I-49 connector halted in favor of Renaissance?? (Shreveport, Jackson: low income, section 8)

[hdwell]

Here we go again. Haven't even settled the issue of contractor Tim Larkin's misdeeds and this comes up with the connector. A spectacular new redevelopment district is to be built on former Jackson Heights property which incidentally is still owned by the Shreveport Housing Authority (isn't that part of Shreveport city government?). So certainly Glover knew about this just like he did about trying to kill the 3132 extension. A group known as "loop it" have been opposed to the corridor but until reading this name in the paper tonight, I've never heard of it. This is where the local media fails miserably.

Once again, no reporting and a silent mayor, council, Dotd, NwLa council, everybody really knows how to work together to get this killed. Swept under the rug once again. And of course the highway dept is delighted that we have chosen the "no build alternative" LOL. Told the wife tonight I'm ready to MOVEON. What a waste of a city.

Once again, local news sources: Epic Fail!!!!!

[hdwell]

Here's the article:http://www.shreveporttimes.com/artic...ntial-49-route

[annie_himself]

I don't think it should be built through the city, at least not the urban core.

[hdwell]

The alternative is to use the loop, 3132 which is a substandard interstate highway. It will need to be upgraded costing as much if not more than the connector would have. Even the bridge over cross lake will require additional pilings since it must be converted to 6 lanes. Had the city and the highway dept would have done this from the gitgo it would have made much more sense. This has been an ongoing fight for years unfortunately.

[annie_himself]

I never noticed that 3132 wasn't a part of I-220. The connector would just ruin the neighborhoods it goes through. The rest is typical Louisiana red tape.

[Chance and Change]

When any people, with money, in office or where ever, become turned in their integrity by avarice, then much becomes distorted, but if you look back through history, the legacy of such ones always returns to insult generations of their families.
Many have never learned the truth of deeds which are not of good, evil will always return to collect the souls which it has collected through avarice greed, self elating pride seeking and such things. It is how the nature of life in a world of Gods Truth functions.

We fail as people many times to realize these things, because man thinks always he can outsmart what ever, but as people, many search a lifetime and never learn their purpose on life is truly about 'team work for the betterment of all", anything short of that will lead one into the path where their dignity become compromised, their pride will insult their own integrity and truth will expose what is true, and evil always come calling to collect its due from those who choose it.

Those may just be a collection of words to some, but stop, take your time and look at the revelation which history unfolds....within it is presentations of what become the future.

many are often short sighted, its why we have streets too narrow to function as good infrastructure, its why we have a freeway moving through our city, where the downtown interchange is itself a disaster than failed to see what is the future of growth.
It's why we run around patching up streets until they look like a lumpy and bumpy checker board, we let vendors tear up streets and leave a lumpy and bumpy mess, all because those in position collude and then become unable to hold each other accountable to do the right things. People get afraid of "names" and then block anything which will address the issue. The vendetta mind is one that often lives within the frames of Avarice driven circles, when men seek to do good for the people, and that become their sole goal, then not only are things done right, they are done with quality which stands the test of time.

Shreveport has demonstrated for years that it will allow anything to deteriorate. That tells its own story and can be traced back in the history and tied directly to individuals.

We don't even know how to prepare to make I-49 beneficial to Shreveport, all they see is money from laying pavement and doing land deals, they are not looking for the further, of how to get the truck to see Shreveport as a landing, within the trek across the country. We have not lined up Truck Stop Industries, nor have we sought out Shipping and Distribution Industries, and we don't know how to use the combination of the rail system, the river system , the airport system and the freeway system, to make ourselves a "Transportation Interchange", because people can't and don't think that far. Avarice will not all them to see beyond themselves. Most have no idea that a Transportation Interchange, is a magnet for Industrial Growth in Manufacturing and Production. But we don't have the people who can see that far. Heck, we don't even have a Economic Development Department, nor do we even think in terms to build one that has multiple Divisions. We'd end up and try and do it out of a 12x12 office. Like we try to do the Film Business, rather than build a Department with Division. We think small, that's why we continue to "shrink".
We make bad deals, we make shallow deals and we tie nothing together to understand what we have and where we are and what we can become.

The Plantation mentality is too deep, where those systems of "Plantation as Corporation", was all about greed, avarice, abuse, and it left none from being afflicted by the madness of such a system in a multitude of all the ways it functioned and the premise which it was designed to function. (Many will fail to understand what that means).

