Alexandran

That would have been a near ideal location. There is a strange large gap of Nascar (and Indy) track coverage in the south- from Memphis-Little Rock-Houston-New Orleans-Mississippi. The nearest track for most here is Dallas, and driving in that metro is a nightmare. Talladega is a full days drive, Daytona more than that. I've read where there's talk of building one a little south of Jackson, but don't know how realistic that is. It's just strange to have about as much opportunity to access a race in this area as you would have in California.

That's a good question. Alexandria has the infrastructure set up for such an industry- rail, port, freeway system, airport- however nothing ever seems to happen. Could it be location? Halfway between mid-major markets to the north-south, but really nothing east-west. Bringing in a major plant such as auto would mean the need for skilled workers moving here from elsewhere- and I'm not sure if we have the housing available to support them. It's not impossible, it's just improbable. Media concentrates on the crime rate here, however if you avoid certain areas mainly in the Garden District of Alex- it isn't a bad place to live. We're slowly getting the same chain restaurants as you find in Lafayette or Shreveport. We have a nice zoo. Single people would find it quite dull, as there is no bar scene here other than at WalkOns or other local chains with bars. Downtown could really afford to liven itself up in this aspect. We have a couple of microbrew places that are tasting rooms, it would be nice to have them offer food also. Alex could benefit by making more use of the Red River too- instead of just hiding behind the levee. There are beautiful forested areas around Alex with public land to roam on- unlike around most other Louisiana cities. Alex has potential, it just depends on whether industries want to settle in a rather isolated central part of the state or not.

I'm hoping this lake gets finished soon. Living in central Louisiana, there really aren't that many good watersports lakes to choose from- most lakes are wooded over. Descriptions of this lake say it will be good for watersports, so I assume they will cut the timber before they flood the drainage (wow, what a concept!) I love the Columbia area so going up there to camp and play in the water on weekends will be awesome!