and brightest at Plano High or Highland Park High. Both neighborhoods are comperably safe. The niceness and value in a Broadmoor home in Shreveport is very comperable to the niceness available for more expensive housing in Lewisville, although Broadmoor homes tend to be older. The neighborhood of Broadmoor is similarly safe to most neighborhoods in Lewisville, Tx. Students going to either Byrd or Shreve have just about as many academic opportunities as students going to Lewisville ISD have, and their numbers compare favorably particularly when you control for enriched/honors class students at Byrd or Shreve to compare against the Lewisville ISD students, who have essentially already been presorted through socio-economics.

The Statistics would make you believe that all public schools in Shreveport are worthless and that anyone sending their child to those schools must have no care for that childs education whatsoever. The same statistics would make you think that if you moved to Shreveport, you would probably be shot the moment you got out of the moving van, that is if you didnt get car jacked on your way in. But those statistics are quite skewed, because when they look at wealthy north Dallas suburbs, they exclude the poorer, higher crime areas in South Dallas. Because so many Dallas suburbs are actually independant cities, with independant school districts, their data on schools doesnt include the weaker school districts test scores and graduation rates and their crime rates dont include the crime that goes on just a few miles down the road from the suburban villas of North Dallas. None of this is meant to knock North Dallas, just to point out that the municipal organization of those suburbs creates artificially rosey numbers for the suburbs by excluding the total metro area.

Some might say: well what about other neighborhoods in Shreveport or other school districts? What if you cant afford to live in Broadmoor, or South Highlands, or Ellerbe Rd and get into the Byrd or Shreve School districts? What if the student is just a little below average and cant test into Magnet High? To that I say: Economic sorting is just as prevalent in cities like Dallas or Houston or Atlanta or Chicago as it is here. If someone cant afford a $140,000 home in the Broadmoor neighborhood with a good school district, then are they really going to be able to afford a $200,000 home in Lewisville or Denton, even if they make 15% more money working in the Dallas Metro area? If someone cant afford a $240,000 home in Ellerbe Rd, were they really going to be able to afford that $450,000 home in the pricey New Trier township or the Napierville or Evanston suburbs outside of Chicago? Even if their salary was 50% higher working in the Chicago Metro area, would that enable them to buy into the elite neighborhoods with the elite schools in the suburbs of large metros that people tout as so worthy of praise and adoration? The answer is almost certianly not. As harsh as it is, economic sorting is an inevitability whether you are in Shreveport-Bossier or whether you are in Dallas or Chicago. I wouldnt argue that Shreveport has identical economic and educational opportunities to those massive metro areas... because finding the best schools and neighborhoods in a city of 5 million or more makes it hard to compete if you are looking for the best neighborhoods and schools in a city of just over 1/4th of a million. But I think Shreveport gets pretty close sometimes. If you accept the fact that the more expensive neighborhoods in any city typically have lower crime and better school districts, regardless of where in the country you are; then you can permit yourself to look at Shreveport through the same lens that the suburban wonderlands are viewed through. If you dont include the crime numbers and poor academic performance of Southside Chicago or Southern Dallas with the glowing numbers from North Dallas or the Northshore; then why treat Shreveport any Differently? Compare the crime and the Schools for Shreveports best middle class and affluent neighborhoods against their competitors to get the more accurate reading. You'll find that the crime will still be marginally higher in the non-gated neighborhoods in Shreveport, and that the bottom third of the class academically at Byrd and Shreve may not stack up against the bottom 1/3rd of the class from Lewisville or Denton ISD; but the top 1/3rd of Byrd or Shreve, where many of the enriched/honors students are, compares very favorably. The bottom 1/4th from Caddo Magnet High may not quite land in the same places that the bottom 1/4th from Highland Park HS or Plano HS land... but they still manage to do pretty good.... and the top 1/4th from Caddo Magnet HS can go toe to toe academically with some of the very best students from Highland Park or Plano or Colleyville, and win just as many scholarships and admissions to selective colleges. From a higher end perspective, go look at the numerous neighborhoods off the Southern Loop of I-49 and tell me that a beautiful home in St Charles Place or Long Lake or Ellerbe Rd is any less of a place to live than homes in Plano or Frisco, Texas that cost more. Do the stately homes in South Highlands not compare favorably with the similar homes in Highland Park or Turtle Creek in Dallas that cost well over twice as much? Taking a more careful look at the truths behinds the blind numbers reveals that Shreveport can be a very nice city to live in, and that while its far from perfect overall, that its bright spots and highlights are nothing to look down upon.

[ArthursChoice]

You know I saw that video months ago...and I hate to admit it because I WANT to like this area so much...but that video turned me off as well...I was like OMG YUCK, THAT'S IT?! I just wonder if you are a person that has been to many REALLY nice places (San Diego, Malibu, Santa Barbara, Myrtle Beach) and I name water places because I like water tropical type, I wonder if a video showing places like that would impress anyone?

Originally Posted by Daniel_T

I've thought about coming to Shreveport for college, but it looks real trashy. I don't like it very much. Is it really that bad? Here is a video from Yotube shot around downtown Shreveport.



YouTube - Quick look at Shreveport


Is Baton Rouge cleaner?

Daniel True

[hindsight2020]

Do you care to compare the cost of living and day to day realities of living in those "nice" places vis-a-vis living in Shreveport Bossier? Believe me, I grew up in a tourist destination and what people often don't ponder long enough is that there is a price one pays to live in those places, and not everybody can afford it. Also, there is a very different perspective of visiting someplace for a week, or even a month, than living there year to year. It's an amazing difference and people dismiss that reality to their own peril.

Personally I would never live in San Diego (and the like), regardless of the amount of videos I saw of it in whatever context. To me it's overpopulated, injustifiably expensive, has an air of sterility, cultural balkanization and west coast materialism, and is away from the region where my family and my fiance family resides. Who cares if it has great weather, I think weather here is great, and I don't pay a premium for it. My job is here, and it pays the rent. Jobs in San diego pay a *little* more than here in the big scheme of things, and things cost a whole LOT more there, so what's the incentive? a little sun? meh. If I want a beach for a week, I go home to my folks house. But again, it depends on individual circumstances. I think people who are serious about looking for a long-term relocation would/should base their decision on arguments a little deeper than watching a 7 minute clip of a random set of streets in anywhere america.