All cities have lists of the “top 10 things to see in…”, and we are presently in the Shreveport/Bossier area (Shreveport is on the western side of the Red River and Bossier on the eastern side). So we went to the “Louisiana Boardwalk”, which was advertised as a factory outlet type shopping area right next to the “boardwalk” on the Red River. Well, it felt like being in a post apocalyptic adventure.
While the store exteriors are still in good shape, and a few stores and restaurants are still operating, we could see almost no one there (to the point that even though it was daytime, I was unsure if it was safe for us to be there). And people weren’t there for a good reason. Most stores are closed, with many building showing the shadows of their previous store’s name. Shadows of names like Nike, Banana Republic, Gap, Yankee Candle, IHOP…
After leaving, we did some research, and this apparently started during COVID. The way it is laid out, it is only accessible to pedestrian traffic. While this sounds like a great idea in principle to urban designers, in practice these places appear more vulnerable.
This is unfortunate, because in terms if layout, it is far better than your typical “factory outlet” store that one finds all over the country
PS: this was taken at about noon on a Friday…
Claudette’s 2 Cents:
What impressed me most I think about this place was that although there wasn’t much going on, it was very clean. There was no trash or graffiti anywhere. We even used the washrooms which to be honest, I checked behind the doors just in case and they are spotless, better than some of the rest stops we’ve had the unfortunate mishap of stopping to (Maryland – what’s up with your rest stops? Some of the SAME toilets have been out of order for four years. SERIOUSLY?)
We didn’t try to eat at the few restaurants that were opened. We opted for a place called BeauxJax Crafthouse. There were lots of folks there (which is always a good sign, right?) and the food was really good. Bernard and I had our very first PoBoys – I had the Blackened Shrimp and Bernard had the Ham/Cheese. Definitely the place to enjoy good food.
