PRENTISS SMITH
Contributing Columnist
The city of Shreveport has the potential to be one of the best medium-sized cities in the country, but it starts with strong communities that contribute to the fabric of the city. Shreveport can attract new residents to the city if those communities are seen as aesthetically pleasing to the eye, which means the elimination of dilapidated buildings and abandoned properties.
Recently, Sheriff Steve Prator, a person who knows a thing or two about fighting crime, said that one of the prime incubators for crime are blighted neighborhoods. He said this in an article in which he spoke about how he and his department lowered the homicide rate by targeting blighted neighborhoods where individuals could congregate in abandoned and unkempt properties.
His tenure as Shreveport police chief was seen as successful, and ultimately propelled him to the position he is in right now -- Caddo Parish sheriff. In other words, fighting crime, seeing crime and studying crime have given him a perspective that someone else may not have. He should be listened to, because he speaks from experience.
Sadly, there are communities in Shreveport where the blight is overwhelming, with abandoned homes, grown-up lots and spaces that have been turned into dumps for appliances and cars. It is sad to see good people, who try to take care of their property, having to deal with others who don’t take the same pride in their property.
So many of these neighborhoods used to be nice neighborhoods, where children played and families sat on the porch in the evening time, but that does not exist anymore for a lot of reasons. Anchor families, families that have spent generations in these neighborhoods, are now leaving and taking the soul of the communities with them. People are no longer connected to the community, and that is a problem.
It is hard not to become angry and disillusioned when you call city hall to report the blight, and nothing is done. That is a problem, and it is another reason why citizens are not quick to approve more tax hikes and bond proposals for the pet projects of politicians. They don’t feel that their needs are being served, so why should they vote for more of the same, is the question.
Every month, a parade of concerned citizens appears before the city council to complain about properties that need to be cleaned up, and many times they leave disappointed by the response. Nothing seems to happen, and they are still stuck with the eye sores that inundate their communities. It is disheartening, and the city can do better to eradicate the blight that people wake up to every day.
The property standards department is tasked to address these problems, but they are overloaded and understaffed. The current administration has done a better job than previous ones, but they are still not doing enough to clean up these at-risk neighborhoods, which could possibly help assuage some of the crime that is seen in Shreveport.
“There are vacant and dilapidated properties throughout the city,” Property Standards Director Terrance Green says. “It all comes down to dollars and cents of how much money we have to demolish these buildings.” That’s the dilemma that the administration faces. And that’s the way I see it. smithpren@aol.com