Episode 153 Rachel Fischer - "Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home"

What do we want our city to look like in the future and how do we get there? My two guests this week are doing the work to help answer these questions. You can find my full discussion with Rachel Fischer co-hosted by Verni Howard here.

 

Here are the questions I asked:

 

0:44 1. You are a critical part of one of the largest and most ambitious citywide cleanup efforts in Shreveport’s history – The City of Shreveport Block by Block Initiative. How did you first come to be involved in this project?

 

6:55 2. Talk a little about the Block by Block Initiative.

 

11:25 3. If you’re part of the community and have never seen one of these - what do one of the 11 clean sweeps look like?

 

24:39 4. Today is actually your last day in town. Tell me what your work has looked like with the City?

 

28:43 5. Share one of the most enlightening or revealing moments each of you has had in this work so far.

 

33:00 6. Rachel, we were all together at the City Council meeting earlier this week when you presented your case study. Tell us more about the material and what you presented. What information have you left for the City to build upon as far as Block by Block goes?

 

40:28 7. Block by Block is the result of an intensive planning and leadership effort led by a team of city and community leaders selected by Mayor Arceneaux to participate in the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative—a global program that helps cities design more effective public policy. Shreveport was one of a limited number of U.S. cities chosen for the initiative.

 

I’ve read where Mayor Arceneaux said, "You'll see the difference in buildings that are repaired or removed; in streets that are brighter, cleaner and safer; and neighborhoods that people once again feel proud to call home.”

 

What happens once the eleven weeks end? How do we ensure that this wonderful initiative has an ongoing and long-term effect on the community?