Moving to Shreveport (Ruston, Haughton, Greenwood: real estate, apartments, rental)

[ShreveKrishna]

Hi All,

I will be moving to Shreveport/Bossier city in relation to my work at Louisiana State University Health Science Center (LSUHSC) at Shreveport. So am trying to find all the info I can about the area and would like to take the help of the forum members. I am planning to buy a house in a good nice and calm(!) neighbourhood but not more than 20 min from the LSUHSC (at peak hours).

I read a lot of posts here regarding moving to Shreveprot. I will try to summarize all the info I found on the forums here in the hope that it will help others also. Please correct me if I was wrong in any of my conclusions (most of the following are quotes of forum members here). I posted my questions in the second post and hope people here can help me.

In general Bossier city is safer than Shreveport though there are areas in bossier city to avoid. The police in Bossier are much stricter.

Good (low crime) areas in Shreveport - Broadmoor neighborhoods (a middle class neighborhood that has kept the most value with the least crime and some good schools as well), South Highland, close to Southwood HS,Springlake, Youree dr, Line Avenue, Cross lake area which is pricey, University terrace neighbourhood, The Haven on East kings (a gated community with round the clock guard that is nice), area off East kings Highway,
Best apartments are on Youree Dr. (Lots of shopping on youree and safety). Rental units in the Highland and South Highlands area, and the area surrounding Centenary College.

Bossier city - Shady grove area, Airline drive, Greenacres place in north bossier, Plantation trace in south bossier, Whole of north bossier?, the Stockwell Place subdivision, Olde Oaks area on Slygo Road,

Suburbs - Benton, Haughton, Greenwood, north DeSoto, rural Keithville

Summary: In Shreveport stay east of Southern Avenue. If in the Highland neighborhood, stay south of Olive Street. Most of west Shreveport is inexpensive, but very high crime. For schools, stay in southeast Shreveport as far south as you can manage. The lowest crime area is southeast Shreveport, east of Southern Avenue. Highland is a popular lower cost neighborhood w/ some nice low cost apartments, but stay south of Olive Street & don't rent w/o looking at the area as this area can vary block by block.(by shreveportnative)
Most desirable area is Broadmoor and other neighborhoods around that area. (by poodelgirl)
Southern Hills is a no-go for most people, Benton is a VERY nice place to be these days, as are north and east Bossier and south Shreveport. Southeast Shreveport is a GREAT general rule of thumb! (by sbcmetroguy)

[ShreveKrishna]

My plan is to stay in an apartment for a month or two, and look around for a house at that time to buy. After going through the information in the forums here I shortlisted the following areas:

Benton, Haughton, North Bossier, South Bossier.

But I do have a few questions and will be thankful to you guys if you can clear them up.

Any idea regarding auto and home insurance cost comparision between Bossier, Haughton and Benton?

What is the peak travel time from Benton or Haughton to LSUHSC?

There seems to be some good houses between Barksdale AFB and Airline dr. Is this a good area? What about the noise factor of planes?? (Doesn't that sound silly?)!

What areas to be avoided in Bossier? (to SBCMETROGUY - I read that you have a map for safer areas in shreveport and bossier city, Do you mind sharing that with me)

Any idea as to how long will it take from (around) slygo drive in south Bossier to LSUHSC (in peak hours)? Trying to find out how south can I go in Bossier. Is the area around slygo drive better?

It seems the big shopping centers are only on Youree dr (at least at present). Does any one know if there are any upcoming big shopping centers or malls in Benton or (north) Bossier city?

Finally can anyone recomend good real estate agents based in Shreveport or Bossier city for a home buyer? ( Kindly PM me if posting the names is not allowed in the forum)

Finally thanks for clearing up my questions and also for being such great forum members!!

[jwmann]

From a law enforcement guy, for shreveport, South Shreveport is best. New apartments along Clyde fant parkway near river, Broadmoor area is good, south Shreveport Ellerbe Road area is good, Highland area is ok, but getting worse all over. Highland area is within three miles of Cedar Grove (HOOD), Stay East of Line Ave, which is about three blocks from I 49. I 49 is two blocks from Med Center. North Bossier is Booming, new target and a lot of new anchor stores, shops, earteries, apartments. Living in North Bossier, once you hit I 49 south bound from I 20, you're at the med center.

[jeroune]

Bossier is not as nice and quiet any more. Rapes and homocides are up especially in the heart of the city. I hope you looked at Southeast Shreveport out near LSUS or along the Clyde Fant parkway.

[littlegreenlove]

Im moving from Ruston to Shreveport. I grew up in Shreveport but moved out of the house when I turned 18 and came to Ruston. Now that Im moving back I'm not too sure of a great place to be. I found a nice house on Olive St. off of Centenary Blvd. in Shreveport. Is that a safe neighborhood at all? The house is so nice! I want to be safe though.

