PRENTISS SMITH

Shreveport is a great place to live and an even better place to work and raise a family. That flies in the face of all the bad things that people hear about Shreveport, but it is true. Are there problems? Of course there are. Every municipality the size of Shreveport has problems, but that does not mean that those problems are the rule. In fact, in Shreveport, that is not the case. For the most part, people get along with each other in Shreveport.

The city gets a bad rap because so many people are judging the city by the negative visions they see and hear on television every night with respect to crime. The truth is that Shreveport is no different from any other mediumsized city. Resources are scarce, but money isn’t everything. It is about the people who live in the city. It is easy to criticize, rather than try to make things better. Shreveport is not perfect by any means, but it is certainly not the dystopian wasteland that some people on social media and in certain magazines and publications make it out to be.

Over the last several months, there have been stories written that highlight the negatives and not the positives about Shreveport. Some of it is warranted with respect to the spike in crime, specifically homicides in the city, but most of it is unwarranted and untrue. The fact is that all cities have problems, and crime is the most important problem that any city must address. Shreveport is addressing the problem, and the mayor appears to be more focused on the crime problem than he previously has been. The jury is still out on the new efforts being explored to curb crime. 2021 is not encouraging thus far, but at least the mayor and the city council are engaged.

Shreveport, a city of 200,000 people, is just the right size. It’s not too big. It’s not too small. It’s easy to get around town, and there are rarely, if any traffic jams, unless you are trying to take your family out to dinner on a Friday evening to one of the fine restaurants that line Youree Drive, which can bottleneck at times. Those fine restaurants are not just limited to Youree Drive. They are all over town, from Shane’s Seafood on Mansfield to Earnest’s Fine Foods just on the edge of downtown and many more. Finding tasty food in Shreveport is not a problem. In fact, Shreveport is the go-to place for many people within a 100-mile radius from Longview to Texarkana to Minden for a night out with the family.

Shreveport is also the home of one of the best private colleges in the country, Centenary, which has consistently been featured by Forbes Magazine as one of America’s best schools. The medical school in Shreveport is also one of the best in the South and has produced some of the country’s finest doctors. Formerly known as LSU Medical Center, it is a top-notch trauma center that has continued to serve the people of Shreveport and surrounding communities with professionalism and excellence. Shreveport is also the home of Southern University and LSUS, both of which have steadily grown in enrollment and importance to the educational infrastructure of the city.

I was born in Ruston, but Shreveport is my home. It is the place where I worked on a job for 30 years and retired. It is the birthplace of my wife and three of my children. It is where I planted my roots, and where I have some of the fondest memories of my life. It is home. It is the place where my children received excellent primary and secondary educations and have all gone on to do well for themselves. The story of my family is the story of thousands of families in Shreveport whose lives have been a part of the fabric of this great city.

Shreveport is a great place to live and raise a family; it just gets a bad rap. Yes, things can and will get better, but it is going to take time, and it is going to take a real commitment by the city’s leaders to get the word out. Shreveport is also a good place for entertainment. Outside of New Orleans, Shreveport is the best place to celebrate Mardi Gras. Thousands of people come from near and far to watch the parades and enjoy the party. Every year the city hosts one of the best festivals in the south -- The Red River Revel and Mudbug Madness, just to name a few.

As someone who has lived here for almost 40 years, I know what Shreveport was when I came here, and I know what it has become. It has become a place where people like me can be proud of being from. Yes, there are problems with crime and deteriorating infrastructure and other maladies, but those problems can be overcome with a little more optimism and a lot less pessimism from those who can only find fault. Effective leadership and a commitment to making the city work for all its citizens is a good place to start for all of us who love this city and want it to prosper and succeed. Shreveport is a wonderful city; it just gets a bad rap. Everyone must work together to change that perception. And that’s the way I see it. smithpren@aol.com
 

THIS ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED IN THE  February 5 ISSUE OF FOCUS SB - THE INQUISITOR.