Louisiana City Skylines

[NCB]

I think if houston has a sky scraper like the one in LA (forget the name) they would probably have the best skyline

Yea, the U.S. Bank Tower in L.A. is definately the main reason why L.A.'s skyline looks great.

Here is the "Bank of the Southwest Tower" which was proposed for Houston in the 80's. It was planned to be 1,401 feet tall, but was never built because of funding problems and FFA height limit's for buildings in downtown Houston because of nearby Hobby Airport.

© Orkin

A very similar design was later used for the 945 foot "One Liberty Place" in Philadelphia, which became the city's signature skyscraper.

[dimebag1980]

This post isn't about skylines, but I felt this was a very neutral place to discuss it since it involves numerous Louisiana cities/metros.

I linked to entrepreneur.com's listing for top cities in 2005, and while looking down the list of midsize cities, I didn't see Shreveport-Bossier City. Curious, I looked for Baton Rouge, and there it was in position 17, with Lafayette right behind it at number 18. Even more curious, I decided to check the 'small cities' list just to see... and in spot number 114 was Shreveport-Bossier City... on the same list as Alexandria and Lake Charles!! While I won't dispute Shreveport-Bossier City's position as number 114, not knowing what all information they had to work with, I highly dispute this area being in the 'small cities' category while Lafayette was in the 'midsize cities' categories with Baton Rouge.

I have always heard of Shreveport-Bossier City considered a midsize market, not a small market, so naturally I took offense to this. So I have sent an e-mail to their website's feedback e-mail address ([email protected]) explaining to them my complete surprise and disappointment in finding Shreveport-Bossier City on their SMALL cities list. Hopefully I will hear back from them, but I truly don't see Baton Rouge, Lafayette, and Little Rock being on that list and Shreveport-Bossier City being on the same list as Alexandria and Lake Charles.

Anyway, sorry to vent, but this really bothered me, considering the strides Shreveport-Bossier City has made over the last decade to once again be a city on the grow. This metro has NO business being classified as a small city, especially when an identically-sozed metro (Lafayette) is being classified as a midsize city!!

[richyb83]

Yeah you are right Supkof . That list doesn't make sense to me either.

Shreveport/Bossier defintly belongs on the same list with the BR's , Little Rock's , Mobile's and Jackson's . I would consider those as mid-sized cities for sure ! Lafayette is working its way as a mid-sized city one day.

Go ahead and vent , you are not bothering me . I would vent too !

[NCB]

Here is another Baton Rouge skyline/area shot courtesy of Louisiana Thunder over at SSP.

You can clearly see the Mississippi River Bridge to the left of the skyine as well. I have to say, I really like the urban forest's around Baton Rouge.

[richyb83]

Wow ! What a view ! I was wondering where the pic was taken ? It is hard to tell , but how old is this pic ? Because it looks like I see the Dept. of Education Bldg . that was emploded a few years ago for the newer State bldgs. I can't wait to see that same pic a few years from now.

Yes , BR is known for it's many trees. More than average amount of trees are needed to act as a filter for all the nearby chemical plants and refineries. Actually there is a website for BR dedicated to green.

http://www.brgreen.com

[NCB]

Wow ! What a view ! I was wondering where the pic was taken?

I believe the picture was taken from The Mall of Louisiana area.

BTW, thanks for the website!

[dimebag1980]

On March 26, I made the following post:

This post isn't about skylines, but I felt this was a very neutral place to discuss it since it involves numerous Louisiana cities/metros.

I linked to entrepreneur.com's listing for top cities in 2005, and while looking down the list of midsize cities, I didn't see Shreveport-Bossier City. Curious, I looked for Baton Rouge, and there it was in position 17, with Lafayette right behind it at number 18. Even more curious, I decided to check the 'small cities' list just to see... and in spot number 114 was Shreveport-Bossier City... on the same list as Alexandria and Lake Charles!! While I won't dispute Shreveport-Bossier City's position as number 114, not knowing what all information they had to work with, I highly dispute this area being in the 'small cities' category while Lafayette was in the 'midsize cities' categories with Baton Rouge.

I have always heard of Shreveport-Bossier City considered a midsize market, not a small market, so naturally I took offense to this. So I have sent an e-mail to their website's feedback e-mail address ([email protected]) explaining to them my complete surprise and disappointment in finding Shreveport-Bossier City on their SMALL cities list. Hopefully I will hear back from them, but I truly don't see Baton Rouge, Lafayette, and Little Rock being on that list and Shreveport-Bossier City being on the same list as Alexandria and Lake Charles.

