According to website travel.alot.com, you don’t have to travel far from the Shreveport/Bossier area to visit the ugliest city in the state of Louisiana.
While I’m not usually a proponent of pointing out the negative aspects of our state, it’s worth noting what drugs can do to an area. Case and Point is Shreveport’s very own Queensborough neighborhood.
However, in its article “The Ugliest Cities in Each State,” the website names Bastrop the ugliest city in Louisiana, blaming drug use directly for the rot that has gripped this once-booming farm town.
A former resident wrote: “Bastrop has a lot that should change. The town is so run down because there are no extra activities for kids when they get home from school. There are so many drugs in this town that have also made it run down.”
Could the same be said of Shreveport one day?
I am almost certain that Bastrop’s 9,691 residents would say that unless something is done quickly to curb the drug activity and gang violence plaguing Shreveport, it could very likely have the same results.
Sure, Bastrop could use some tender loving care. It needs a lot of maintenance and probably a week or two of dozer work, but is Bastrop really the ugly stepsister to all of Louisiana?
Couldn’t the same thing be written about many cities in Louisiana? Drugs have wreaked havoc on cities across the state.
From Google Maps
From Google Maps
I think travel.alot.com must never have visited Raceland. This small community of just under 11,000 people southwest of New Orleans was once a bustling community of farmers, fishermen, and oil field workers. It is now reported that over 18% of the population lives below the poverty line.
Drugs have caused a plague in many Louisiana cities
Talk about what medications can do to an area. A friend of mine who grew up in the Raceland area said that there was such a meth problem that the poorest man in town was the dentist.
Why Bastrop when there is obviously a better choice
I honestly think Bastrop was a bad choice. Of course, the most obvious choice for most of us living here in Louisiana isn’t even an entire city. It’s just a building in a city.
Small note here; it’s in Baton Rouge. Bet you can guess where I’m going when you see the picture below.
Chris Graythen, Getty Images
Chris Graythen, Getty Images
The 10 Most Dangerous Cities in Louisiana
According to FBI statistics, these are the top 10 most dangerous cities in all of Louisiana for violent and property crime.
The Ghost Towns of Louisiana
Here are 70 of Louisiana’s ghost towns. We got some of the more colorful details on these former cities from this Wikipedia page.
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