Shreveport/Bossier City Development

[jcasey]

btw...are you complaining about SBC highways compared to texas cities??? hello! you've got - what - two FOUR-level stacks?? Memphis? ZERO. zilch. none. the highest we go is three levels. although construction begins on our first 4-level in january, but even still we'll only have one.

nope. i don't want to hear it.

Come on, we just want more. Can you blame us for wanting more??? Besides I'm sure Memphis' perks far out weigh our two four-level stacks!

[baffroom]

The Toyota plant isn't open yet? I thought that it was. Most people think that the merger won't happen because Tech isn't going to move and LSUS would still be a satellite campus. I think that they just need to expand LSUS, build some dorms and give themselves some publicity. An image change could also help.

You know what, i think the Toyota plant is done. I think the news article was about its opening, and I got it confused.

I don't think satellite campus status would really hurt it. We have a satellite campus of UT - UTSA and it's growing quite rapidly, could pass LSU BR in student population here soon.

[Rardy]

Come on, we just want more. Can you blame us for wanting more??? Besides I'm sure Memphis' perks far out weigh our two four-level stacks!

well...we do have width, but i turn green with envy everytime i drive i-20 through DT shreveport, with all the flyover ramps coming and going. then, of course, the 49/20 and 49/inner loop interchanges.

i take it back...does SBC have THREE 4-levels??? i count i-49 @ inner loop and i-49 @ i-20. is i-20 @ hwy. 1 downtown a 4-level too?

[kkaplan]

Yea, the Capt Shreve was a major loss to the city.

Another problem Shreveport needs to take care of is crime. Shreveport's murder rate is pretty high. I know that it is higher than San Francisco's and many other cities that are two or three times as large.

CRIME

I lived in Shreveport from 1984-1989. I lived from Youree to Mansfield to Burt Kouns to 70th areas. I continue to keep tabs on the city from time to time, and I still have a couple friends down there. However, during that time there were shootings in the malls, around schools and shopping centers. West coast gangs were rapidly spreading eastward towards Ft. Worth, Port Arthur, Little Rock, Shreveport et al. The crime rates in many South cities shot up- especially N.O., BatonR., and Shreveport.

Similar trends occured accross the U.S., but in comparison to pop.density, Shreveport has remained in the top ten since I left. Top ten out of some 300 plus metro areas. Its not just minor crime. Its the per-capita murder rate. If Shreveport has 100 murders for every 200k, and NYC has 500 for every 7million than that is obviously a high murder rate.

I am not saying that all homicides commited in Shreveport are done by Shreveport citizens.

Cincinnati has experienced a rise in murder rate last year with 79, their highest in 30 years, and with only a population of over 300k that is pretty high. Although the Cincy metro area is over 1 million, very few happend outside the city limits. The infamous crime-ridden Over-the-Rhine neighborhood had almost 20.

Its just one neighborhood right? There are plenty of nice and clean, rich and wealthy, small and towering gated communities in Cincy, but --just like in Shreveport-- that is why they are gated, suburbanized, and separated from the have-not hoods.

We moved to the Toledo-metro-region.... bye bye dirty south, hello filthy north. LOL, IT'S AMERICA.

[dimebag1980]

do you count a 5-minute stop at a chevron on bert kouns as stopping off? naw... ate in Natchitoches on the way down, texarkana on the way back.

i end up driving through SBC about once every 2 months or so. i LOVE the new freeway from the border to texarkana. this was my first time to drive on it.

btw...are you complaining about SBC highways compared to texas cities??? hello! you've got - what - two FOUR-level stacks?? Memphis? ZERO. zilch. none. the highest we go is three levels. although construction begins on our first 4-level in january, but even still we'll only have one.

nope. i don't want to hear it.

No... not at all. I just wish we got more funding to help freeways like I-49 and I-69 along, as well as a twin span for Jimmie Davis. That bridge is bad congested even on a good day... real bad.

I actually am impressed by our freeways here, for a metro of 400,000.

[Rardy]

No... not at all. I just wish we got more funding to help freeways like I-49 and I-69 along, as well as a twin span for Jimmie Davis. That bridge is bad congested even on a good day... real bad.

