Published March 21, 2008
One particularly uneventful Friday evening I asked a friend, "So what do people with promising futures do in this city that feels like a small town?"
His response: "Leave."
So five days after Thanksgiving, 24-year-old Shreveport native LeRodrius McDowell took his own advice, packed up his car and moved to Atlanta.
Leaving doesn't sound all that bad of an idea to the number of college-educated, young adults who happen to reside in what — at times — seems to be a service-based city.
McDowell's reason for leaving: "The lack of career opportunities, lack of culture and the disproportionate balance between those with wealth and those in poverty is the reason I relocated to Atlanta. The pretense of equal opportunity in this city is as wretched as the streets we are subjected to drive on."
KaToya Strange, 25, found herself over 900 miles from home and longing for a return to the Ark-La-Tex."
I miss all of my family, I really don't want to have to travel 15 hours just to get home. The sad part is that I've looked and looked and looked for jobs in Shreveport and the jobs I've found don't offer decent salaries."
McDowell adds, "I have definitely faced roadblocks. Being that I am not interested in starting a career at GM, the hospitals, the call centers, the casinos or KCS, my options are definitely limited. I am expected to accept the same jobs and compensation that someone who just graduated high school would be offered."
These stories aren't atypical as a number of young adults are leaving Louisiana — particularly the northern portion of the state — for greener pastures elsewhere. Strange says she has friends who have all left Shreveport-Bossier City to establish careers in Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, Los Angeles, New York, Baton Rouge and New Orleans.
"They all left home because the area lacks real opportunity. In Shreveport, either you're a teacher or you work on one of the boats," she says.
Locals aren't moving to only large cities for prospects.
McDowell says he has friends who have moved to Carrollton, Texas; Lewisville, Texas; Fayetteville, Ark.; and Farmer's Branch, Texas, just to name a few. They work as recreation specialists, inventory control specialists, team leaders/managers in training and account managers.
"I'd love to come back someday and help build this city into a more culturally diverse place to live, work and play. But today is just not that day," he laments.
Katrina L. Rogers is one of several twentysomethings columnists who appear on Fridays. Send comments to shreveportopinion@gannett.com.