Anyway, sorry to vent, but this really bothered me, considering the strides Shreveport-Bossier City has made over the last decade to once again be a city on the grow. This metro has NO business being classified as a small city, especially when an identically-sized metro (Lafayette) is being classified as a midsize city!!

Before creating that post, I sent an e-mail to '[email protected]' regarding Shreveport's placement in the above referenced list versus other cities its size and smaller. Here is a copy of the e-mail I sent them:

Dear Sir or Madam:

I would like to take this time to tell you that I take issue with your city rankings for 2005 in the 'Hot Cities' lists. In the small cities category you have Shreveport-Bossier City, LA as number 114, while in the midsize cities list you have Lafayette, LA at number 18. While I will not dispute Shreveport-Bossier City's ranking as number 114, not knowing where you get your facts, I will dispute Shreveport-Bossier City being in the small cities category.

The city of Lafayette, LA has a population of about 115,000 while Shreveport has a population of 200,000 and 60,000 in Bossier City. How then can a combined two-city market of 260,000 be considered a 'small city' while a city of 115,000 is considered a 'midsize' city? Even if you compare the metro populations of Shreveport-Bossier City and Lafayette, LA, the two metro areas have almost identical populations, but the Shreveport-Bossier City metro area is still slightly higher than that of Lafayette metro. Again, I ask, how then can Shreveport-Bossier City be considered a 'small city' while Lafayette is directly behind Baton Rouge, population 225,000, on your list of 'midsize' cities?

Someone at entrepreneur.com really needs to check his or her facts before compiling such lists. I never have given much stock to lists like these, anyway, considering the fact that countless sources could compile similar lists and yet come out with completely different results in the end; however if you are to be taken seriously, you should have Shreveport-Bossier City in the midsize cities category along with Lafayette, LA and Baton Rouge.

Thank you for your time, and I certainly hope you will check your facts next time as I would hate to see other cities get shortchanged the way Shreveport-Bossier City has this time.

Sincerely,

Brian XXXXXXXXXX

Shreveport-Bossier City, LA

Well, today I received a response to my e-mail; it reads as follows:

From : Spencer Tracy <[email protected]>

To : [email protected]

Subject : Re: 'Hot Cities' lists 2005

Date : Thu, Apr 06, 2006 10:49 AM

Dear Brian,

My name is Spencer Tracy and I am the principal author of the 'Hot Cities' study to which you referred in your email below. While I accept your point that the City of Shreveport, LA is larger (in terms of population) than the City of Lafayette, LA, and that when combined with the City of Bossier, LA the Shreveport-Bossier MSA is even larger still, I am obliged to point out that your position is off base.

If you read carefully how the ranking was developed -- and more to the point, how the cities were classified -- you will discover their classification is not based on population size but rather on the number of businesses within their legal jurisdiction. Consequently, while the City of Shreveport (or the combined cities of Shreveport and Bossier) is larger in term of population than the City of Lafayette, the former does not have more businesses within its legal jurisdiction than the latter. As a result, Shreveport-Bossier is classified as a 'small' city and Lafayette as a 'midsize' one.

Also noted in the methodology, is the underlying rationale regarding our decision to classify cities according to the number of businesses within their legal jurisdiction as opposed to their population size. The proposition here is relatively straight forward. In other words, because the ranking is about starting and growing businesses (and not starting and growing people), we decided to classify legal jurisdictions (i.e., states, counties, etc) on the basis of the number of businesses within their confines, not the number of people therein.

I hope this helps illuminate the problematic issues regarding your point. If you have further comments and/or suggestions, please feel free to contact me at this email address.

Sincerely,

Spencer Tracy

With all this said, I still am not satisfied. I understand what his rankings were based on, but I still feel that, when classifying a city as a 'small city' or a 'midsize city,' it should be based on population the same way every other city compilation is.

I also have a hard time believing that, within its jurisdiction, the city of Lafayette has more businesses than Shreveport or Shreveport-Bossier. I could be completely wrong on that, but I have a hard time believing it. It would take forever for someone lacking the resources that entrepreneur.com has access, to come up with an accurate count. Given that, I will just take Mr. Tracy at his word and move on. That doesn't mean, however, that I agree with the basis for his city rankings being number of businesses as opposed to population.