I actually am impressed by our freeways here, for a metro of 400,000.

Seriously. Lafayette is the same size and the best thing they've got is a single cloverleaf!

[dimebag1980]

CRIME

I lived in Shreveport from 1984-1989. I lived from Youree to Mansfield to Burt Kouns to 70th areas. I continue to keep tabs on the city from time to time, and I still have a couple friends down there. However, during that time there were shootings in the malls, around schools and shopping centers. West coast gangs were rapidly spreading eastward towards Ft. Worth, Port Arthur, Little Rock, Shreveport et al. The crime rates in many South cities shot up- especially N.O., BatonR., and Shreveport.

Similar trends occured accross the U.S., but in comparison to pop.density, Shreveport has remained in the top ten since I left. Top ten out of some 300 plus metro areas. Its not just minor crime. Its the per-capita murder rate. If Shreveport has 100 murders for every 200k, and NYC has 500 for every 7million than that is obviously a high murder rate.

I am not saying that all homicides commited in Shreveport are done by Shreveport citizens.

Cincinnati has experienced a rise in murder rate last year with 79, their highest in 30 years, and with only a population of over 300k that is pretty high. Although the Cincy metro area is over 1 million, very few happend outside the city limits. The infamous crime-ridden Over-the-Rhine neighborhood had almost 20.

Its just one neighborhood right? There are plenty of nice and clean, rich and wealthy, small and towering gated communities in Cincy, but --just like in Shreveport-- that is why they are gated, suburbanized, and separated from the have-not hoods.

We moved to the Toledo-metro-region.... bye bye dirty south, hello filthy north. LOL, IT'S AMERICA.

So in summary, you're just saying that it's a nationwide problem, right? If so, I agree. But there are some areas with very low crime.

By the way, welcome! You lived here at the worst possible time in Shreveport's history, so I hope you're pleased with the progress our metro is making these days.

Edited November 30, 2006 by SBCmetroguy

[woob]

So in summary, you're just saying that it's a nationwide problem, right? If so, I agree. But there are some areas with very low crime.

By the way, welcome! You lived here at the worst possible time in Shreveport's history, so I hope you're pleased with the progress our metro is making these days.

[/quote

I think Bossier City does pretty good.. I even live in a lower income neighborhood and I don't hear a sound.. well I hear my two dogs when they howl at the trains.. I feel very very safe here.. SSHHHHHHH sometimes I don't even lock my truck.

[dimebag1980]

I think Bossier City does pretty good.. I even live in a lower income neighborhood and I don't hear a sound.. well I hear my two dogs when they howl at the trains.. I feel very very safe here.. SSHHHHHHH sometimes I don't even lock my truck.

Bossier City is growing amazingly fast by Shreveport-Bossier and Louisiana standards but is still VERY safe!!

Just leave that camera in your truck and tell me where you park it. I could use a secodn DSLR.

Didn't you say you live in Southern Gardens? Isn't that a pretty nice, middle-class neighborhood?

Edited December 1, 2006 by SBCmetroguy

[bigboyz05]

I've heard variations of that, and I do hope it's true. The dynamics are all coming together for explosive growth, and I hope they continue to do so.

I do know that one area still needing work is Shreveport. Bossier is gaining residents every day, but Shreveport is actually losing as well. Some estimates actually have Shreveport gaining slightly, so I suppose until the 2010 Census all we can do is guess.

Bossier City came out of nowhere as a major player not only in the Shreveport-Bossier metro, but in all of Louisiana. Bossier City, in 1990, had only 52,000 residents, while Monroe had 54,000. Now Monroe has about 52,000 and Bossier City has over 60,000. Bossier Parish is now around 105,000 which equates to about 7,000 new residents in the parish over just 5 years (2000-2005.) Four thousand of these new residents have moved to Bossier City within the last 5 years. For a city the size of Bossier, that's great.

Caddo Parish, on the other hand, looks to have lost about 800 residents between 2000 and 2005. While not much of a loss over 5 years, it's still a loss and is a trend that needs to be reversed.