[Chance and Change]

Who ever heard of a $192K (for a) low to moderate income apartment, when the average income of low income groups is in many cases not even $20k a year.
We even have a city system, which is still offering people jobs at less than the median income, ( far less). where people can't afford a home. They are left as a result to be relegated to be continual renters, caught in a bad situation, where they can't get assistance ( in some cases), becaue they are on a borderline income figure. This result to create an ongoing hardship. Followed by an assurance they won't become homeowners. ( probably if this is traced it will demonstrate that many of the slum lords, love this scenario). Yet, we loose a vast amount of income revenue from vacant lots, non performing property and blights continues to spread.


Sadly, we've done nothing to develop marketing tools and lending strategies to assist people in buying these many thousands of homes which sell for under $50K, and the pool of homes becomes even larger when we consider the under $100k homes.
We should have been working with Lenders, to develop Home Loan Program designed for the Under 100k cost factor, and one for people to buy homes in the Under 5Ok factors, with strict mandates, to avoid "flipping" or 'profiteering". They would have to meet all guidelines of the Section 8 Standards, to qualify for the loan. Their payments would be very low based on a fixed rate capped loan at no more than 3%. Suddenly, homes are made affordable, in a matter of 3-5 yrs, we'd see community re-development move by the stake holding homeowners, who would be a able to buy the homes with a support program of home improvement loan availability up to 12.5k. Which can only be paid to Contractors via a voucher system, as each phase of the improvement project progresses, we then assure community uniformity in upgrades and improvements. . This ( home improvement options) can be deferred on the home or it can be paid as an interest only, which is again, must fit within the range of no more than 2-3% interest.

We don't do anything right because we don't think in terms to create long term equity, we allow certain one to think in their 'greed terms" and make bad choices and lack of foresight decision. Ultimately. We stagnate, and do patchwork developments, which hinders communtiy revitalization programming to be diminished in its potentials.

We have many ways to do thing, but we can do nothing if we continue to cave in to short sighted concepts and sitting silent while a few line their pockets and we result to have a system which does not think in terms of long term equity building stability.

We even allow vendors to tear up the curbing and medians and then resort to using the lowest grade of cement which will crack, crumble and break the first time a bicycle wheel hits its. We do absolutely nothing about it.

What happen to "restore it to its performance standards based condition".

Big issue, small thinking acts result in substandard development, overly costly project and improvements look like patchwork without a consistent and long term quality standard plan. This is how Shreveport got left behind by a factor of decades.

[Chance and Change]

THE URGENCY OF CHANGE- NEEDED

If we don't find a way within the next 2-4 years, of how to revitalize various areas to the West of Downtown, and improve the corridor North of Downtown, we will find our troubles will become exponential in the deterioration, as well as an increase in crime, delinquency and costly in every ways imaginable.

Poverty and Blight - is a crime generating conditions. What I have found is a factor of much relevancy. It has little to do with ethnicity, race or views of bigoted bias based prejudgments. What is a fact, any people who are subjected to expanding poverty, blight and dilapidated infrastructure, UN-maintained city service provisions. It signals a lack of "Hope" in the system. That translates of diminished hope in the community. The result is despaired conditions; functioning as outgrowths of desperation's processes.

It is the same no matter what 'Race, Ethnicity, and Culture it engulfs within its collective spaces.

If we don't get rid of the mentality of biases, bigotry, racism, elitism, secular segregationist based determinations. We will all be contributors to the expanding of Poverty and Blight.
__________________________________________________ ___________________________________

We still have a MAJOR problems left over from the era of segregation.

I'll explain:
During segregation, many scholars, professors and the whole spectrum including the political, law enforcement and all that made ups the system of what consumed the mindset of cities and citizens. was driven to support the ideology of segregation. Driven by and through a delusion of "white supremacy", "white first", and in some case "white only", which became to include an Program of "White First as an Entitlement Mindset", as an aim in the process and promotion, as well as the efforts and acts to sustain Segregation".

Are we going to move past this underlying infused ideological madness.
Blacks were not regarded for their intellect, their work ethics and their contributions were down played and disregarded. When The Civil Right Act passed, it unfortunately brought with it, UN-necessary criteria which was created as a block out and hold back programming. When schools integrated, there was an undertone, of expectation that blacks were not educationally proficient.

The result of that mental thinking, when schools integrated, we may have mixed people in classrooms as to ethnicity, but black students were often disregarded and given responses because at the time, many became not only challenged by the fact that black students were educationally functional and proficient, it was a stark contrast to what many of the integrated schools had failed to consider in how they prepared the white teachers to deal with black students. At the time, many of the white teachers had come from 'White Only" Universities, which was followed by their teaching experiences being gained in white only classes. They were not prepared to see and acknowledge the black students as being on par with white students in the basic ability to learn and contribute in class and the over-all of school programs. The only programs where there was some nature of balance in regard, was within the "Sports Programming".

