Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I can appreciate this conclusion. No place is going to be "perfect" as each will have some problem to consider. However I feel that a bigger pond allows for more diversity in social amenities, lifestyle enhancements, jobs and political leadership.
There seems to be a certain political inertia to SBC and Louisiana in general. I believe I've stated in other threads that our city / parish / state has a higher percentage of poorly educated or ignorant voters who seem to validate my understanding of the definition of "insanity". Smarter, better informed & more engaged voters (who are mostly younger) are leaving the area for better futures elsewhere. So that leaves the elderly, poorly educated/ignorant (for the most part) voters who hold onto the past and vote for a "brand" instead of true leadership. The sad thing is that local politicians know this and real leadership stays away; leaving the cronies to run for the prize. And even those with better education who've lived here their entire lives have seemed to share some of the provincial attitudes about politics that I find utterly amazing given their education. But then most have never lived or worked outside of Louisiana, so that may be the reason.
As I was about to say, I would be more attracted to a larger metro area with a larger social / civic I.Q.; they may not be in the majority but they will be in numbers significant enough to keep most of the fools at bay with their votes and civic participation. That's why you'll read about investigations being conducted and indictments handed down because larger metros have a degree of folks who are smart enough to bring eyes on things that smaller communities just roll their eyes and ignore. One thing I've observed about SBC is that the reason no one wants to "rock the boat" is that they're too busy trying to climb onboard and get in on "the party". No one wants to point out that the emperor wears no clothes for fear of being labeled a malcontent or non-team player. As long as everyone gets to sip on the Kool Aid Pitcher and gets invited to the next big civic bash to feel important, nothing ever really changes.
A better educated, stronger middle-class raises all boats. Shreveport may get around to having this one of these days but younger people want better amenities, better downtowns, better economies now. They've heard the SBC has been promoting this for the past two decades and well it just ain't that great. People say we've escaped the "Great Recession" but if all we're doing is comparing ourselves to California, Michigan, Fla. & the Northeast; we're not looking at the right criteria. We lost GM and our growth has been somewhat flat. BioMedical Foundation brags about their accomplishiments but it never reached half of the promise it promoted in making NW La. a biotech industrial corridor. They've converted their office space to support MoonBot, Circle R Media (which is co-owned by a BioMed Board member), and Blade Studios. No mention of any new biomed companies coming there in the past two years or so.
Area has more jobs but lower-paying jobs. And don't go Haynesville Shale and Movies on me because that is a see-saw and we're seeing most films head South to NOLA or Georgia. And a lot of O&G jobs have moved to Eagleford TX or Wyoming.
Good luck to those who accept this place and wear blinders. As long as their circle seems solid, nothing else matters. Seems like people numb themselves with "Quality-of-Life" meaning Mardi Gras, Red River Revel, MudBug Madness, ...LSU football and plenty of alcohol and hunting & fishing. While some things have improved, much has remained the same as always. :|
Exactly right! There is ZERO quality of life in Shreveport. If you have to get drunk to enjoy it, its not quality living. And to that entrepreneur who feels, like I did, that you're going to play a major role in this impending tsunami of progress in Shreveport: STOP FALLING FOR THE BANANA IN THE TAILPIPE. Of course the Times and KTBS are going to sell you on a "progressive" Shreveport, because you keep eating it up. It's not happening, kids.
Sidenote: Has anyone been to Sacramento? How different is it from this area???
Here in a nutshell is Shreveport's biggest problem. It doesn't DEVELOP the businesses it has with other businesses. I don't think it knows how. We have talent here but not much. They get frustrated at the lack of speed and interest and take off for more progressive areas. Such as you SHV-ATL. It is not a business friendly city and that has kept this place from really doing anything.
The comment about the good ole' boy network that hops around from political office to office was spot on. And worse than that the people accept it! S'porters aren't the brightest folks although I wouldn't call them stupid. Their loyalty to such ilk is unbelievable. But if you have never seen good government then your standards are lower than anyone elses.
The gobn has plenty of well loved politicians but collectively the good ole boys lack smarts. Keeping a city a country town is analogous to keeping a man a boy.
