Mudbugger

Hey everyone, Sorry i haven't posted about this stuff lately, i have been really slammed at work. We have picked up a few new contracts and i will be working 6 days a week for the near future. I have noticed the new restaurant mentioned above but haven't had a chance to check it out. When it was being renovated to it's current state it looked really cheap and tacky due to simpisitic Steak and Seafood sign on the front of the building. I have looked at the MPC and Zoning Board sites lately and haven't seen much in the way of new development in the Southern Hills area lately. Only thing i have seen is the 24 hour ice store next to the Circle K at Dean and Bert Kouns. I see what appears to be a new apartment complex at the same intersection but on the southeast corner. Can anyone verify this for me? Mudbugger

I think this aquarium is going to go the way of CTC. Shreveport will spend huge sums of money to fund a study to find out if we need one and Bossier will simply build it. That's how Shreveport lost the Mudbugs. Shreveport will never do anything in a top-shelf way, the city council is full of people i wouldn't trust to boil water. We tried with the Red River District and it flopped, horribly. Bossier tried with the Boardwalk and it is a runaway hit. Shreveport tried with a convention center and hotel that we had to find someone to run. Bossier seems to realize that the convention center industry is at capacity nationwide, Texarkana needs to hear this. Bossier is building the Cyber Innovation Center as a lure to help land the Cyber Command. Shreveport is doing, um ... umm..... give me a minute on this one. Shreveport has tried to get a zoo done in the past but it has met with resistance to the tune of people wearing "Screw the Zoo!" Now Shreveport wants to build an aquarium, i hope we have enough money to bribe all of the necessary people up front so it's cost doesn't soar like the convention center did. Sorry about the rant but when you consider the dichotomy of Shreveport and Bossier City you have to just laugh at the inefficiency of one city versus the other. Mudbugger

A heads up on the old Smokey Bones. My wife went by and asked the guys cleaning out Smokey Bones and they told her that it is being converted into a ... Longhorn Steakhouse. There you have it, let the drooling over steaks begin. Mudbugger

My wife and I drove around the TGIFridays parking lot on Saturday. We asked one of the construction guys if he knew when they were opening. He said this Thursday at noon. Get in line soon! Mudbugger

As a sporadic poster here at UrbanPlanet let me greet you ! Mudbugger

Woob, I didn't know you moved away, where did you go and how are things up there? Shreveport is still nice, our fearless leaders just passed an Anti-Sagging Pants law. I don't want to see anyone arrested for this but come on, why can't parents police their own kids? Also, did you know about the odor issue Downtown? The rendering plant in the Agurs district has had lots of attention lately and Glover and co. haven't been able to do anything about it. The a local attorney took up the case on behalf of the plant's neighbors who were complaining the loudest. An injunction was put in place late Thursday and the plant is essentially shut down now. It appears that environmentally speaking they were only allowed to process "x" amount of tonnage per year. They were running 24/7 and had long ago hit their maximum. This is welcomed news to visitors of downtown, especially those in the burgeoning film industry. They complained a lot too. By the way, the attorney who made all of this possible? Jerry Jones. That's right the man who lost to Cedric "Mayor McCheese" Glover ended up doing more than his administration and city council combined. Shreveport elected the wrong guy to city hall and maybe we will elect the person most qualified next time. Not just the one who happens to be in the same race as the majority of Shreveport's citizenry. Just an update and a little rant, Mudbugger

SBC, My wife and i drove down Youree drive today and noticed that the Smokey Bones restaurant in front of the new Lowes has closed as of Friday May 4th. When we checked out the company website they made mention that they are closing 54 locations due to business. Funny because my wife remembered reading about the new restaurants in that area and there was some talk of a Red Lobster coming there soon. They pulled there app to build a new one over there recently. Since the same company (Darden Restaurants) owns Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Smokey Bones and Rainforest Cafe doesn't it seem more likely that they are simply going to retrofit that store into either Red Lobster or Rainforest Cafe? My money is on Red Lobster because they had one in this market before and when Mansfield road died they left town and kept the Bossier location. Can you do some digging and see if this is the case? At the worse case i thought you would like to know about this. Mudbugger PS I checked the link for the Darden site and found this. http://www.dardenrestaurants.com/rest_smok...ose_release.asp It detals the demise of all the Smokey Bones resaurants and the rebranding of a few into Rocky River Grillhouse.

People shouldn't be so afraid of areas that may or may not go "bad". I bought a house in Southern Hills last Thanksgiving and i will not, let me repeat that WILL NOT allow my home neighborhood to become the next Cedar Grove, Allendale or Mooretown. The only way to hold off and ultimately to stop the decay of decent neighborhoods is to have people move back into them and do what it takes to keep the riff-raff out. If i see someone on my street or in my neighborhood that is walking around drinking a 40, you can rest assured that i will let them know that their behavior in MY neighborhood is NOT going to be tolerated and that they should leave. Likewise if someone moves in and lets their yard go to hell and a bad element starts coming over for 2 minute visits at all hours of the day and night. The real question we have to ask ourselves isn't where are we going to move to now? It should be "What are we willing to do to keep our neighborhood safe for future families?" Just a short rant on keeping a neighborhood safe and sound. Mudbugger

