Shreveport has a lot of potential,

quote:

---

Shreveport has a lot of potential,

---

So does Detroit.

quote:

---

Is there a reason it appears politicians, city leaders, investors, etc do not appear to have dumped one dime into maintenance for the city in a couple of decades?

---

Shreveport was given back to nature.

quote:

---

Infrastructure: I’m not sure I’ve ever been to a city that has failed to maintain infrastructure quite like Shreveport. Water towers stained and weathered beyond belief, street/interstate signs with paint worn off and weathered beyond repair, potholes in the middle of freeways, etc. That stretch if I-20 has to be one of the worst maintained roadways in the nation.

---

As someone who is from Shreveport and now lives in New Orleans, I would kill for roads like we have in Shreveport.

The Boardwalk used to be great, Not sure what it's like now, I haven't been in several years.

quote:

---

visuals such as the old minor league ballpark that still just sits there abandoned and decrepit.

---

It's getting torn down... Kind of.

quote:

---

Louisiana Boardwalk: great layout, vibe, etc. nice way to use the River for something productive. However half the property is for lease or vacant, and the ones that aren’t have to be barely surviving.

---

It's just a shopping mall that's outside. So, no different than all the other malls. Same issues.

Also has absurd amounts of democrats

Louisiana is shite. And I’m a lifelong Louisiana native. We’re constantly in the bottom three of every negative statistic possible.

quote:

---

Shreveport has a lot of potential,

---

It's main export is depression...and population.

The problem with Shreveport is that it wants to be Dallas, but is light years behind and in a state that itself has a unique identity.

Also contributing is that it shuns its neighbor of Bossier that it also loses population to. Speaking of population, it annexed too much city in the 80s and 90s chasing tax base, and now it has to support a larger footprint with city services all while the children of the annexed areas haven’t returned after leaving, losing a whole/half generation of economic momentum. It additionally has too much generational wealth sitting on the sideline from a civic involvement-standpoint. It has a relatively interesting architectural downtown that is a ghost town because its buildings are holding space on some family trust’s balance sheet.

It needs to understand that its only way to survive is as a region. Turn the Texas street bridge into a pedestrian bridge. Build residential living in the old buildings, commercial space on the Bossier side. Let go of their pearls and allow some semblance of a nightlife downtown. Let go of Texas, embrace its Louisiana. Let Forbing secede, and cut your losses.

Shreveport has an interesting musical history that it has never really leveraged to any great extent, as well. No reason they shouldn't attempt a Hayride Fest or something. Put it in May and call it "May-ride" and let actual musicians help pick bands.

ETA: 20 miles away from a 26% raise in MFI and 3 years additional life expectancy.

[insert name of city here] has a lot of potential