In the classroom it became a far different demeanor, by the third year of the integrated process, it had developed a problem in the classrooms, as to black students feeling they were treated as unequal and not regarded with the same general consideration and proficiency as the white students. However, this did improve with the higher integration of black and white teachers mixed into the schools. The more the Teachers learned to become comfortable with their co-workers as equals, the better it became for the students in the ways students were regarded in the classrooms. by that time a great deal of challenging damages was done, which still has to be "undone" in the minds of students, as well as how classroom function.
What did not blend were the methods of how learning progressed in the classroom. In black schools, students were allowed to elaborate and ask questions and explore responses.





Unfortunately, our system became so rigid, as well as it was not prepared for the nature of how the different races invested themselves in educational classroom learning. Our system moved to rule out, 'classroom interactive exploration of subject material". It became about strict and single toned " class programming by confined scheduled programming". This ruled out the ability to interact about subject material.

To the black students this became like a slap in the face, because their classroom methodology was discarded in favor of - "lecture based teaching", rather than "interactive classroom participation". Over the years, the interest began to wane among the blacks, as the feeling was they were not being considered. Students could no longer pose questions and explore questions, without being labeled as being "disruptive", which was followed by a 'negative labeling" being applied to the student. The more the students tried to counter this with 'posing questions", the more their questions were met with near contempt like anguish. (Remember, the teachers at this time were driven by a mandate of rigid class programming, which did not allow 'student elaboration and exploration of subject material). Therefore, what resulted was a tonality of thinking, to label black students as being classroom disruptor, or with lack of interest in subject material". Neither of such being the case, it was the result of students, feeling they were somehow being shunned and disregarded.



Over time the dropout rate increased, the interest in "lecture based classroom programming" was UN-inspirational and over time, the young students began to lose interest in the class programming.
They voiced their opinions by continually stating that the subject material was boring and they were not getting the depths they sought from the material being presented. Their classroom inquiries or posing a question of challenge to the subject content or the lectured statements was met with "negativity", which soon became levels of intolerance that showed itself in student being labeled wrongly as being disruptor, rather than being regarded as subject explorers.



This progressed to the State getting overly involved, because of declining grades, which brought more mandates of strict structure followed by high frequency testing, until it escalated to what we have now of a "testing based system", which has forgot about, the 'artistry of teaching and how students learn". It has gone into a further madness of now, seeking to run classrooms based on a "rote memory programming", for the sake of "test taking". The students across the state and the nation detest it, and result to become despaired with the system of schooling in its present, test measuring mentality based disregard of or for the uniqueness of the American Student.



Now, we have a higher than ever dropout rate, lower performing schools across our entire School District and on a State Level, we have some of the lowest performing educational classroom ever to exist in America.
UNLESS, we go back and re-learn from what was neglected in how classes were taught in the pre-Civil Right Era and the Pre-Integration Area, we won't fix our problems in the schools.
We forgot that black and white Americans are citizens in a system of American, where we purport to be one of "free thinking people". Yet, we are continually and excessively trying to turn out American Students into "Rote Memorization students", and they are rebelling. Our system has turned a closed ear to the situation, our state legislators have no concept or ideal of the damage they invoke by their infectious meddling into the school system by the impositions of 'testing criteria and testing standards".



American Students will excel if we return to allow students elaborate and ask questions and explore responses. American students and people alike, learn by having high regard for "WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, "WHY".



In our schools now, we hail Asian students, because they come from a historical linage of "Rote Memorization" based programming. They are taught early to “remember a list of variables" for the sake of test taking, but they are also taught to remember due to their adherence of adopting and accepting tradition without question or challenges. This is not a slight; this is their system of society, based on a system where ‘freedom of speech and free thinking was not a traditional supported ideology.



But they also hail from a Historical linage where "free thinking was not supported", they were taught there is no need to seek why, only to learn the variables of tradition. A primary aim in focus is to learn the variables of tradition and adhere to its continuance. This translates into what we see today, they are excellent test takers, because it fits with their historical linage of how they are taught, both in the home and in their respective society. They don't ask, Why, it is not part of their system nor was it part of their system of historical programming.



