Shreveport decline

[BigDaddy8619]

Lafayette and Covington/Mandeville are crime ridden pits of hell also, check out the statistics, Baton Rouge consistently ranks near the top in crime rates. Shreveport is dead.


There is a periodic sewer overflow into Cross Lake, the city just puts up NO FISHING yellow hazard tape, this dumps directly into the lake, then they remove it's, folks go back to fishing right away. And we go back to drinking the water.

[shvdfw1923]

I am an optimist for Shreveport since it is my hometown. I think the city has declined in some areas but has become way better in other areas. I also think downtown is making (slow) progress in being revitalized and the Highland neighborhood is having a good amount of historic houses being renovated and repaired. Obviously the uptick in crime is concerning but hopefully this positive momentum for the city does not get slowed down too much by these things. I think the ball to get Shreveport rolling is a slow ball but once it does get rolling more good things will happen for the area. Economic development and restoration of inner city neighborhoods needs to be a big focus for the leaders of the city to start to begin a real turnaround. The city has a ton of potential with such a low COL and good bones for a city but it needs to get the crime problem under control as well as focus on investment in its citizens.

[Bootsamillion]

Originally Posted by imaterry78259

Is there any hope for Shreveport that was once had a good quality of life/

I doubt it. My best friend's nephew had his family in their car heading home in S'port and stopped to get some cokes. Hubby goes in and gunman shoots three people. Killed him. No reason, just shooting.

My daughter in law and family went to a football game 20 years ago, took the wrong turn and ended up on a dead end street in their family "van". Seven shots were fired at them. One lodged in a teenager's compact mirror in her purse which guarded her leg. No injuries but shot the van up pretty good.

The Police don't do enough and the justice system just puts trials off and off and off until they all get tired of it and they put the people in jail for 30 days and they are out in 15. That's 2nd degree murder.

Shreveport has good shopping and a nice boardwalk but that's it. Too dangerous to do anything else.

I live about 50 miles east of S'port. I get my hair and nails done there, shoe and boot repair, shop during the day on weekends and outta there long before dark and will NOT stop for a coke or gas.

[CalWorth]

^^ That is sad to hear. I had some of the best food of my life in Shreveport & Baton Rouge, better than New Orleans. But it’s been awhile.

[H8t3rs]

I just visited Shreveport after 20 something years. We lived in Shreveport for many years (late 90s to early 2000s), we loved it. Problem is, one neighborhood is beautiful, and the next neighborhood is horrible. You could follow that pattern throughout the city. I still like it. Like someone said earlier, what is Shreveport's industry? maybe that's the biggest factor or impact.

[brickpatio2018]

In Jackson, MS, the state of Mississippi created the Capitol Police, which is now directly responsible for the central part of the city which includes the downtown, state government offices, colleges and universities, medical centers and school of medicine, museums, parks, arts/shopping/restaurant districts, and historic residential neighborhoods.

The state hired 150 officers for a relatively small area of about 20,000 people and the department is highly professional. The results so far have been phenomenal. Business owners report that when called, police respond instantaneously and are maximally helpful. This area in the heart of the city is now incredibly safe.

The state also passed legislation allowing neighborhoods to form self-taxing districts that can raise revenues for private neighborhood security and aesthetics such as landscaping. Various groups are using the monies to place cameras all over the neighborhood (that connect directly to the police department) and major landscaping projects in key parts of the city.

Jackson does benefit from the northern and eastern suburbs being directly attached to the most vibrant part of the central city, so people can go directly in just a couple of minutes from the Capitol District into well-policed, ultra-safe and well-planned suburbs. So it all fits together pretty nicely.

The remaining parts of Jackson (west, northwest, south) which are not vibrant remain under the Jackson city police and are declining in population rapidly by some 4,000 residents per year, presumably as a result of horrific crime rates.

A 3,000-acre park is being developed presently by the river. The state is also awaiting final approval from the feds to convert the river into a 10-mile lake running through heart of the city which will provide flood protection as well as a series of parks, trails, and cool waterside mixed-use communities.

The feds had blocked Jackson's efforts at flood protection for over 40 years as the city continued to flood regularly, and a flood a couple of years ago flooded the city's water treatment plant, leaving the city without running water for months - which made national news. The suburbs have their own water systems and were completely unaffected by the water problems. This disaster prompted the feds to award the city some $800 million to fix the water system and the courts appointed a water czar to oversee it, rather than the hapless city government. The water system is now considered excellent.

