JOHN PERKINS
The illusion of wealth has been our stock in trade, but we are not thriving . Could it be that what we have been doing since the end of WWII does not work?
This post-war pattern of big-box sprawl might not be as sturdy as the ways of our grandparents. When that generation moved off farms and into cities, they started small. They built small businesses that they could manage. They hired local help as needed. They lived over their businesses in some cases.
They built one small house for their family with room to add an addition if needed. That generation created wealth by doing, making and conserving. But what does Shreveport make or do here that will create wealth today? What is our reason to be?
For the last 70 years, it has all been about being "Shreveport, a city on the grow." Even after the growth stopped two decades ago.
Then we turned to capturing other people's money. We lived for awhile on convincing companies to move here because it is cheap here. Cheap labor and corporate tax deferments. We do still have both sports, hunting and fishing and you cannot get that everywhere, right? Sportsman's Paradise!
We bought into every half-price government match project our leaders could land. We captured a lot of other people's money. But where is all that Industry? When do we get a return on our match dollars? Are we thriving yet?
What if we played to our strong suit? Our musical heritage is strong here. Wy are Ledbelly festivals held in New York and London, but not Shreveport?
Why isn't the Country Music Hall of Fame here? Country music happened at Municipal, but we still send our brightest and best talent off to Nashville.
But there is one more thing we are nationally known for and it ain't our crayfish. We are known for being good at rebuilding neighborhoods with care.
Millard Fuller, founder of Habitat for Humanity and later Fuller Center for Housing, broke with his tradition and built an intentional community in Allendale. Slowly, that model of development rebuilt one of the most crime ridden neighborhoods. Then local business leaders stopped redevelopment in Allendale. Why?
I wandered into a learning community meeting in Allendale five years ago. That learning community has become a doing community. Allendale Strong has become a think tank for the benefit of Shreveport. Their Allendale Corner Store Co-Op is halfway along a five-year path to opening and is now selling memberships.
Like the chain with weak links, maybe we can see ourselves as a city that is only as strong as our weakest neighborhoods. What if we started strengthening our weakest neighborhoods today?
CBS recently covered the Community Renewal International work that began here in Shreveport. Calls came into the Shreveport office from all over the U.S. that day. People wanting to learn how we do it in Shreveport. What if we did more of that "we care" stuff right here in Shreveport?
THIS ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED IN THE September 4 ISSUE OF FOCUS SB - THE INQUISITOR.