Any good reason I should move back to Shreveport? (New Orleans: lease, how much) - Shreveport-Bossier City - Louisiana (LA) -Bossier Parish, Caddo Parish, De Soto Parish - City-Data Forum

Christine88 · 01-02-2014, 07:26 AM

I was born and grew up in Shreveport so it's my home. I relocated about three years ago to NC because my employer relocated there but I don't like here and if I get laid off I will leave immediately. I would like to move back to Shreveport but the economy was really bad there when I left and moving back is probably out of the question. So What is it like now? Has the job market improved for technical fields such CNC programming and CAD designers? It was not good when I left.

annie_himself · 01-02-2014, 09:47 AM

I wouldn't go back.

Christine88 · 01-02-2014, 10:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by annie_himself

I wouldn't go back.

LOL! Yeah I probably won't.

hindsight2020 · 01-02-2014, 11:09 AM

I bet you NC with money beats NW LA with no money. Power of perspective...

BeenThereDunThat · 01-02-2014, 02:55 PM

You would fare much, much better with your work experience in Dallas-Ft. Worth. While the local C of C and Econ Dev. PR folks like to say how much things have improved, it's still lacking as far as jobs in your field are concerned. General Motors Plant closed about 2 yrs ago, the Haynesville Shale has slowed down tremendously so drilling rigs have pulled up and moved off to Eagle Ford, TX or to the Dakotas where things are booming.

One bright spot is Bentler Pipe / Tubing manufacturing which is scheduled to be operational in a couple years. It's a German company that makes pipeline products for oil & gas industry. There is much bally-hoo about Elio Motors relocating to the old GM plant to build a glorified motorcycle enclosed in plastic and they claim 1500 jobs initially but so far the company has only raised about $20 million of the $200 million in private investment needed for the Caddo Commission to let them lease the facility. I think the Elio deal is a joke built on PR / Mktg...they say they have 5,000 standing orders for the prototype... but I think Elio was expecting a La. Econ Development Grant to get them started which hasn't happened. They tried to do this in Michigan and failed and more research on the company's past indicates a lot of coming & going of key people... so that doesn't look good from a management stability POV.

DFW and San Antonio are on an upswing so anyone with better skills would do well to look closely at those areas.
Shreveport....not so much. Jobs have improved but mostly in retail and minimum wage.

hdwell · 01-02-2014, 04:29 PM

If I weren't living here already and were young (you didn't state your age) I wouldn't come back here. Shreveport and Louisiana aren't the kind of places that a younger person thrives. Probably an older person too, but that's another topic for another day. Both are just too rigidly conservative (conservative in many of the wrong ways) and more progressive areas can solve problems better. Such as underemployment and unemployment. Like BTDT says, try Texas. It's doing better than just about anywhere. Good luck to you whatever you decide.

annie_himself · 01-02-2014, 05:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hdwell

If I weren't living here already and were young (you didn't state your age) I wouldn't come back here. Shreveport and Louisiana aren't the kind of places that a younger person thrives. Probably an older person too, but that's another topic for another day. Both are just too rigidly conservative (conservative in many of the wrong ways) and more progressive areas can solve problems better. Such as underemployment and unemployment. Like BTDT says, try Texas. It's doing better than just about anywhere. Good luck to you whatever you decide.

South Louisiana is much different.

hdwell · 01-02-2014, 08:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by annie_himself

South Louisiana is much different.

But would you call it progressive? Not ultra-liberal, no. But Louisiana just seems to have the same old problems no matter what area you live in. I know it's probably better down there, but just not enough.

annie_himself · 01-02-2014, 09:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hdwell

But would you call it progressive? Not ultra-liberal, no. But Louisiana just seems to have the same old problems no matter what area you live in. I know it's probably better down there, but just not enough.

Doesn't have to be progressive to prosper. There is nothing ultra-liberal about Louisiana at all.
It's much better down here. Lafayette just surpassed Shreveport as the 3rd largest MSA. The improvements being made throughout Lafayette, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans have far outpaced anything north of Opelousas. Baton Rouge alone has fared the economy much better than Alexandria, Shreveport, and Monroe combined; that's without mentioning all the gains the New Orleans area has been a part of.

It's a damn shame that Shreveport can't get it's act together, it's in a pretty strategic location.

BeenThereDunThat · 01-02-2014, 10:18 PM

FWIW, I know too many people who were in O&G in and around the Lafayette area who were from there and wound up getting good degrees either in Computer Science / IT or other technically oriented degrees. Most moved either to Dallas or Houston for better jobs & pay. While it's true that things further south are picking up and passing up NW La., still many of the folks I knew who left just didn't want to wait for things to pick-up and even when things did...they still opted for Texas.