re: Folks here love shitting on Shreveport.

Northwest Louisiana in general made the mistake of assuming the shale boom would be perpetual, or at least decades long. It lasted about 5 years. Some individuals made a lot of money, and some rural parishes got some nice brand new schools and other infrastructure out of it. That's a good thing, but they could have plowed some of it back into developing a more diverse economic base.

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You have said you live on the Westbank. How does that stack up to Shreveport?

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I suspect this is a dig, but I’ll answer it.

It’s like comparing Belarus with Honduras. Very different places. But there are similarities. The Westbank is almost as big as Shreveport. Traffic much worse though. Less crime (at least in Jefferson). Fewer very poor people and very rich people than Shreveport. More uniformly middle and working class. Education levels are similar. WB is more ethnically diverse (e.g., more Hispanics, Asians and Muslims). Far more Catholic than anywhere in N. La. But people in both places are generally good and friendly. Neighbors watch out for each other just like they did when I was growing up.

I live here because my wife grew up here, and her elderly parents live 3 miles from us. On the other hand, my elderly parents live in Shreveport, and I feel guilty for being so far away.

Well..it is a toilet

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Ever heard of Huddie Leadbetter or the Louisiana Hayride? For people in the know Shreveport has a significant musical past.

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The Hayride was up there with the Opry for many years. Leadbetter, Hank Jr. and more came from the area. Not to mention everyone came out to play the hayride or watch it back in the day.

Not to mention, the oldest town in La is in North La, so there's that. A large very old creole community around the Red River as well. I don't get the whole competition between South La and North La. I mean its fun to pick around in good fun, but at this point we're all in the same boat.

Worked at Savage until a couple years ago. Breaks my heart.

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move to Dallas.

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hard pass


Dallas is north Louisianian’s mecca

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B/c S La is full of Cajuns and dagos.

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Yeh but at this point everyone in Louisiana is basically a little bit everything at this point if your family has been here long enough. Most people don't even know what their "heritage" really is. You go up north and everyone is like "I'm Irish" "I'm Italian" "I'm whatever" and you ask someone in La (or the south in general) and most are going to say "I'm from Louisiana" or "I'm from Texas/etc."

Louisiana Italians are awesome though fwiw. Best Italian American food in the country.

Nikki Honeycutt and John Howe. Used to listen to them at The Medical Corporation.

The Swan Lake rd extension should help some of that, I hope.