The Choice Neighborhoods Initiative is the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) signature place-based revitalization program. It provides both a planning framework and extremely competitive funding sources to comprehensively transform and reimagine neighborhoods through strategic and leveraged investments in three areas:
About
Revitalizing our community through inclusive planning and strategic investments
Housing:
New replacement housing that includes a mix of incomes, mix of uses, and spurs additional housing investments
Neighborhood:
Investments in critical community projects meant to spark additional investments in economic development
People:
Case management and supportive services aimed at improving resident outcomes in education, employment, and health and wellness.
About the Neighborhood
Shreveport’s Choice Neighborhood includes three historic and culturally significant neighborhoods: Allendale, Ledbetter Heights, and the West Edge of Downtown. These communities are some of the oldest neighborhoods in Shreveport, serving as the backdrop for important events such as the City’s founding; the birth of musical genres such as country, jazz, and the blues; and the hard-fought struggle for civil rights.
Incredible Untapped Potential
Once home to a thriving community and a burgeoning African-American middle class, these neighborhoods collectively fell victim to suburbanization, disinvestment, and blight in the latter part of the 20th century. Despite these trends, the community has incredible untapped potential, given its vacant land and proximity to downtown, transit, and cultural amenities. Recognizing this community’s historical significance and economic potential, the City of Shreveport and its partners, prioritized this community for the City’s first Choice Neighborhood Initiative.
The Transformation Plan
The Shreveport Choice Neighborhoods Initiative received a Choice Neighborhood Planning Grant from the HUD in 2010. Residents and stakeholders then worked tirelessly over many years to develop an actionable, community-driven, thoughtful, and strategic plan for the revitalization of the Allendale, Ledbetter Heights, and the West Edge of Downtown. Then, in 2016, HUD awarded Shreveport a $1 million Choice Neighborhoods Action Grant to implement targeted community improvements. And in 2018 HUD awarded Shreveport a $24.2 million Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grant to leverage for the implementation of the Housing, People and Neighborhood strategies identified in the community-driven Transformation Plan.
The implementation of this plan is estimated to:
Leverage
140
million from federal, state, and local sources
Create
2500
direct, indirect, and induced jobs
Have a total economic impact of
$2.6
billion
Community Advisory Body
The implementation of this initiative is guided by a body of engaged community leaders, residents, and other stakeholders. The body meets regularly to discuss implementation progress, vote and provide guidance on key decisions, and support community outreach and engagement. For more information, visit the City of Shreveport’s website.
EnVision Center
Louisiana’s First official HUD- designated EnVision Center was awarded to the Housing Authority of the City of Shreveport in 2020. HUD’s Envision Center program seeks to empower government-assisted residents to achieve self-sufficiency through coordinated offerings of supportive services, training programs, and counseling at a centralized community hub. The EnVision Center will be located in the Bayou Grande development upon completion. Clients will be able to take advantage of programming, counseling, service coordination, case management, and other opportunities focused around the program’s four pillars:
Economic Empowerment
Educational Advancement
Health and Wellness
Character and Leadership
