Is Shreveport-Bossier City a good place to live? (Lafayette, Alexandria: high crime, schools)

[BeenThereDunThat]

Originally Posted by LSUTigerFan92

My family is moving from Baton Rouge to Shreveport in December. I'll be transfering from LSU BR to LSU Shreveport for my senior year. I already have been to Shreve a couple times to visit family, but still don't know much about the area. What's living there like? Is it a good place to start my career after graduation?

Thanks!

You should take a moment and scroll through or do a search through the Shreveport-Bossier forum and you'll get some ideas as to what it's like living here. I won't go into any length here as I've made enough comments on this very subject. The synopsis is Bossier is growing, Shreveport is losing population.
As far as places to live.... I'd say it's just okay, if you're over 50 yrs of age you might find this place okay.
But if you're a younger person with education, you'll probably leave for better opportunities in Dallas, Houston, New Orleans.

Get your education but keep your options open. If you're getting in the health sciences field then you'll find plenty of opportunity for that.

[JWG223]

Originally Posted by BeenThereDunThat

You should take a moment and scroll through or do a search through the Shreveport-Bossier forum and you'll get some ideas as to what it's like living here. I won't go into any length here as I've made enough comments on this very subject. The synopsis is Bossier is growing, Shreveport is losing population.
As far as places to live.... I'd say it's just okay, if you're over 50 yrs of age you might find this place okay.
But if you're a younger person with education, you'll probably leave for better opportunities in Dallas, Houston, New Orleans.

Get your education but keep your options open. If you're getting in the health sciences field then you'll find plenty of opportunity for that.

Not really. It may look like that to someone on the outside, but if you actually look at things, WK owns this town, and is a monopoly. So, if you're okay with being told "Like it or leave" when it comes to benefits/pay/work conditions/etc. then sure, but if you want healthy competition and incentives to continue working for a system, etc. in your industry, no. Also keep in mind that there are more schools feeding the area than you can shake a stick at. This means that you are infinitely replaceable. It's a good place to get a few years experience, or to retire from, is my take on it.

[BeenThereDunThat]

Well like I said: opportunity in health services as far as getting a job is concerned... is perhaps more accurate.
Since the OP was finishing school... I went ahead to address the workforce situation here. If I were a youngster
looking for a "career" as opposed to a job, I'd focus on healthcare, get some experience ...maybe get mom & dad
to let me live at home while I get my footing... build a good resume and move on to somewhere the competition for
qualified medical folks is good for the job-seeker. Let's face it... Christus (Schumpert) is no more... it's going to be a
more diluted version of what it once was, and that's a fact.

[JWG223]

Originally Posted by BeenThereDunThat

Well like I said: opportunity in health services as far as getting a job is concerned... is perhaps more accurate.
Since the OP was finishing school... I went ahead to address the workforce situation here. If I were a youngster
looking for a "career" as opposed to a job, I'd focus on healthcare, get some experience ...maybe get mom & dad
to let me live at home while I get my footing... build a good resume and move on to somewhere the competition for
qualified medical folks is good for the job-seeker. Let's face it... Christus (Schumpert) is no more... it's going to be a
more diluted version of what it once was, and that's a fact.

Agreed, but it's not that easy to get a job here with half a dozen nursing schools pumping out all sorts of medical personnel.

[Mwahfromtheheart]

Geez I moved in 2012. Sounds like it took a turn for the worse and I didn't think that was possible...

[Chilly Gentilly]

Originally Posted by Mwahfromtheheart

Geez I moved in 2012. Sounds like it took a turn for the worse and I didn't think that was possible...

I moved from Shreveport in 2013 and I'm not sure if the city took a turn as much as it is that the proverbial Smoke & Mirrors have faded.

People now see Shreveport for what it is...

[JWG223]

Originally Posted by Chilly Gentilly

I moved from Shreveport in 2013 and I'm not sure if the city took a turn as much as it is that the proverbial Smoke & Mirrors have faded.

People now see Shreveport for what it is...

I hated Shreveport from day 1, but got into a school program and stuck around for the 5 years to complete it, lucked into a job situation that payed me 30% more than national average, stayed another 4 years for that, and am finally moving. My hatred has just grown and grown for this area and I have become more and more open about it.

Also consider that the oil money is drying up, here.

Also consider that the mayor has shown his failure to run the city more and more as problems just snowball with budgets and infrastructure, etc.

Also consider momentum...things rarely change without cause, they just go faster and faster, and this town has been headed for the toilet for decades.

[BeenThereDunThat]

I will admit that Shreveport has had the same problems as far back as 1984 which was the early part of the Oil & Gas Bust.
The downtown spiraled into decline within 2 years and has never recovered. I was hoping by now that things would've changed but only a little. I too am in the relocation phase as I anticipate 2015 to be the year I move.

[Mwahfromtheheart]

People there just don't like any change at all. I remember when the CenturyTel Center went up and all of the retired people in South Bossier were throwing a fit because it may cause traffic once every few weeks. They couldn't even keep a championship winning sports team (Mudbugs) in that stadium because nobody would attend. I feel sorry for them when Texas opens up gambling. I guess it's a good thing they have Hollywood giving them money...

[stalehoneybun]

Originally Posted by Mwahfromtheheart

It has to be the most boring and stagnant place in Louisiana to live, hands down. I lived there for over 25 years and you'd have to drag me back, kicking and screaming. The people there are mostly boring and just live their lives day to day, family, church, job are their creeds... as if there's nothing else in life worth living for. They're pretty snobby to people that aren't "like them" either... aka not Christian. Or their skin color.

I guess it's great if you can't get enough of God, or you like to hunt or fish or something.

If you think that Shreveport is the most boring and stagnant place in Louisiana, you obviously haven't lived or traveled around Louisiana very much. I'm from a town called Zwolle, and I've also lived in Pineville (neighbor to Alexandria). Talk about boring and stagnant... I recently moved to Shreveport, and I would have to say that it has a lot more going for it than a lot of areas in Louisiana. Mind you, I don't think that Shreveport is great because all I know are hick-towns... I lived in the Midwest a few years, about an hour away from Chicago. I loved it there, and I would seriously consider moving back. All I'm trying to say is that Shreveport has MUCH more going for it in this state than most other places.