I Hate Shreveport! (New Orleans, Haughton, Atlanta: crime, unemployment rate, transfer to)

[Chilly Gentilly]

Never in my life have I been to a more backwards town as the one I was born in. Shreveport epitomizes a "could be" town, full of so-called "potential" with nothing significant ever really occuring...no real growth, no real progression EVER! Just the same racist, close-minded, segregated mentality that other cities left behind in the 60's!

Shreveport has had nothing but ratty, overrated casinos since the early 90's...and guess what? Instead of taking advantage of the river that separates Shreveport/Bossier...we're building another CASINO! Yep. Thats what I'm talking about! Bring on another smoky, cheeseball casino to spice things up abit..

Whats even funnier is that my wife is from New Orleans and people who have never been to Louisiana automatically assume that its all like New Orleans. Forgive my candor, but IT AIN'T! NOT EVEN A TAD BIT! Its as different as a warm, decadent crawfish ettoufee and a slice of dry wheat bread...the end slice

My wife and I have been city shopping for a year now and have narrowed it down to Atlanta or San Francisco, depending on the cash flow of our small business by the 3rd quarter...either way come July, we are out of Shreveport!

[hdwell]

Sounds like two good choices. SF is unaffordable and Atl has a high unemployment rate. Sorry Shv is so awful. I have lived elsewhere and can't tell any difference. Everywhere's the same nowadays. As for the racists, you gotta ignore em'. I do

[MetroBTR]

I really pity you if you end up in San Francisco. Its a cesspool of self-indulgent crap.

[Chilly Gentilly]

San Francisco is, in fact, one of the most expensive markets in the country, but what's "unaffordable" is relative. And I'd rather be in cesspool of self-indulgence, than in one of complacency and ignorance. If you've never lived in a Moderator cut: language like northwest Louisiana, I don't think you could understand!

Compared to here, Atlanta or San Francisco seem like a dream...

[hdwell]

Is that you wastinaway?

[Chilly Gentilly]

What??? Not in the least....If anything, I've aquired a larger view of the world and Shreveport fits nowhere near that spectrum. NOWHERE near that..m

[BeenThereDunThat]

SHVtoATL: I can appreciate some of what you've stated. While there have been "pockets" of improvement, I too am amazed at how an area this size seems to just bump along without much real progress. I left in the late 1980's and when I came back some 23 yrs later (family reasons), I was expecting it to change a bit. It really hasn't changed that much in attitude and vibe. Still stuck in the 70's mindset of my youth, or so it seems.

I too am hoping to relocate to a larger metro with more economic diversity. I counseled some parents recently as they were upset at the rising cost of college tuition in Louisiana and programs getting cut. I suggested they have their kids move to Dallas, get jobs & establish residency so they could enroll in better programs at lower tuition in the community colleges and then transfer to a 4 yr institution. They actually are considering it for their kid's future if that tells you anything. Higher education in this state is being pushed to the back burner which is only going to encourage more young people to leave. I can't say I blame them one bit.

Good luck to you. I will say that I don't have the courage to deal with Atlanta's traffic though, it makes driving in Dallas a cakewalk IMHO.

[Magic Qwan]

I am 17, I have a 31 on the ACT, and I don't like hot weather. Cold weather doesn't phase me as much, for some reason. I have always lived in Haughton, but I know from traveling around the country that Louisiana can't hold me. Alaska is a very progressive state, and Anchorage is cheaper than SF (about the only city in that state cheaper than SF…). You might want to go there…

[Chilly Gentilly]

Magic Qwan: I'd love to look into Anchorage, but I HATE the cold half as much as I hate North Louisiana. Haughton is the pits... Let me know how it works out for you in Alaska. You might make me throw on a jacket and head that way!

BeenThereDunThat: I really want to get out of this region. All of my grade schooling was in Texas so Dallas and Houston feel like the same ole, same ole...Plus Texas is the "buckle" of the bible belt and my wife and I are agnostic

[jbub22]

I lived in Shreveport for 6 years and left because of work. I do agree that Shreveport is a crap hole but I loved it there. Yes there were racist idiots. Yes the school systems were bad. Yes crime was bad. But, I still loved it there. Right now, I live in New England, great education, no crime, but expensive as can be. All places have the bad and the good, weight them and make a decision. Long story short, you "must" make the best of the current situation, otherwise you will never be happy.