So, in the last 5 years Caddo Parish has lost about 800 residents while Bossier Parish has gained 7,000. That's a total of about 6,300 new residents from outside Caddo and Bossier Parishes who have moved to Bossier Parish over the last 5 years. Not bad at all.

Wow! That's pretty damned good. I'm coming to Shreveport tomorrow to do a little gambling and visit a friend. I've been thinking of either going to Eldorado or Boomtown. While I'm there I was thinking of checking out the area between Benton and Bossier and South Shreveport.

[bigboyz05]

Yep, San Antonio's got overpasses going up all over the place. It's pretty impressive -- I really like the design of them too, oddly enough. They're kinda futuristic looking. Sorry I don't have a picture.

Oh yes, we're getting a new college campus here too -- Texas A&M is going to build a 400 acre campus here. They've also got a Toyota plant coming, which is also impressive.

I hope Louisiana can see great things like this happen, especially in SBC! I know LSUS and Tech had plans of some kind of merger. Hopefully that'll happen. That can really help a community

That's cool your city is getting a new Texas A&M campus. Texarkana is too. Ours will be on about the same amount of acreage as the one in your city.

[baffroom]

That's cool your city is getting a new Texas A&M campus. Texarkana is too. Ours will be on about the same amount of acreage as the one in your city.

That's pretty cool. Texas schools are doing very well. This is one area I think Louisiana needs to work on, but I'm not sure if the population demographics can support more than what's there.

Are there any other state universities in Texarkana?

Wow, I just checked out Texas A&M - Texarkana's page and it's got some interesting demographics -- 75% female! That's a huge disparity. I thought LSUA was bad at 70% or so. I guess it's good for the young single guys that go those schools

Edited December 1, 2006 by baffroom

[dimebag1980]

Wow! That's pretty damned good. I'm coming to Shreveport tomorrow to do a little gambling and visit a friend. I've been thinking of either going to Eldorado or Boomtown. While I'm there I was thinking of checking out the area between Benton and Bossier and South Shreveport.

Darius, if I didn't have to work tomorrow I'd try to catch up with you while you're in town.

I hope you enjoy yourself. You'll definitely want to take I-20 to Airline Drive and just drive Airline all the way to Benton. You can turn left in Benton and cross over to Benton Road, passing by the new court house and new library, and then take Benton Road back into Bossier City and see more new subdivisions on the way back into Bossier.

If you do go out there, in particular take note of the area around I-220/Airline where all of Bossier's new retail development is going on.

As for south Shreveport, just take I-49 to Southfield/Hollywood, take Southfield down to Youree. Then take Youree all the way to Bert Kouns and you'll go right through the middle of everything. Right across the street from Krispy Kreme you'll see where work is underway on Regal Court. Also if you get a chance, you can drive into Shreve City and see the new Wal-Mart development coming up or check out one of the TNDs under construction (Island Park and Provenance.)

Again, do enjoy yourself and come back to the board with a great opinion of Shreveport-Bossier. I know you already like the area but I want you to like it more with every visit. It's just a short drive from Texarkana metro, and our areas already share a media market. Both of our metros are growing, and both of us seem to enjoy visiting the others' area.

[dimebag1980]

Wow, I just checked out Texas A&M - Texarkana's page and it's got some interesting demographics -- 75% female! That's a huge disparity. I thought LSUA was bad at 70% or so. I guess it's good for the young single guys that go those schools

Wow!! Those single dudes must be having lots of fun there!

Oh, and baffroom, you're right, Louisiana does need to work on that. But we need to work on what we have, for sure. I hate that Shreveport is surrounded by larger universities but the city only has smaller colleges and satellite campuses. We even have a satellite program of Southern Illinois University, believe it or not. Yes, I'm serious. It's located on Barksdale Air Force Base. My wife's stepmother graduated a Saluki from Southern Illinois University (the actual Carbondale, IL campus, though!)

