Moving to Bossier City/Shreveport area (Reserve, Haughton: upper-class, apartments, condos)

[rands786]

Hi,
I will be moving with my family to the Bossier City/Shreveport area in July 2008 for two years and I was wondering if anybody in the know would give me some advice regarding the Elementary Public/Private Schools and nice apartments in Bossier city.

Thanks

[SBCmetroguy]

As far as schools in Bossier, if you're in north Bossier then you'll want to look at either of these two scenarios: Stockwell Place Elementary-Cope Middle School-Airline High School or Apollo Elementary-Greenacres Middle School-Airline High School. The reason I mention Airline High School both times is because, as of right now, it's the only high school in north Bossier.

There's Bossier High School in central Bossier but it's a pretty rough school, and there's Parkway High School in south Bossier which is also supposed to be a good school if you were in south Bossier.

Parkway High's campus is going to be rebuilt in the near future, on a site about 2-4 miles further south from where it's currently located. Bossier is in the process of building many new schools and relocating existing schools.

In north Bossier, they are currently building two new elementary schools: Legacy Elementary and Lewis Elementary (I believe that's the name.) These two schools are being constructed at either end of Swan Lake Road, which is an old rural road that is soon to be upgraded to a 5-lane north-south thoroughfare between Bossier and Benton.

I would also recommend Benton and Haughton if you're moving to the Bossier area. Both towns are in major growth mode right now and they both come very close to the Bossier City Limits as Bossier progresses north and east. Both of these areas also have good schools. These are basically old rural towns that are basically becoming suburbs out of necessity, as Bossier City is running out of land to expand onto whilst its population continues to swell.

As far as apartments in north Bossier, I would recommend the following: Tallow Wood, Greenacres Village, Greenacres Place (these may all be condos now, not sure,) Meadow Creek, The Reserve, and Cypress Pointe. There are more apartments planned in the near future for the Airline Drive corridor between Bossier and Benton, so within a couple of years the offerings could expand some.

In East Bossier (Stockwell-Cope-Airline school district) you don't have much in the way of apartments right now but that will be changing in the not-too-distant future when the Villaggio Italian-themed village and other developments come on. For now, though, you pretty much have Stockwell Landing as your only decent choice. That area is mostly suburban, cookie-cutter style homes and not much else at this time.

[rands786]

Thank you for all your recommendations. Stockwell Landing and Greenacres Village seems nice choices (which one do you think is better?).
I shall be working in LSU University Hospital. How is commuting from the hospital to these two places?
How do you compare (Stockwell-Cope-Airline school district) with the magnet school system?
Thanks once again

[SBCmetroguy]

Originally Posted by rands786

Thank you for all your recommendations. Stockwell Landing and Greenacres Village seems nice choices (which one do you think is better?).
I shall be working in LSU University Hospital. How is commuting from the hospital to these two places?
How do you compare (Stockwell-Cope-Airline school district) with the magnet school system?
Thanks once again

Well, Bossier doesn't have the magnet school system... only Shreveport does. And to be quite honest, the magnet schools were created because Shreveport's public system is very dangerous and ranks poorly. Bossier's school system is consistently among the top systems in the state, and the Stockwell-Cope-Ariline district (the district I went to school in) is among the best in Bossier Parish. Stockwell is an excellent elementary school, you really can't go wrong with that or Apollo. The two new elementary schools they are building on Swan Lake Road will cater mostly to upper-middle class and upper-class students so I would expect them to both be excellent schools as well.

As far as Greenacres Village vs. Stockwell Landing, my personal preference would be Stockwell Landing. It's much more convenient to I-20 than Greenacres Village, and while it's considerably more expensive it's just an all-around nicer community. If you get a chance to visit both places you'll see what I mean right away.

Greenacres Village is also in a VERY congested part of north Bossier City. I went that way tonight while going to the bank and I wished I hadn't By the time I got from I-20 to the point where Greenacres Village is, it had taken me 20 minutes... that's a long time to go a distance of only 3-5 miles. It's extremely hard to turn out of those apartments onto Airline Drive as well, because of the congestion. The upside is that they're in a major shopping area. Honestly, though, living in Stockwell Landing you're literally only 5-10 minutes away from that same shopping area via the I-220 Bypass, and the Stockwell area only has a fraction of the traffic that the Airline corridor has.