SBC, Hey, i noticed something today when i was driving west on Bert Kouns. In front of the Automall i noticed that there are survey marks up on both sides of Bert Kouns, are they planning to widen it to make more lanes due to the increase in traffic once the Inner Loop expansion is complete to Flournoy Lucas? By the way, don't drive over in that area if you have to. The construction guys are taking out the median under the new overpass and it has traffic snarled to one lane on either side for about a quarter mile. Just a question and heads up. Mudbugger

I know i should have done this months ago but i guess better late than never is ok. My name is Patrick and i am from the Southern Hills area of Shreveport. I have been on Urbanplanet for a few months now and it is refreshing to have a forum here where people can discuss topics in a civil manner. Anyone with questions about my neighborhood can feel free to ask anytime. I will respond to you next time i am online. Later, Mudbugger

SBC, I don't think that this is a surprise to anyone. Low-income projects like that don't encourage positive growth in an area in that bad of shape. These people are simply to afaid to take back their neighborhood from the criminals and drug-dealers. They wonder why property values are so low? Get a backbone and unite against the very people who are keeping you in squaller. In my neighborhood, specifically behind my house, there is 20 acres of land that someone tried to develop into a government income based apartment complex. That idea died very quickly because the community got vocal and said that they would have nothing to do with that because it would bring more crime and lower property values. Now there is a growing rumor that the same land might be up for development as a gated community. Bear in mind that all of those nice houses and gated communities on Williamson Way are just a block or two away. If that development wants to go forward then i have no problem with it because, if anything, it will raise my property values and bring less crime into the area. To sum up. If something you don't like is coming to your neighborhood, FIGHT IT! We have done that before in my neighborhood and we will continue to do so in the future. Mudbugger PS Did you see the Cowboys choke tonight? It was classic!

SBC, The new Starbucks definitely had a new feel to it and i think it is the nicest in the area. It even has a small stage, i presume for open mic nights and bands. As far as the East Ridge Plaza shopping center. I doubt that they will ever do anything new to it because the Centurytel call center takes up over half of that center. I think that the land being cleared by Regional Urology is the most likely choice to locate the new Starbucks. The Alltel and Centurytel call centers will provide them with alot of business, not to mention all the doctors in the area will probably frequent it as well. Mudbugger

SBC, My wife and I went to the new Starbucks in Uptown Shopping Center today and we got a nugget of info for you. The manager there told us that they are planning many more locations in Shreveport in the next few years. I asked them if there were any plans to build one near my location (Southern Hills), to my surprise we were informed that they are going to build one at the intersection of I-49 and Bert Kouns. Though no specific date was given they implied that we should expect it in the later half of 2007. I wonder, could it be one of the tracts of land being cleared by Regional Urology? It would make sense, considering how many doctors are in the vacinity. We all know how doctors love coffee. Later, Mudbugger

SBC, I was wondering if you know anything about the new 3 story apartments being built next to Lee Hedges Stadium, behind the Bellemeade Center. They are going up at a remarkable rate. What is the average rent going to be and what is the expected opening date? Then again, they could be for sale and not rent. Just a thought, Mudbugger

SBC, Sorry i haven't posted in a while but i have been in the middle of moving out of my apartment and into my first home. Needless to say that the wife and I haven't gotten alot of sleep lately. If i had to give out a peace of advice it would have to be this. Never close on the monday before Thanksgiving and never try to move the days immediately preceeding said holiday. The only way i was able to get the vast majority of our stuff moved was by getting my dad to hold the turkey hostage before we could have dinner. I kid you not, he demanded that my brothers move all of the largest items from our apartment and into our house before we could eat dinner. Never mind the fact that some of my brothers missed the first half of the Cowboys game. Sheesh, you would think i was asking for a kidney. Glad to be back on the air again and ready to gab it up about the growth of Shreveport. Mudbugger P.S. We switched from our Roadrunner to Bellsouth DSL and found it to be just as fast and 12 bucks a month cheaper. Never mind the fact that they are cutting us a 125 dollar check for sending in our last Roadrunner bill with a coupon. Couple that with the rebate that pays for the modem and we are actually coming out ahead in this endeavor so far. Go DSL, Roadrunner sucks!

Mudbugger here. Nope, i have no idea about that land. I barely remember my own name lately as i told SBC, my wife and i have bought our first house recently. We looked at it on Nov. 4 and they accepted our bid later that day, we close on it the 22nd. So, needless to say we have much to be thankful for. We decided not to run from our neighborhood and bought a nice little house on a large lot in Southern Hills. It is easy to assume that we will be the youngest property owners on our street. The previous owners are the ones who built the house and they have taken immaculate care of it. They are pleased that a young couple bought it and plan to have their family there. Southern Hills as a neighborhood isn't lost, it just needs more good, hardworking people living there to take care of it. We hope that we aren't the only people around here who think this way. Mudbugger

Check out the sign in front of the new development on Youree today. Kohl's, JC Penney, TGI Fridays and Logan's Roadhouse are on the board as tenants. Only Logan's Roadhouse wasn't known about until today. Mudbugger