[hindsight2020]

I live in the highlands area as well. Olive st is like any other street in highlands...block by block. People don't consider the highland area safe by bossier or SE shreveport standards, but we haven't had any problems. Anything north of Kings Hwy is considered the wrong side of the tracks, but like I said, we haven't had any problems. They can have Bossier and be house poor, they can't beat my housing costs.

I essentially get a discount to live in an area with a "bad school district", as assessed by my peers and co-workers who almost exclusively choose to live in bossier or the ellerbe area of shreveport. I don't have kids so I guess I get to enjoy the savings in housing. But everybody will tell you highland is what you make of it. Most people find it not suitable to raise their kids in, but as a DINK couple ourselves, we find it suitable to our needs. We haven't been robbed, raped or murdered yet.

Most of my neighbors do plan on moving out eventually, again citing school district concerns. I'll probably move down to south highlands when I have children of school age, and still get to enjoy a short commute to work. Bossier is overpriced and sprawled. A little too "american beauty" and classist for my taste, considering that in reality it's populated by an underlying faux-rich oil money roughneck gold-rush crowd (about to go fizz with the economy) who don't have much more class than the aforementioned riff raff they like to point out in the highlands. My wife is in landscape design, she gets to meet these bossier beverly hillbillies day in and day out. Go take a look in north bossier and you'll see the sprawls of ATVs in the yard, overpriced toys everywhere, 250K house with a gazing ball and fake deer in the back yard, three cars a house parked on the curb because the faux-rich use the garage as a closet, like the projects. $150/sqft for the luxury of having white neighbors? Meh, I'll pass.

Good luck

[littlegreenlove]

Thank you :] I've decided to set my eyes on a nice apt untill I stumble upon a house I fall in love with. The landlord for the house on olive was very disrespectful :[ didn't seem worth the hassle for the price. The apartments I'm looking into are off of E Kings. They seem perfect and I felt safe in the neighborhood.

Originally Posted by hindsight2020

I live in the highlands area as well. Olive st is like any other street in highlands...block by block. People don't consider the highland area safe by bossier or SE shreveport standards, but we haven't had any problems. Anything north of Kings Hwy is considered the wrong side of the tracks, but like I said, we haven't had any problems. They can have Bossier and be house poor, they can't beat my housing costs.
I essentially get a discount to live in an area with a "bad school district", as assessed by my peers and co-workers who almost exclusively choose to live in bossier or the ellerbe area of shreveport. I don't have kids so I guess I get to enjoy the savings in housing. But everybody will tell you highland is what you make of it. Most people find it not suitable to raise their kids in, but as a DINK couple ourselves, we find it suitable to our needs. We haven't been robbed, raped or murdered yet.
Most of my neighbors do plan on moving out eventually, again citing school district concerns. I'll probably move down to south highlands when I have children of school age, and still get to enjoy a short commute to work. Bossier is overpriced and sprawled. A little too "american beauty" and classist for my taste, considering that in reality it's populated by an underlying faux-rich oil money roughneck gold-rush crowd (about to go fizz with the economy) who don't have much more class than the aforementioned riff raff they like to point out in the highlands. My wife is in landscape design, she gets to meet these bossier beverly hillbillies day in and day out. Go take a look in north bossier and you'll see the sprawls of ATVs in the yard, overpriced toys everywhere, 250K house with a gazing ball and fake deer in the back yard, three cars a house parked on the curb because the faux-rich use the garage as a closet, like the projects. $150/sqft for the luxury of having white neighbors? Meh, I'll pass.
Good luck

[canscrap4u2]

1. Yes, I can recommend my realtor Cindy Dyer with Diamond Realty group. she is presently selling our home, as we pack and move back to OKC. She knows her stuff..has lived here all her life and will find you what you need.
2. You forgot a great neighborhood on your list...DOGWOOD and DOGWOOD South. We live in Dogwod South and it's right behind Stockwell Place, which is on stockwell Rd. which you mentioned. also in this area surrounding me are Carriage oaks, Carriage Oaks Crossing. We are a Haughton zip code but Stockwell Schools. As far as Haugton, older homes are in country place subdivision, tall pines and the newer one that is accessible to the interstate and near me that most live in is ....shoot slipped my mind, but it's right beside my church. I'll think of it before I'm done with this email. You aren't going to be able to get away from the planes. forget it. However, if you go on the south side of Shreveport, you might not hear them as much...idk.
3. forget shopping in malls in bossier city. the malls suck. The boardwalk along the red river is about the best shopping, so just get used to hopping on the interstate to get to youree. Let's see...what else...I would highly disagree that Line Avenue is a low crime area. I dont' like driving down in it the daytime.
I was really nervous when we moved here in 2002, but just be smart,,,whatever neighborhood you choose, drive through it at all times of the day several times a day to get a feel for it. If you have any questions about where to buy or about neighborhoods, let me know if I can help, and google my friend and realtor Cindy. she will work hard for you and i'm not just saying that because she's my friend...she's my realtor too! good luck!
Kelly