Commuting from LSUHSC to either of these two places isn't bad as long as you're not going during rush hour. I typically think in terms of the typical rush hour, but it would all depend on your work hours. At rush hour when you get on I-49 and then merge onto I-20 heading eastbound, you can expect to sit and wait for a while. The big plus is, LSUHSC is literally 1/2 mile or less from I-49 and then you're less than 1 mile to the I-49/I-20 interchange. You can be on I-20 in a matter of 5 minutes, but you might sit in traffic for a while as you snake down I-20 through downtown.

Once you clear downtown it's still a bit rough all the way into Bossier City but if you live at Stockwell Landing the traffic does taper off a little bit before you reach your exit at the I-20/I-220 interchange. I go this way everyday so I'm very familiar with it. I live about 10 miles past where you would exit I-20 to go home.

All in all, to go 25 miles it takes me anywhere from 30-45 minutes, depending on traffic. It's almost entirely freeway for me, so I've got it good as far as that goes. It has taken me as long as an hour and a half to get home before because of wrecks that had I-20 tied up in/around downtown, but that kind of a delay is extremely rare. Generally you'd be looking at 20-25 minutes to get from Stockwell Landing, depending on traffic.

If there's anything else I can do to help, just let me know. I check these boards at least once a day, so just ask.

[rands786]

I think I shall keep Stockwell landing apartments and Stockwell Elementary School as my first priority.
Thank you once again for very useful information.

[SBCmetroguy]

Originally Posted by rands786

I think I shall keep Stockwell landing apartments and Stockwell Elementary School as my first priority.
Thank you once again for very useful information.

No problem, and I think you are making a VERY wise choice. I grew up a few miles from there (but I lived in a not-so-great neighborhood) and I know those schools are very good. I went to Meadowview but most of my friends went to Stockwell. Without a doubt Stockwell was, and still is, a much better school.

Another benefit to the Stockwell area is that it's growing and they have new businesses coming in. Just about 1 mile down the road is a large horse racing facility with a casino and hotel. Tonight they are having a huge New Years party with fireworks. That casino has fireworks often, so it's a little bonus... you can grab the kids and drive down there to watch the fireworks. I recommend driving that 1 mile rather than walking it, because Stockwell Road is still just a 2-land road with no shoulder. Hopefully in the near future this will change, though. I have a feeling it will, as the Stockwell area continues to build up.

[Beenhereawhile]

My niece teaches at Stockwell, and older brother was the student resource officer at Cope Middle for 3 years. Both nice schools, but that area can be expensive. Most of my nieces and nephews went to Loyola. The academic standards there are higher'n public schools.

[chaswill]

I am not sure where you are coming from but this part of the country is not strong in education. I relocated here many years ago from Washington, D.C. and was shocked at the poor performance of the schools. Private education is common for those who take education seriously. Private schools with a history of more than 30 years tend to be good. Public education is only worse in two other areas of the country so expect your children to be a year or so behind when you return home. The home school movement is very strong in this area for obvious reasons.

LSU med center is only 2-3 blocks from I-20 so access is easy on getting to work.

Shreveport has more police officers who live in Bossier City than live in Shreveport so that should give you an indication of how the city is changing. Bossier City is a law and order city but it's income is almost exclusively derived from casinos and a very large air force base. Virtually all other businesses are servicing these two major areas of income. The best places to reside for almost all higher than average incomes is on the north side of Bossier City above I-220. Traffic in Bossier City...especially at the local mall...is problematic since there are too many cars and too few streets.

I have taught at one of the local universities for many years and should tell you about the 6 year rule. Spouses tend to have adjustment problems with this area when they first arrive. Give them 6 years and they will do fine.

Communities tend to be church driven rather than club driven like some midwestern cities.

[rsandrarw]

There are new apartments on the cornor of Stockwell and Shed Rd.

[rsandrarw]

Stockwell is the best in my opinion. I live in Dogwood Sub. and live next door to one of the teachers. As far as your commute to the hospital. Once you get on interstate 20 which is not far from this neighborhood, you have about a 20 minute drive ,depending on what time you leave for work.