Considering a relocation to Shreveport Bossier Area (Bossier City, Minden: real estate, houses)

[Ga2Ms]

I lived in and around Shreveport and Bossier for many years, but it's been a long time. We are considering a move back to the area for retirement. I'm in N. Ga now, about an hour north of Atlanta. The outdoor environment here is exceptional, and the amenities and modern services are fantastic. However, traffic has become a daily challenge. I don't expect anywhere in N. La. to be that bad.

I know we will have to give up a few things, but it seems like a good move.
We do enjoy the outdoor parks, walking trails, kayaking, rivers, lakes, fishing, etc. A 30-45 minute drive to kayak or fish is ok, but walking, running 3 times a week close by would be great.

I would like a large yard, maybe 1/2 acre or more, not too far from grocery, drug store, restaurants. What area would be good to look at? Keithville south? Haughton? Blanchard? Greenwood? What about S. Lakeshore?

$300k for 2000 ft home? Nice area.

I lived in Broadmoor decades ago, not sure how it's changed. I grew up in Minden, but it doesn't seem to have grown with the times. Benton is probably not an option for us.
I hear a lot of complaints about crime, but is the entire area that bad?

I would appreciate any insight. Please don't tell me not to move here. I will make that decision later.

[hdwell]

Haughton is the one I would recommend, unfortunately is getting more expensive. The rest are ok. South Lakeshore is nice but not particularly safe anymore. North Lakeshore is quite good; real estate in that area goes from around 100k to over 1mil (yes, you read that right). You know around here lake property is always higher. Most of those houses are under 1mil; probably under 300k.

Unless you don't like Benton, I'd have a look at that area. It's very up and coming with Cypress Lake and its associated property. Only thing I don't like about Benton/North Bossier is the long commute just to I-220. I know you are more accustomed to traffic situations than we are, but for this area it is heavy. Shopping is really good around that area.

[CentralIowaRising]

I'd look elsewhere... perhaps across the state line in east Texas and avoid Louisiana altogether. If you haven't lived there in many years, it's not the same place - and not in a good way.

[hindsight2020]

I actually find slow population growth a plus these days. That doesn't bode well for median incomes, but then again I never considered paying a premium to endure suffocating traffic and a blasted hour and a half wait times to eat a meal at an Olive Garden, a particularly attractive alternative. Growth for the sake of growth is a cancer. I rather pay less than more, if I'm gonna have to wait in traffic for everything in life anyways.

I owned a cheap little house in a bad school neighborhood in Shreveport circa 2009. It's still worth about what I sold it for 11 years ago. That's the level of stagnation in certain areas of that metro. Other more desirable places in Bossier City have exploded in the same manner as any other uppity white-flightey suburb of any sunbelt metro between Charlotte to San Diego. It's all interchangeable big box tract housing hell afaic.

I think it's pretty much the same place I left in 2011, just with more cookie cutter tracts and establishments.


I think as a retirement destination, it's a good alternative to the ATL suburbs if traffic is too unbearable in the ATL these days (a place I also lived for about 3 years in the late/early 90/00s). LA is decently cheaper than GA on both the income and property tax fronts. From a congestion perspective, especially for its size, I think SHV is also an improvement and a good future hedge, since it's a stagnant population center.

Basically if you can afford it now, you won't get bumped off by the overpaid WFH tech worker for a little while longer, like we're experiencing here in Central TX currently. Having such a high % of black residents as a metro, SHV continues to be somewhat insulated from upper middle class white transplantism, good bad or indifferent. You won't hear people admit that openly of course, but the self-sorting of the area is self-evident. As a former property owner in Shreveport, I have no compunction in speaking the quiet parts out loud on that front.

East TX (Longview and Tyler are your options, before you end up hitting the DFW megametro) doesn't offer any tax/cost upside for the same housing stock, with the only benefit being a shorter commute to the DFW airport if hub airport travel in retirement is an important consideration. I also prefer medical access in SBC over those two. If I wanted specialty care proximity of consequence, I'd be looking at being closer to Houston anyways. Based on my math, if your property value is more than twice your taxable income in retirement (easy to resemble the remark for the people who dabble in the 300-400K housing level these days, especially in retirement), LA is a better long term cost hedge than Texas anything.

N GA is beautiful, it's a real shame it's so congested. We've floated the idea of E TN after my military career is over, but it's the same story nowadays. Already discovered by the WFH crowd, and traffic/people congestion and col increases will make it a probable non-starter when we begin to mull over moving out of TX in 10 years.

Good luck to ya.

[Ga2Ms]

Originally Posted by hdwell

Haughton is the one I would recommend, unfortunately is getting more expensive. The rest are ok. South Lakeshore is nice but not particularly safe anymore. North Lakeshore is quite good; real estate in that area goes from around 100k to over 1mil (yes, you read that right). You know around here lake property is always higher. Most of those houses are under 1mil; probably under 300k.

Unless you don't like Benton, I'd have a look at that area. It's very up and coming with Cypress Lake and its associated property. Only thing I don't like about Benton/North Bossier is the long commute just to I-220. I know you are more accustomed to traffic situations than we are, but for this area it is heavy. Shopping is really good around that area.

Thanks. I'm with you on traffic avoidance. Benton is getting pricey from what I can see. We have lots of outdoor and walking parks here, but I don't see much around there, or am I just missing them?

[Westbound and Down]

Just thought I would chime in here...we are retired, have lived for the last 35 years around the country, and next month we are moving back "home" to Shreveport. Amazing to read the mostly negative comments on these threads, but we are not deterred. There is a real "but the grass is greener..." vibe on these forums, but I have lived in lots of places, including some that are "highly rated" and so on, and I can tell you that the grass is NOT always greener.

Good luck to the OP if you decided to move back to Shreveport.