The state also passed legislation allowing a "1% tax" in Jackson to be used to rebuild the city's streets, which the hapless city government had allowed to completely fall apart over the past two decades. Again with the state government's involvement and oversight, those roads are now being rebuilt quite nicely.

These improvements, especially the new Capitol Police district, have made Jackson's several, very-cute restaurant and shopping districts even better (Belhaven, Fondren, Eastover, Highland Village), which are thriving. Downtown is a work in progress but has potential, but these neighborhood districts are great and filled with charming local restaurants etc.

My takeaway from all of that for Shreveport is that the state government of Louisiana needs to step in and help fix issues such as crime, which are a major economic development issue, given that the high levels of violence are most definitely encouraging entrepreneurs and business owners to leave the area and head for safer, better managed cities and metro areas. In other words, sitting back and waiting for city government to solve these problems is a guarantee of continued decline. The governor needs to step in and take the lead, as is happening in Jackson.

[annie_himself]

Originally Posted by brickpatio2018

In Jackson, MS, the state of Mississippi created the Capitol Police, which is now directly responsible for the central part of the city which includes the downtown, state government offices, colleges and universities, medical centers and school of medicine, museums, parks, arts/shopping/restaurant districts, and historic residential neighborhoods.

The state hired 150 officers for a relatively small area of about 20,000 people and the department is highly professional. The results so far have been phenomenal. Business owners report that when called, police respond instantaneously and are maximally helpful. This area in the heart of the city is now incredibly safe.

The state also passed legislation allowing neighborhoods to form self-taxing districts that can raise revenues for private neighborhood security and aesthetics such as landscaping. Various groups are using the monies to place cameras all over the neighborhood (that connect directly to the police department) and major landscaping projects in key parts of the city.

Jackson does benefit from the northern and eastern suburbs being directly attached to the most vibrant part of the central city, so people can go directly in just a couple of minutes from the Capitol District into well-policed, ultra-safe and well-planned suburbs. So it all fits together pretty nicely.

The remaining parts of Jackson (west, northwest, south) which are not vibrant remain under the Jackson city police and are declining in population rapidly by some 4,000 residents per year, presumably as a result of horrific crime rates.

A 3,000-acre park is being developed presently by the river. The state is also awaiting final approval from the feds to convert the river into a 10-mile lake running through heart of the city which will provide flood protection as well as a series of parks, trails, and cool waterside mixed-use communities.

The feds had blocked Jackson's efforts at flood protection for over 40 years as the city continued to flood regularly, and a flood a couple of years ago flooded the city's water treatment plant, leaving the city without running water for months - which made national news. The suburbs have their own water systems and were completely unaffected by the water problems. This disaster prompted the feds to award the city some $800 million to fix the water system and the courts appointed a water czar to oversee it, rather than the hapless city government. The water system is now considered excellent.

The state also passed legislation allowing a "1% tax" in Jackson to be used to rebuild the city's streets, which the hapless city government had allowed to completely fall apart over the past two decades. Again with the state government's involvement and oversight, those roads are now being rebuilt quite nicely.

These improvements, especially the new Capitol Police district, have made Jackson's several, very-cute restaurant and shopping districts even better (Belhaven, Fondren, Eastover, Highland Village), which are thriving. Downtown is a work in progress but has potential, but these neighborhood districts are great and filled with charming local restaurants etc.

My takeaway from all of that for Shreveport is that the state government of Louisiana needs to step in and help fix issues such as crime, which are a major economic development issue, given that the high levels of violence are most definitely encouraging entrepreneurs and business owners to leave the area and head for safer, better managed cities and metro areas. In other words, sitting back and waiting for city government to solve these problems is a guarantee of continued decline. The governor needs to step in and take the lead, as is happening in Jackson.

The only problem is that crime was never addressed, only policing was addressed.

[justforfun8619]

Shreveport is dead, 66 MURDERS so far, the need for 120+ police officers, what more can you say? And the state cannot step in when it's corrupt itself!! Every big city or town in Louisiana is riddled in crime.

[imaterry78259]

What are some new developments there?