[breaux]

On March 26, I made the following post:

Before creating that post, I sent an e-mail to '[email protected]' regarding Shreveport's placement in the above referenced list versus other cities its size and smaller. Here is a copy of the e-mail I sent them:

Well, today I received a response to my e-mail; it reads as follows:

With all this said, I still am not satisfied. I understand what his rankings were based on, but I still feel that, when classifying a city as a 'small city' or a 'midsize city,' it should be based on population the same way every other city compilation is.

I also have a hard time believing that, within its jurisdiction, the city of Lafayette has more businesses than Shreveport or Shreveport-Bossier. I could be completely wrong on that, but I have a hard time believing it. It would take forever for someone lacking the resources that entrepreneur.com has access, to come up with an accurate count. Given that, I will just take Mr. Tracy at his word and move on. That doesn't mean, however, that I agree with the basis for his city rankings being number of businesses as opposed to population.

I'm not sure if there are more businesses in Lafayette than Shreveport, that comes as a surprise to me. However, thinking about it, Lafayette is a strongly entrepreneurial city. I remember reading a couple of years back that Lafayette had the highest number of millionaires per capita of any city in America. There are a lot of oil field service companies and just a lot of small businesses. With Shreveport, you probably have more major employers.

[dimebag1980]

I'm not sure if there are more businesses in Lafayette than Shreveport, that comes as a surprise to me. However, thinking about it, Lafayette is a strongly entrepreneurial city. I remember reading a couple of years back that Lafayette had the highest number of millionaires per capita of any city in America. There are a lot of oil field service companies and just a lot of small businesses. With Shreveport, you probably have more major employers.

You'd be surprised at how few "major" employers Shreveport actually has for a city its size. That's one area in which Shreveport has always lacked. The major employers here are the hospital systems, each of them employing at least a few hundred people each, the casinos who literally employ thousands, General Motors who employs a few thousand, and Barksdale Air Force Base who employs nearly 7,000. That's really about it. However you're right... there are actually tons of oil service companies down there, and with an oil economy, there must be support companies as well.

Thinking about it, I do suppose it is possible Lafayette has more businesses within its jurisdiction, but I still think the rankings should be based on the same factors most other rankings are... population. Then, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, and Shreveport would be lumped into the same category, the way they should. Heck even as I type this it still bugs me, because I've never seen Shreveport listed as a "small" city. Granted it's not Houston or Chicago, or even Charlotte, Nashville, or New Orleans, but it's also not "small." Alexandria is small... Monroe is small... Natchitoches is small... Lake Charles is even pretty small... but Shreveport? I still take issue with their classification, but I know they're not going to change it just to please me.

[breaux]

You'd be surprised at how few "major" employers Shreveport actually has for a city its size. That's one area in which Shreveport has always lacked. The major employers here are the hospital systems, each of them employing at least a few hundred people each, the casinos who literally employ thousands, General Motors who employs a few thousand, and Barksdale Air Force Base who employs nearly 7,000. That's really about it. However you're right... there are actually tons of oil service companies down there, and with an oil economy, there must be support companies as well.

Thinking about it, I do suppose it is possible Lafayette has more businesses within its jurisdiction, but I still think the rankings should be based on the same factors most other rankings are... population. Then, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, and Shreveport would be lumped into the same category, the way they should. Heck even as I type this it still bugs me, because I've never seen Shreveport listed as a "small" city. Granted it's not Houston or Chicago, or even Charlotte, Nashville, or New Orleans, but it's also not "small." Alexandria is small... Monroe is small... Natchitoches is small... Lake Charles is even pretty small... but Shreveport? I still take issue with their classification, but I know they're not going to change it just to please me.

I agree with you. Shreveport is certainly not a small city. I can't imagine Lafayette having that many more businesses than Shreveport, but it's only one ranking, and like you said, I've never seen Shreveport categorized as a small city. It also seems like there is a lot going on there and hopefully things will continue to go well. The categorization is certainly puzzling.

[TSmith]

I posted this in the New Orleans forum, so I figured I'd put it here too. Took it last week. A night time view is coming... I just can't seem to find the time to do it...

[dimebag1980]

I posted this in the New Orleans forum, so I figured I'd put it here too. Took it last week. A night time view is coming... I just can't seem to find the time to do it...

