Benton or Haughton? (Shreveport, Atlanta: real estate, houses, employment)

[becoming]

This has what it's come down to for us -- Benton or Haughton? Which is better?

We're considering a house in Spring Creek II in Haughton (a new subdivision-- only five or six houses in there so far) or somewhere in the Crouch Rd/Linton Cutoff area of Benton. We want a more rural/small town feel where we live. I really have a better feeling about Benton, although I don't know why. Hubby feels better about Haughton, and he also doesn't know why. I think it's that I think of Benton as cleaner/more well-kept (although not drastically so...and I know there are still bad areas of Benton), and hubby thinks of Haughton as more rural.

Schools are of utmost importance, as we have three little ones just starting in school. (Our oldest is in 2nd grade, middle will start Pre-K next fall, youngest is 2.) Since we don't really like the almost-Bossier area of Haughton, the schools would probably be T.L Rodes/Platt/Haughton Middle/Haughton High/etc. versus Benton schools. Which are better, and for what reasons? We're interested in a close-knit feel to the school/family type atmosphere and fun activites; we don't care so much about academic excellence, although we obviously would like for them to learn, too-- we'd just rather them have a fun, happy experience in school rather than be little educational soldiers. Our oldest is coming from a tiny school (180 kids in PK-12) where he doesn't even have to wear uniforms, so we'd like an easy transition into a nice, laid-back school if possible.

Bossier & Shreveport are not an option. Traffic makes my husband want to hurt someone, and I want to be closer to my mommy (in EXTREME north Louisiana), so Benton & Haughton are as far as I'll go.

More about us: We don't like snotty people. We are not trying to keep up with the Joneses. We are laid-back, we like to shop at Wal-Mart for everything, we don't care about having the newest/most expensive stuff. We are young (27 and 26), and our kids are 8, 4, and 2.

Jobs don't matter. Hubby works in the oil field and can live anywhere in the continental U.S., and I work at home doing medical transcription and can live anywhere with high-speed Internet.

So, from all this, where do you think we should live -- Benton or Haughton?

[hdwell]

Personally I would go with Benton. Haughton is more of a rural kind of town (your husband is right). It is still a good place to live, however, the meth problem has been worse over the years there than in Benton. It is not that bad bad, but I thought I would mention that since you have young children.

Benton has good accessiblitly into the shopping areas of north Bossier without getting beaten to a pulp on I20. Not that you would be liking shopping so much but still you need to get to something occasionally.

[BC71111]

Haughton is more rednecky, Benton is less. I hear about more drug offenses in Haughton than I do in Benton. Personally, I would choose Benton over Haughton.

[hindsight2020]

Benton is still not as developed as Haughton, so it would seem to satisfy your needs for the time being. Beware though, both locations are getting overbuilt like it's nobody's business, and once the airline drive/swan lake corridor cannot hold any more sardines looking for the proverbial "clean/great/schools/mcmansion-at-a-bargain/" Benton and Haughton will cease to be your piece of rural-feel "homogeneous" heaven.

A lot of people where I work are building in Benton (military homesteaders) and because of the access issues by a town that wasn't meant to be a bedroom community of Shreveport, people are actually starting to time their commutes to/from Benton area. Tell that to a Benton resident in the 80s and they would have laughed you off the building. Haughton is already experiencing these issues due to its access to I-20 and let me tell you, if somebody is going to put up with a pesky commute in Shreveport, you're honestly better off moving to Houston/DFW/Atlanta and have a bigger employment base. Part of living in Shreveport is NOT having a commute. I suspect I'm preaching to the choir since you stated your husband has the same distaste for commutes as I do. The only difference is that I went urban where you guys are wanting to go exurban (soon to be suburban). I live in an area that my co-workers wouldn't set foot in (highlands) but as somebody who is not scared of magnet programs or the idea of putting the kids in private school (due to the huge discount I get for living in a neighborhood with a "bad school district") I'm not sweating the kids education.

Just trying to give you the total picture of the Shrevport/Bossier area that apologists and real estate people won't tell you out of political correctness and/or self-interest. good luck.

[hdwell]

Your type of work will not require you to live in town. One warning-don't look at anything coming into the south entrance into Bossier city. Some of theese places have haughton addresses. Barksdale Blvd which is also US71 is a nightmare because it is long overdue for added turn lanes, lights, etc. Most of the traffic tries to feed onto a 2 lane bridge over into Shreveport known as the Jimmie Davis bridge. Traffic is almost non-stop.

Work is being done (finally!) on this stretch of road, but the mess persists as it hasn't been completed yet. Just thought I would forewarn you.