Exactly right! There is ZERO quality of life in Shreveport. If you have to get drunk to enjoy it, its not quality living. And to that entrepreneur who feels, like I did, that you're going to play a major role in this impending tsunami of progress in Shreveport: STOP FALLING FOR THE BANANA IN THE TAILPIPE. Of course the Times and KTBS are going to sell you on a "progressive" Shreveport, because you keep eating it up. It's not happening, kids.
Sidenote: Has anyone been to Sacramento? How different is it from this area???
Ok... here's another thing about Shreveport mentality is that the media doesn't really do any journalism, they REPORT. That's about it. After you hear about how many Af-Americans got arrested for shooting, stabbing, stealing, selling / soliciting, etc., etc... (oh you may get some white rednecks thrown in the mix on occasion)... then you'll hear about "progress" in the form of some news release from the CofC, SBCVB, DDA, LaEconDev, Cyber-Command ...(er wait, that was a bust ) Cyber-INNOVATION-Center, etc., etc.
The local media outlets are just default Public Relations outlets for all local bureaucrats. This area did have some reporters once upon a time but they either died or left for better jobs elsewhere.
As long as people keep hearing the same thing over and over and over again, the theory goes that they will start believing it to be true. There's no real diversity of media in terms of focus, they are all doing exactly the same thing because no one wants to do the heavy lifting.
OK...enough about the local Band-wagon. As far as Sacramento is concerned. Traffic there is a major pain. There is significant "gang-activity". I know the cost-of-living is less than SoCal. The folks I know live NE along the I-80 corridor around Roseville. I don't think I'd live there but that's me. Of course there's the state capitol so if that's you're thing, then it could be great.
Here in a nutshell is Shreveport's biggest problem. It doesn't DEVELOP the businesses it has with other businesses. I don't think it knows how. We have talent here but not much. They get frustrated at the lack of speed and interest and take off for more progressive areas. Such as you SHV-ATL. It is not a business friendly city and that has kept this place from really doing anything.
The comment about the good ole' boy network that hops around from political office to office was spot on. And worse than that the people accept it! S'porters aren't the brightest folks although I wouldn't call them stupid. Their loyalty to such ilk is unbelievable. But if you have never seen good government then your standards are lower than anyone elses.
The gobn has plenty of well loved politicians but collectively the good ole boys lack smarts. Keeping a city a country town is analogous to keeping a man a boy.
You hit the nail on the head. Most (if not all) business development has come from outside entities who saw something the local-yokels here didn't. Sure you could argue that the CofC & EconDev groups got them to notice the area, I'll give them that. But once some business locates here, it seems there's a disconnect from creating any other synergies. The casinos were touted as bringing tourism to Shreveport-Bossier. No...they brought GAMBLERS... who couldn't give a rip about anything but spending their money in the casinos. The Red River Entertainment District was sooo poorly developed & managed that it went bust after the promoter & local boys in construction got their money. Then it was handed over to the casinos for management...uh ...hellooo.... casinos don't want people leaving the casinos. So the district was left practically empty for years. Now they're talking about reviving it...good luck. Too many street thugs and young Af Americans in the district will keep white tourists with credit cards away. Sorry, not a racist thing...it's a fact.
The DDA thinks that rehabbing old bldgs for low-income tenants is going to grow the downtown area with support retail like grocery stores and inject business to create more retail downtown. Uh...two words to quell that dream are "LOW-INCOME". Developers get tax incentives to create low-income housing but like attracts like. Downtown will become a low-income development dream of low-income tenants. Who wants to invest in low-income business with downtown commercial rents being what they are?
Shreveport-Bossier is REACTIVE ...barely. They keep waiting for someone else to bring the "next big thing" and drop it at their feet like some obedient Labrador retriever on a duck-hunt. Too many fractured interests ranging from the La. State Fair Board (anyone wonder why they are in financial straits...duh!) to the SHV Airport Authority (35% of would-be passengers drive to DFW or Love Field or AEX because of higher than average airfares from SHV)... SHV still thinks like an island in the 1950's. It's in the civic DNA.
Exactly right! There is ZERO quality of life in Shreveport. If you have to get drunk to enjoy it, its not quality living. And to that entrepreneur who feels, like I did, that you're going to play a major role in this impending tsunami of progress in Shreveport: STOP FALLING FOR THE BANANA IN THE TAILPIPE. Of course the Times and KTBS are going to sell you on a "progressive" Shreveport, because you keep eating it up. It's not happening, kids.