The shopping center in question has a sign out front with a basic design and list of some tenants but i can't recall them at this late hour. It isn't loaded with major national retailers, just a bunch of lower end shops that won't do much to help the area. Next time you drive down that stretch of road take note of the 2 properties that currently have houses on them, they have Coldwell Banker signs on them. They mention being part of a 5 acre tract for sale, wether that means each is 5 acres or if they are combined for 5 acres is unclear. Whenever you have more info on this i would appreciate a heads up. Likewise if i see something that you may have missed (unlikely) i will post it here for you. Southern Hills is my turf and i like to pride myself on knowing about new developments and business comings and goings around here. By the way, did you notice that the Bassett Furniture store on Youree is going out of business? Kinda surprising the way the mayor's office likes to project only good news from that part of town and all. Also i talked with some employees of the shops next to Fatburger and they say that they have raised the prices of their food and that they aren't nearly as busy as they were. Looks like Cheeburger Cheeburger has delivered the death nail for them. My wife drove by the now demolished Grandy's and snapped a pic on her cellphone, only we don't have the means to upload it here, sorry. I think you are right on when you guessed that the owners of Eastgate wanted to tear them down to get rid of the eyesore that they presented in contrast with the nice new facade of Eastgate now. Maybe someone will be more likely to buy those empty outparcels and build something new on them, perhaps a Red Lobster at the old Grandy's site and a PF Chang's at the old Eckerd site? Just some random ramblings as i drift off to sleep, Mudbugger

SBC, I have noticed that several parcels of land on the southern side of Bert Kouns between Walker and Dean roads have been listed as for sale by the Dowling Gosslee Coldwell Banker group. Has anyone else noticed that the few residential lots on that side of the Ind. Loop have gone up for sale and then bought up by large real estate companies and the land is soon cleared for development? Also, the 5 acre parcel that Realty Executives cleared last year (next to Thrifty Liquor on the south side of Bert Kouns between Walker and Dean roads, it has a sign about the new shopping center to be built in 2006 (a little late don't they think?) what is the status on that development and do you know if something major is planned for that bit of the Ind. Loop? Seeing as how the few residential lots are being gobbled up i would expect that we can see some development in the next year or so. What are your thoughts on this? Mudbugger

I have to say that my wife and I went to Fatburger only once and it was ok but nothing spectacular. After trying Cheeburger Cheeburger there is no comparison and we haven't been back to Fatburger since. The burgers are better and the shakes are incredible. By the way, i have eaten the 1 lb. burger ..... 4 times now. I can usually pull that feat off in about 25 minutes. Not bragging mind you, just wanted to let people know that i really like those giant burgers at Cheeburger Cheeburger. Mudbugger

With Longhorn Steakhouse taking PF Chang's place on the corner i don't think we should rule out the possibility of PF Chang moving into someother location. Did anyone else notice that the old Eckerd's Drugs in Eastgate has been torn down? It would be nice to see the PF Chang's move into that spot, although with a Chef Lee within spitting distance of it, i would doubt that it would move there. Something to think about. Mudbugger

SBC, Glad to hear back from you so soon. I hope you are wrong that if Liz and Jerry are in the runoff, if necessary, most of the Dem vote will automatically move lockstep to Liz. Hopefully the Dems in Shreveport won't be mindlessly locked into voting just for the party and not the person. If they actually looked into the person's qualifications they would come to the quick conclusion that Liz Swaine isn't qualified to run a bowling alley at 3 a.m., let alone a city of this size. By the way, i looked at the site plan for the newly designed Shreve City shopping center and i noticed something. Is it me or does the location of the 2 story development next to the new Walmart look strangely like the old shopping center and old Dillards that they just tore down? What's up with that and what is the probable list of tenants/tenant for that location. Mudbugger

SBC, Thanks for your response. I know that you will post any new news you hear in a timely manner. Thank you for not going into detail about Southern Hills, you know that i could talk about it all night. What is your take on the upcoming mayoral election? Who do you think will be in the runoff and what affect does the attack ads from the La. Dem. Party have on the electorate, in your opinion? Personally i think that Jerry Jones will win the primary and if he has to face off with Liz Swaine he will trounce her. If it is between Jerry and Cedric Glover it will be closer but Jerry should prevail. What are your thoughts? Mudbugger

SBC, Hey man i just wanted to see if you knew what is going on with the new Walmart in Shreve City? The land has been cleared away and they were supposed to start site work and construction in late July/early August. What is going on with that development anyway? Mudbugger

SBC, My wife and I were driving by Eastgate shopping center today and we noticed that they have already started to tear down the old Eckerd Drugs. If they keep up the pace they should be completely done tearing it down in a couple of days. I know that the bank next to it is also empty. We secretly hope that if/when both are torn down that they could put in a major restaurant chain that is either completely new to the area or a return of one that has left Shreveport in the past. Let me know if you hear anything about this. Mudbugger P.S. Do you know what is going on with the old Grandy's in Eastgate? They have done some cleaning on the site and it is listed on the Sterling website. Hopefully it will get demolished and something better will be put in it's place.