Dallas VS Shreveport?!

[PCPerson]

For 3 weeks, we have been researching a possible move from Shreveport to Dallas for family reasons only.

Houses are about the same, but haven't seen the beautiful French Country designs (also called French Arcadian) that newer Shreveport subdivisions have--would surely miss that (great off Norris Ferry Rd.). They say the design started in Baton Rouge/Lafayette area and did so well it moved up here.

But car insurance is more in Louisiana than TX, however property taxes are a lot more in TX. So it looks like it's going to be a wash.

We really prefer the low-traffic of Shreveport though. We do think of Shreveport as west Texas since we are more like TX than the rest of Louisiana.

[SVTRay]

Originally Posted by Metro Matt

There are no similarities at all between Dallas & Shreveport. Polar opposites actually.

The culture, topography, & everything is just so much different.

This^^

[PCPerson]

Shreveport does NOT have any property tax at all on the first $75,000 of an owner-occupied house! So don't just look at the rate.

And for those over 65, if you apply and don't make a whole lot of taxable money they will freeze the value of the house so it will NEVER go up!! (and Social Security is not all taxable unless you have a lot of other income, so in that case it wouldn't count)

[Oreo's Mom]

We lived in Shreveport/Bossier city area for a couple of years before moving to the metroplex. One thing both cities have in common is the weather, so you won't need to acclimatize yourself for the summers. I did not have school age children at the time but other mothers I knew in Shreveport/Bossier City home schooled their kids or sent them to private schools. There were some public schools that were considered top notch but you had to live in the area or be high up in the military in order to send your kids there. I do miss Shrevport in the sense that it had more of a small town feel and there was hardly ever much traffic on highway 20 unless there was a traffic accident. I don't mind driving in the burbs around Dallas but going to or through Dallas is always a headache, even on the weekends! I found the food prices to be higher here in DFW, but we were also accustomed to shopping at the military commissary. But they do have Costco here. I am not sure how much home prices have gone up in Shreveport, but they have gone up in Dallas and surrounding areas since last year. Everything is more spread out here compared to Shreveport. One thing I find very convenient about Dallas is that one of their airport is a major hub for airlines and they have international flights, whereas there were hardly any direct flights to Shreveport. Good luck in your decision.

[BeenThereDunThat]

I'm from the Shreveport area and have lived in Dallas and other metros. I can say this much:

There are communities in Dallas that have a Shreveport feel as far as family/church-oriented focus and layout. But the amenities and infrastructure in the Dallas area far outweigh those in Shreveport. The majority of Shreveport's population is Af. American (total population approx 200,000) Bossier is mostly white among a total population of about 60,000. Population growth in Shreveport / Caddo Parish has been flat for the past two decades whereas Bossier City & Parish has been on the uptick but this is due to middle-class flight from Caddo and newcomers opting for better school system in Bossier parish and newer communities, better police, fire & city govt.

It has been said that Shreveport has some of the highest property taxes in the state (according to demographer, Elliot Stonechipher) sending many middle-to-upper class residents to locate outside city limits or in Bossier City.

According to the 2010 census, the median income level in Shreveport is $36K, in Bossier the median income is $42K.

Shreveport hasn't kept up with the infrastructure and according to newspaper reports, the city needs about $350 Million in Sewer & water repairs to make to avoid being fined by the EPA for water quality / safety / pollution standards as there have been 50 or more unsanitary sewer overflows in 2012 alone. A good portion of Shreveport's inner-city neighborhoods are about 20 inches or less flooding from major sewer overflows.

Traffic in Dallas is more congested but considering a metroplex with more than 1 million people vs one with a total of 260,000 folks.... you can guess why. At least you have tollways in Dallas and the road maintenance is kept up, in Shreveport....not so much as they keep patching here & there but progress is slow. Higher education opportunities while available are getting cutback thanks to Louisiana Governor having the colleges & universities cut $200 million from their budgets resulting in scaling back of degree programs...and tuitions have been increased 40 to 50% in most cases. This is causing younger people to go to Texas or other states for college/university programs. It has been said that the number #1 export from Shreveport-Bossier is educated younger people as many opt to find better education opportunities elsewhere and / or better jobs.

In Shreveport there are two private care hospital systems: Christus-Shumpert and Willis-Knighton. The state run hospital LSU-HSC and the medical school will become run by a private care organization under the Biomedical Research Foundation...which is being forced by the Governor to privatize health care in the state. A lot of people with serious health issues will go to Baylor or Anderson or Little Rock even due to certain limitations in the healthcare offerings in Shreveport-Bossier.

Shreveport is a clique' place and progress is in the eyes of the beholder. It has a large poor population and the economy here is based on healthcare, casino industry, Barksdale AFB, Oil & Gas (which has slowed considerably of late), distribution / warehouse and retail. Among the top 50 privately held businesses in Shreveport, the automotive sales/services & supply hold 19 of those slots if that tells you anything.

Housing costs in Shreveport-Bossier have held steady and many say they were recession-proof. But for an area this size and the median incomes being what they are, the costs are a bit high and always have been relative to the income levels of the marketplace.

Dallas has more opportunities from a wide range of categories such as jobs, education, social amenities, infrastructure, city services. Sure you pay more property tax but you don't pay an income tax and it's a bit of a wash..plus you actually get good roads, water, sewer, better police & fire protection. The former Shreveport Fire Chief took the Fire Chief's job in Plano recently and he was on the fast track to possibly run for office in Shreveport. What's that tell you?

Also... flights from Shreveport Regional Airport are often higher than most, the DOT did a survey a few years ago and stated it among the top 10 highest costing airports to fly out of. The local airport authority hired a consultant to research the passenger counts from SHV airport and discovered that approx 30% or more were driving to other airports to save money as their fares were often half as much or even better.

I live here but I'm looking to move after my obligations are complete. I would recommend living in the Dallas area hands down over living in Shreveport unless you were looking for less traffic and a somewhat complacent, poor and mostly under-educated population.

[TommyTucker]

Shreveport, well Bossier City is much nicer than Dallas. Everybody here has this attitude on how they are better then everybody. It's snob-city. Bossier is a much better place to be.