Sidenote: Has anyone been to Sacramento? How different is it from this area???
I lived in Sacramento for 20 years. If you like medium-sized cities in general, you'll like Sacramento. From what people tell me, Sacramento resembles a midwestern city but perhaps with a little more ethnic diversity. Metro area population is around 1MM. Downtown is fairly picturesque and very busy. There are numerous family-oriented suburbs and surrounding communities as well. Drugs, crime and gangs are definitely problems in some areas, and many Sacramentans are alarmed that this seems to be creeping into the suburbs. However, "high crime" for Sacramento may be a walk in the park for someone from Shreveport.
Sacramento is "middle of the road" politically and culturally, like many government towns, but coastal Californians think of the place as conservative and a little backwards ... which doesn't bother me a bit. The Shreveport yall are describing here doesn't sound anything like Sacramento.
I lived in Sacramento for 20 years. If you like medium-sized cities in general, you'll like Sacramento. From what people tell me, Sacramento resembles a midwestern city but perhaps with a little more ethnic diversity. Metro area population is around 1MM. Downtown is fairly picturesque and very busy. There are numerous family-oriented suburbs and surrounding communities as well. Drugs, crime and gangs are definitely problems in some areas, and many Sacramentans are alarmed that this seems to be creeping into the suburbs. However, "high crime" for Sacramento may be a walk in the park for someone from Shreveport.
Sacramento is "middle of the road" politically and culturally, like many government towns, but coastal Californians think of the place as conservative and a little backwards ... which doesn't bother me a bit. The Shreveport yall are describing here doesn't sound anything like Sacramento.
I always liked Sacramento. I have an uncle and aunt who live in Rancho Cordova. They have been there almost 60 years and about 20 years ago I visited them after visiting SF and the wine country. Would you believe they had never been to SF? Then again I know people in Shreve who have never been to New Orleans
Most of Shreveport's public schools are failing, but there is a great magnet school system. The congressman in this article wants to change the enrollment requirements from a test to a lottery or first come, first serve basis, completely contradicting the purpose of the magnet system, because:
“The second you put a test as the requirement is the second you stopped blacks and other minorities from getting into these schools,” Tarver said.
He is saying kids of his race cannot compete intellectually with others?!?!
Typical Tarver. He is the typical Louisiana career politician. Do some digging and you'll see enough about his past to make the casual observer say: WTH!!!?? Last I heard he was associated with the parking vendor who went belly-up owing the SHV airport authority some $800,000 in unpaid parking fees. Tarver was a paid consultant on the deal as one of his relatives was a senior exec on the parking lot vendor that bailed. That's money that will never be recovered and folks wonder "why?"
Forget academic standards...that's basically what Tarver is saying and instead make it all about racial equality. Forget higher standards in education in Louisiana schools. That's what got Caddo School systems in the shape they're in. But let's not quibble over standards.
Typical Tarver. He is the typical Louisiana career politician. Do some digging and you'll see enough about his past to make the casual observer say: WTH!!!?? Last I heard he was associated with the parking vendor who went belly-up owing the SHV airport authority some $800,000 in unpaid parking fees. Tarver was a paid consultant on the deal as one of his relatives was a senior exec on the parking lot vendor that bailed. That's money that will never be recovered and folks wonder "why?"
Forget academic standards...that's basically what Tarver is saying and instead make it all about racial equality. Forget higher standards in education in Louisiana schools. That's what got Caddo School systems in the shape they're in. But let's not quibble over standards.
It's basically his misguided angst toward the racial divide and tension..."misguided" fits right in with this town
I always liked Sacramento. I have an uncle and aunt who live in Rancho Cordova. They have been there almost 60 years and about 20 years ago I visited them after visiting SF and the wine country. Would you believe they had never been to SF? Then again I know people in Shreve who have never been to New Orleans
Yea I can definitely understand that. My parents live in Marshall TX, 30 miles west of Shreveport. They come to Shreveport for holidays, if even that...sad.
I just can't understand that mind frame, but I guess somebody has to live in Mayberry. Podunk towns are for certain people...bless their hearts
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
The Shreveport yall are describing here doesn't sound anything like Sacramento.