Oh yes, I remember that one. An awesome picture, showing the good (the beautiful city) and the bad (the storm damage.) Great picture, man. I can't wait to get back down to New Orleans.

[NCB]

Great picture, TSmith!

[NCB]

I'd like to get some disucssion in this thread again.

Here is most of the Metairie Skyline, all of the Lakeview Center buildings, taken from the Causeway.

And here is a shot of the skyline that includes The Galleria, the building furthest to the left farther away from the lake.

[dimebag1980]

^ cool photos, Nate.

I have one or two shots of Metairie from I-10, but that's it.

New Orleans is where I like to take my photos!

[NCB]

^ cool photos, Nate.

I have one or two shots of Metairie from I-10, but that's it.

New Orleans is where I like to take my photos!

Thanks.

And same here, but I still manage to take quite a few photos from the Causeway! It's 24 miles of opportunity for skyline views of New Orleans!

[richyb83]

Great pics Nate. I really dig it !

Lake Ponchartrain is looking great ! We were so worried after the Storm that it would be polluted, and take a long time to get back to normal. I hear the Dolphins are still there ? That's a good-sign for sure.

Most people do to not realize Metairie is Louisiana's 4th largest city. I am curious to know their current population ?

[NCB]

Great pics Nate. I really dig it !

Most people do to not realize Metairie is Louisiana's 4th largest city. I am curious to know their current population ?

Thanks!

Metairie's population pre-Katrina was around 160,000, but that number has to be higher than at least 180,000 now.

[NCB]

And I've got a few Baton Rouge skyline shots to post too ...

[dimebag1980]

And I've got a few Baton Rouge skyline shots to post too ...

.photos snipped for reply.

I've never seen any photos of the entire Baton Rouge skyline this up-close and clear. You obviously weren't moving down the freeway when these were taken. And clearly they were planned well and not just "snapped."

Good job, Nater. Yeah I called you Nater.

[NCB]

I've never seen any photos of the entire Baton Rouge skyline this up-close and clear. You obviously weren't moving down the freeway when these were taken. And clearly they were planned well and not just "snapped."

Good job, Nater. Yeah I called you Nater.

Actually, I was moving up I-10 towards the MS River bridge while these were taken. Though I had my spot planned out, and I really had to set up for the picture as well as I could to get them to come out as clearly as I wanted.

And thanks...Brian..er?

[dimebag1980]

Actually, I was moving up I-10 towards the MS River bridge while these were taken. Though I had my spot planned out, and I really had to set up for the picture as well as I could to get them to come out as clearly as I wanted.

And thanks...Brian..er?

Nater just sounded natural to me.

Geez, I can't believe you were actually moving when these were taken! These really looked like you'd taken some time to set up (while not moving.)

[NCB]

Nater just sounded natural to me.

Nater is something I've never even heard before actually. It's interesting though!

Geez, I can't believe you were actually moving when these were taken! These really looked like you'd taken some time to set up (while not moving.)

Well, I try my best!

[dimebag1980]

Nater is something I've never even heard before actually. It's interesting though!

Well, leave it to me to come up with something you've never heard before. But it's not really off the wall, because it's an easy play on your name. And when I was replying to the post, it just came to mind. So Nater it is... unless you don't like it. I bet the chicks will dig it. Try it out and report back to me. Then tell me who's the friggin MAN!

Well, I try my best!

Yeah, yeah, take a bow and sit down, ya glory hog. Seriously though, they're great; it's just rare to see such good shots of the Baton Rouge skyline. With that city's recent emergence as a powerhouse in Louisiana, other than just in state government, I think it's important that it be represented in a positive light. I'm sure in the years to come, as the skyline continues to grow, the pictures will become more commonplace. It will also be neat to see the photos from the different years as new buildings are constructed.

[richyb83]

Truly impressive pics Nate ! The fact that you were moving ! I figured there was a dreaded wreck or some serious slow down on the bridge.

Baton Rouge's Skyline has a little density when taken from the right angle. It's not always about the tall bldgs. either. In the front of the pics I notice the sphere of the planetarium, renovated Old State Capitol, and the Shaw Arts Center contemporary-box. It's tall for a 6-story bldg. at nearly 100'ft.

But I do like high-rise bldgs. Thats why I cant wait too see all those boom-cranes everywhere this by Summer. An unprecedanted amount for BR By the end of 06' they should be at:

* Riverplace, Laurel Tower, City Plaza II, and the New Courthouse !