Here's a list of colleges and satellite campuses located in Shreveport-Bossier:

2-Year Colleges/Universities

Bossier Parish Community College - enrollment: 4,429

Louisiana Technical College-Shreveport Bossier Campus - enrollment: 1,058

Northwestern University Nursing Program - enrollment: 1,392

Southern University-Shreveport - enrollment: 2,300

4-Year Colleges/Universities

Centenary College - enrollment: 1,045

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University at Barksdale Air Force Base - enrollment: 150

LSU School of Medicine in Shreveport - enrollment: 418

School of Graduate Studies - enrollment: 87

School of Allied Health Professions - enrollment: 190

Louisiana State University in Shreveport - enrollment: 4,401

Louisiana Tech University at Barksdale Air Force Base - enrollment: 1,051

Southern Illinois-Carbondale at Barksdale Air Force Base - enrollment: 32

[dimebag1980]

They must have already had this in the works, because I think if they'd had time to get Pei Wei after I mentioned it, they probably would have. It's a known chain, afterall.

Anyway, looks like Gimme Sum will be replaced with Sushiko sushi restaurant. Honestly, I was disappointed when I first found out that Gimme Sum didn't have sushi, so I'm ready for this. I love a good sushi joint.

Anyway, I Googled 'Sushiko' and found numerous different Sushiko restaurants around the country, just like how there are multiple different Shoguns, Kobes, etc.

[dimebag1980]

From the article referenced above, here's something I missed when I skimmed it earlier this morning... O'Brien's Irish Pub is expected to open by Mardi Gras in the Boardwalk's entertainment district quadrangle.

Quote from the article:

"O'Brien's Irish Pub, a restaurant and bar, recently inked a deal to open a location in the entertainment district quadrangle. Badia said the business owner, who operates two other locations in California, hopes to open the Louisiana Boardwalk location by Mardi Gras"

This is great! We need more places like this in the region, and it's great that Bossier City will have an Irish Pub. This is just adding to the overall appeal of Bossier City that, obviously, has become extremely great lately as is evidenced by the population boom on the East Bank of the Red.

[bigboyz05]

That's pretty cool. Texas schools are doing very well. This is one area I think Louisiana needs to work on, but I'm not sure if the population demographics can support more than what's there.

Are there any other state universities in Texarkana?

Wow, I just checked out Texas A&M - Texarkana's page and it's got some interesting demographics -- 75% female! That's a huge disparity. I thought LSUA was bad at 70% or so. I guess it's good for the young single guys that go those schools

No, we don't have any other universities but we do have Texarkana College which is a junior college. Even at TC there seems to be more female than male students.

[bigboyz05]

Darius, if I didn't have to work tomorrow I'd try to catch up with you while you're in town.

I hope you enjoy yourself. You'll definitely want to take I-20 to Airline Drive and just drive Airline all the way to Benton. You can turn left in Benton and cross over to Benton Road, passing by the new court house and new library, and then take Benton Road back into Bossier City and see more new subdivisions on the way back into Bossier.

If you do go out there, in particular take note of the area around I-220/Airline where all of Bossier's new retail development is going on.

As for south Shreveport, just take I-49 to Southfield/Hollywood, take Southfield down to Youree. Then take Youree all the way to Bert Kouns and you'll go right through the middle of everything. Right across the street from Krispy Kreme you'll see where work is underway on Regal Court. Also if you get a chance, you can drive into Shreve City and see the new Wal-Mart development coming up or check out one of the TNDs under construction (Island Park and Provenance.)

Again, do enjoy yourself and come back to the board with a great opinion of Shreveport-Bossier. I know you already like the area but I want you to like it more with every visit. It's just a short drive from Texarkana metro, and our areas already share a media market. Both of our metros are growing, and both of us seem to enjoy visiting the others' area.

Thanks man! I know I'll have a wonderful time. That would be cool if we could meet up and you could give me an in depth tour of the city. It was cold as hell last night. It was down to about 24. It snowed and sleeted just a little bit. Did it do anything in your neck of the woods? Isn't crazy that when we have winter weather here you guys usually get rain?

[Rardy]

No, we don't have any other universities but we do have Texarkana College which is a junior college. Even at TC there seems to be more female than male students.

American education systems are geared toward girls from kindergarten on.