China in 2005-2009 began to realize, that high test scores did not translate into high productivity, nor did it perform well on the Industrial floors and within the industrial systems. China today is working to try and move away from "Rote Memorization Training". They are having a big challenge, because their students are not generalized accustom to asking, the "WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE AND WHY", They are however beginning to learn to ask these questions, but they have a harder challenge in posing the "WHY" questions. Because in their system, it is consider and treated as if one is 'Challenging Traditions". In their system, you don't challenge Traditions, you follow them.

what we generally see of the Asian Students who migrate to American schools, they will by "Rote Memorization" build a list of WHO, WHAT THEY DID, WHEN THEY DID IT, WHERE THEY DID IT, and they remember what is 'stated" as to Why. However, they do not question, the "Why" aspect, nor do they questions with exploratory inquisition as to "how", they rely on the What, and associate the basic variables of WHO, WHEN, WHERE.



IF we note, in the countries where people are Mass Replicators, with Industrial Production, they excel, because it follows a script process, based on fixed steps, which does not explore the why, and does not question the How.



Americans, are focused on exploring the WHY, and then they Explore the How, therefore they become INNOVATORS.

How can our system of claimed educated people have over-looked to consider these aspects of matters. It is because they have been placed under immense pressure, to turn out students into Rote Memorizing Minions.
What we have seen is 'business and industry upon industry, destroyed as a result, where American use to revolutionize industry, become and be the great innovators, and they were good at production and assembly.

But when Industry chose the production and assembly to be moved to countries where rote memory was the foundational teaching and learning platform.. Those nations rose up as mass producers and replicators of products. As a result we put less and less investment into development, and have driven our students away from exploring the Why and How, which has diminished our innovative capacity.

Today, we have many countless American who is highly education, with no concept of idea of where to put that knowledge and skill to usage. Our system has shut its back on the "innovators". they have closed their minds to the explorers, and what we get now is a system, which is dominated by "dictatorial mentality", which has been brainwashed to try and turn American workers into "rote memory based processing minions". They will berate and belittle innovative thought, progressive developments, and they prohibit employees from exploratory investigation and innovative development.



Instead of being a nation of people who innovate, we now are a nation of script players, who are contained because our industry now relies on profit from purely countries where rote memory trained people, dominate the 'assembly plants', and flood us with foreign assembled products.


We need to learn to change, and we had better do it sooner than later.


I've personally encountered many many countless black people, who have high knowledge levels, but are left out and in some cases relegated to menial task or given no spectrum of room neither to be innovative nor to bring any gained knowledge from exploratory investigations. It is met with contempt when they make efforts to do so.



Now this has tricked to also become a problem to many white young people in our business environment, they are being shunned and if they are given the platform to bring innovation, they are hailed as a Guru or Master, while at the same time, the blacks are being relegated to no inclusion in the innovative considerations.
This is never more evident than we see in the Silicon Valley Cultures. They do not invite, acknowledge, nor promote Black participation; they do not support nor consider underwriting black people designed projects and programs. Blacks are not invited to the Venture Capitalist support networks.

Shreveport and Caddo School system should look at these variables, and think of methodology to change the paradigm, to be one of inclusion, a system which embraces innovation and exploratory developments and within the class room, learn to re-embrace classroom discussion and exploration of subject material.
If we did these things, we'd move ahead in the State and become recognized as a progressive region of the Nation.



What we'd find it our young people, both black and white can and will excel at a rate that would astound the nation and change the paradigm view of people, and our young people. With this acknowledgment, our dropout rate will shrink, and our educational performance standard will spike as never before known in the history of the South.





Our collective problem is we don't have"Leadership" - in our Schools Board's Educational understanding as to how we deteriorated to this degree nor do they grasp the need of the Desperate Mandate thrust upon us, to learn how to fix it. Our City Systems is foiled with the same malady ; Caught within a cycle which diminishes the foresight to learn these element as being the DIRE DRIVER within our collective need for change. Nor do they have the stature or will to stand to promote these aspects of change. It is a daunting task, but it is one that ultimately must be undertaken if we expect to change our downward spiral.




We don't have the Politicians who can get beyond partisan ignorance to even consider the elements which have destroyed the American Stature of being a World Leader. They are hung up on Party Games, Austerity Seeking and trying by every means to return us to 1950 Social System of Bigoted Style Segregationist Madness.

[east80bossier]

Originally Posted by annie_himself

I never noticed that 3132 wasn't a part of I-220. The connector would just ruin the neighborhoods it goes through. The rest is typical Louisiana red tape.

Those neighborhoods were ruined decades ago. The ICC will be an improvement all the way around.

[annie_himself]

Originally Posted by east80bossier

Those neighborhoods were ruined decades ago. The ICC will be an improvement all the way around.

How will it be an improvement?
If the area was already ruined, why run a damaging freeway through it?