Shriveport is doing just fine thanks to... oh dare I say this... Oil Companies
If you owned any land in or around shriveport (NWLA), energy companies are paying up to $30k an acre just for the mineral rights and up to 30% royalties because of the new nat gas discovery called haynesville shale, which could be one of the largest NG field in the western hemisphere. A year ago, you could have bought a whole county of mineral rights for $30K
Louisiana is going to look like swiss cheese real soon, and people who work on those rigs make up to $100k a yr. Their future looks a whole lot more bright than say vermont.