Caddo Heights Blight Survey (2021) — ReForm Shreveport (2024)

Targeting Blight and Underutilized Property to Help our Neighbors

In January 2021, we were invited by residents to visit Caddo Heights and surrounding neighborhoods. These area residents showed us the full depth and breadth of the blight and property misuse occurring in their neighborhood. Their ask was for help in activating municipal and civilian resources to help bring these challenges under control and to work with them to find a path forward toward bolstering ownership within their neighborhood without contributing to displacement and other harm that can occur, often unintentionally, as a result of these kinds of efforts.

Then a winter storm hit our city, delaying further efforts. The winter storm would force us to develop the Water Outage Map, which increased our knowledge of massive crowdsourced data collection. With this new experience, we aimed to both collect data and build relationships in Shreveport’s hardest hit neighborhoods, starting with Caddo Heights, to stem decline in the community.

Phase 1: Data Collection

Before any work could begin, we had to find properties that were in need of service in our work area. In order to facilitate that effort, we created a Google Form with three simple fields: Address, Property Standards Issue, and a photo upload. We met a group of volunteers at Hattie Perry Park on Saturday, March 13 who collectively identified over 350 properties that qualified for some form of action.

After the survey was completed, a student volunteer verified the addresses captured in the field, and the ReForm team merged this data with a list of adjudicated properties in the area along with a the current list of properties marked for action by city departments, creating a more complete picture of the status of the neighborhood and existing efforts.

Phase 2: Resource Acquisition and Forging Partnerships

On Saturday, March 20, we regrouped with the neighbors who had invited us to Caddo Heights in addition to representatives of the Shreveport Volunteer Network (SVN) and other stakeholders. After walking some of the area on foot, the group collectively decided that we could begin work right away with minimal funding and donated equipment in place.

The aim of the initial volunteer days would be basic beautification of the public right-of-way (streets, sidewalks, and medians), cleaning of adjudicated properties, clearing of dangerous felled trees, and the formation of a dedicated team to meet with neighbors to identify the needs and dreams of the community which would further inform revitalization discussions. On Wednesday, March 24, 2021, SVN put out a video on social media calling for volunteers.

Phase 3: Volunteer Days

On Friday, March 26 and Saturday, March 27, volunteers met at Hattie Perry Park to begin work on eight blocks, chosen for their proximity to the park in addition to being adjacent to one of the stakeholders’ homes. This was done in order to ensure that we were working with the community members who had invited us before venturing out into areas where our efforts were less well known. This would allow neighbors, organizers, and volunteers to become more acquainted and show a proof of concept of our goals for helping the neighborhood. The Shreveport Property Standards Department was on hand with a dumpster and trucks to facilitate bulk pickup.

On Saturday, April 10, ReForm, SVN, and volunteers returned to the area of the first Work Day. Returning to the first Work Day allowed us to finish some work left undone, to revisit with some of the community members who we had spoken to before, meet new people, and also assess the timeframe of how long a work area might remain cleaned. The insights gathered will allow us to begin moving into other parts of the neighborhood, which will be centered around Hattie Perry Park as a home base.

Work Day 3 took place Saturday, May 1 and focused on a major thoroughfare in Caddo Heights: Hollywood Avenue. This day was primarily focused on trash and bulk dump cleanup and gave the volunteers and neighbors more of a chance to connect and converse compared to our more labor-intense work days.

What’s Next?

Now that the data is collected, conversations started, and a first cleanup events have taken place, ReForm will continue to chart a course for the remainder of the spring and into summer to further beautiful the public right-of-way, maintain problematic adjudicated properties, assist residents in home maintenance and beautification, and further engage the neighborhood in conversation. Together, we will begin working to find the resources and programs necessary to help residents reclaim their community.