"Across the country, boys have never been in more trouble: They earn 70 percent of the D's and F's that teachers dole out. They make up two thirds of students labeled "learning disabled." They are the culprits in a whopping 9 of 10 alcohol and drug violations and the suspected perpetrators in 4 out of 5 crimes that end up in juvenile court. They account for 80 percent of high school dropouts and attention deficit disorder diagnoses. (Mulrine, 2001)"

The feminization of American education. Most colleges are majority female now. Looming crisis in the next 20 years. Pet peeve.

[fridayinla]

From the article referenced above, here's something I missed when I skimmed it earlier this morning... O'Brien's Irish Pub is expected to open by Mardi Gras in the Boardwalk's entertainment district quadrangle.

Quote from the article:

"O'Brien's Irish Pub, a restaurant and bar, recently inked a deal to open a location in the entertainment district quadrangle. Badia said the business owner, who operates two other locations in California, hopes to open the Louisiana Boardwalk location by Mardi Gras"

This is great! We need more places like this in the region, and it's great that Bossier City will have an Irish Pub. This is just adding to the overall appeal of Bossier City that, obviously, has become extremely great lately as is evidenced by the population boom on the East Bank of the Red.

Very cool!!! I've been to the O'Briens Irish Pub on Wilshire Blvd in Santa Monica (if it's the same one). I actually think I had dinner there on Thansgiving day a few years back. I'm not the "pub" type, but they have great, authentic Irish food....it's very popular (the restaurant, not Irish food). I'm really impressed that they're opening a location in Bossier City... and glad it's not another country-western style place. Louisiana already has too many of those.

By the way, what happened to all the original tenants in the entertainment district? I missed all that somehow.

[dimebag1980]

Very cool!!! I've been to the O'Briens Irish Pub on Wilshire Blvd in Santa Monica (if it's the same one). I actually think I had dinner there on Thansgiving day a few years back. I'm not the "pub" type, but they have great, authentic Irish food....it's very popular (the restaurant, not Irish food). I'm really impressed that they're opening a location in Bossier City... and glad it's not another country-western style place. Louisiana already has too many of those.

By the way, what happened to all the original tenants in the entertainment district? I missed all that somehow.

Well, the owner Saddle Ridge/Parrot Beach/Moe's/Kingpinz complex has been in serious trouble lately and he just shut his properties here down. So now all these facilities will reopen under new names, and the new owner is a displaced New Orleans native who ended up here after Katrina.

[fridayinla]

Well, the owner Saddle Ridge/Parrot Beach/Moe's/Kingpinz complex has been in serious trouble lately and he just shut his properties here down. So now all these facilities will reopen under new names, and the new owner is a displaced New Orleans native who ended up here after Katrina.

So then nothing has closed down? Are they constructing a new building for the new O'Briens Irsh Pub?

[dimebag1980]

So then nothing has closed down? Are they constructing a new building for the new O'Briens Irsh Pub?

They closed only temporarily but have reopened already. I believe all the spaces have reopened but there could be one or two spaces in that building that didn't reopen. But the article didn't specifically mention that building, just the quadrangle so I bet it's going to go either next door to Copeland's or across the quadrangle from Copeland's in another empty space located behind The Gap.

[dimebag1980]

After work tonight I drove by the Shreve City Wal-Mart site. Wow, that thing is coming along FAST! It was very dark out so I couldn't see much in the way of detail, but I did notice that all the exterior walls appear to be up. All the existing Wal-Mart Supercenters in this region are just under 200,000 square feet, but this one is supposed to be just over 200,000. It looks huge, that's for sure. And I really wasn't 100% sure, but the design looks different from all the others so far. They said it's supposed to be "upscale," so I really hope it looks like the "upscale" Wal-Mart Supercenter in Champaign, IL. If it looks like that, prepare to be impressed by Wal-Mart for the first time.

[fridayinla]

They said it's supposed to be "upscale," so I really hope it looks like the "upscale" Wal-Mart Supercenter in Champaign, IL. If it looks like that, prepare to be impressed by Wal-Mart for the first time.

What is that "upscale" Wal-Mart Supercenter like? I tried to find photos online... no luck. I can't wait to see other large national (and possibly more "upscale") tenants announce new locations in Shreve City.