Downtown Shreveport: From Identifying Problems to Implementing Solutions

Bill Sabo, CEcD, EDP, PMP

Dir. Economic Development
City of Shreveport

Many of the suggestions recently offered for improving downtown are readily apparent. Better lighting, cleaner streets, clearer signage, consistent enforcement of property standards and greater attention to public safety are all legitimate needs. Several are already being addressed by the Arceneaux administration and the DDA, and others deserve further attention.
 
But the purpose of engaging Downtown Strategies is not simply to pay someone from out of town to identify problems that people in Shreveport already recognize. We are looking for the ideas, programs and initiatives that may not be so apparent—the approaches being used successfully in other cities and the practical steps necessary to adapt them to Shreveport.
 
Downtowns across the country are confronting many of the same challenges. The traditional office market has changed. Older high-rises are expensive to renovate. Retailers need dependable foot traffic. Property owners face costs that cannot always be supported by current rents. Public safety concerns—both real and perceived—affect where people choose to work, live and spend their money.
 
Shreveport is not alone in trying to determine what comes next. That is one reason it makes sense to learn from a company that has worked directly with downtowns around the country. We should understand what other communities have tried, what has succeeded, what has failed and what might work here.
 
The question is not whether we know downtown’s challenges. We have discussed many of them for years. The more important question is whether we can create an organized plan with the resources that produces results while also introducing fresh ideas.
 
Downtown Strategies is developing a five-year action plan containing approximately 20 to 30 specific, achievable initiatives. The emphasis is on “doing the doable”—projects that can begin moving the needle without waiting for one enormous development to solve everything.
 
The company’s role does not end when it delivers a report. The engagement includes three years of implementation assistance, regular accountability and help organizing action teams around individual projects. I believe those teams should be small and initiative-focused: meet two, three or four times, complete the assignment and then disband. A different group can be formed around the next project.
 
That approach also creates opportunities for many more people to participate. Downtown cannot be revitalized by City government, the DDA, consultants, or property owners acting independently. It will require residents, businesses, employers, cultural organizations, tourism, public agencies and private investors working on clearly defined projects.
 
The kickoff was the beginning of that process. It was primarily a listening session, not the presentation of a completed plan. The Downtown Strategies team came to hear from the people who know downtown best and combine that knowledge with its research and national experience. Initial recommendations are due in October.
 
Perhaps the most interesting part of the visit was what the team saw in Shreveport that we too often overlook.
 
They were impressed by downtown’s residential population, historic architecture, strong arts community, cleanliness and walkability. They saw the riverfront, casinos, Shreveport Common, aquarium, entertainment venues, new state office building and several successful pockets of redevelopment. They described some of these as assets many downtowns would “kill for.”
 
Their initial observation was not that Shreveport lacks the ingredients for a successful downtown. It was that many of those ingredients currently operate independently. One of our greatest opportunities is to connect them so that someone who comes downtown for a concert, a government appointment, the aquarium or a casino also visits a restaurant, coffee shop, gallery or retailer.
 
Downtown is not standing still. Bally’s is expanding. Petroleum Tower is expected to add 117 apartments. G-Unit has announced significant plans for downtown. These investments will not solve every problem, but they create momentum upon which other improvements can build.
 
The annual cost of the Downtown Strategies engagement is less than that of one part-time employee. For that investment, Shreveport receives access to a full professional team, extensive research and data, experience from communities across the country, and three years of help turning recommendations into completed projects. I consider that a good value.
 
The success of this work will not be measured by whether Downtown Strategies can tell us that a light pole needs painting. It will be measured by whether Shreveport can organize people around 20 to 30 achievable initiatives and complete them.
 
No individual project will transform downtown overnight. But it is difficult to believe that 20 to 30 practical improvements—combined with the private investments already underway—would not make downtown cleaner, safer, more active and more attractive for additional investment.
 
We already know how to describe downtown’s problems. It is time to become equally good at organizing and completing the solutions.