Positive aspects of our town?

Would anyone like to submit a guest blog on some of the many positive aspects of Alexandria?

I think it would be a great change of pace. I love this town even though it has a multitude of shortcomings. (We in the blogs point them out constantly.)

I have praised it and cussed it. I figure let’s let someone else take a shot if they want. So if you have the desire..send it to  Alexcenla@gmail.com   .

I will publish the best one in my limited judgement under your alias.

Probably will not get any takers, but at least I made the effort.

(Been over a week..no brave soul’s out there?)

Alex

Simple solution to the Stockyard problem.

Laugh all you want.

Build an open park and Pavillion on the commercial site in front of the apartments…  (No playground crap..just a landscaped  Park and Pavillion>)

There should be piles and piles of Federal stimulus  money for that and think of all the     S.P.A.R.K….-.F.O.R.K…-.B.A.R.K.   .and other  funded programs…

It’s a win, win situation.

Let the surrounding area reestablish itself  into a nice  shopping site.

Woops!  Sorry! Too simple!

Dumb Alex!  (Shame…shame…shame on me.)

Let’s wake up Alexandria, La. Stop the stupid pi****g contest’s! We need a real road map.

It’s time to stop the infighting and the personality conflicts. The stupid yaya’s in the city council. The endless can kicking and chest beating.

You can not fill a hotel with no plans to do so. We have no road map to follow to grow this city. Most of our elected officials are clueless  !   3/4 of the City Council have no idea of what they are doing and our mayor has an ego the size of the grand canyon. Yet we sit and watch these poor wretches continue to tread  water each and every day.

We have a glut of hotel’s and motel’s..Low capicity each and every day.

Go ahead close the Fulton..take another giant step backward..Tear down the Bentley..jump in the river and drown….How stupid!

Local people buying up empty buildings downtown….(For what?) Tax reasons?

Maybe to put a law office in a few of them and who knows what else.???Change the zone laws and..Ever hear the word Condo?  Gosh..what’s that?

We sit with our collective thumbs up our behinds while Natchitoches garners all the laurels in tourism…. Guess what? We rival that city in history. We are too stupid to use that sledgehammer. From the looks of it we never will…

The stock yard fiasco. A group of nice clean apartments in a low-income ..high crime cul-de-sac that is avoided by any major commercial prospects.

Sorry for the negativity, but can you possibly look at it any other way?

We have all those improvement programs with government grants and honestly when they are completed..who uses them? They want to put bicycle lanes on some of the major roads..for what? Homeless can collectors on bicycles?

Pig roasts do not draw tourist. Attractions do. A pig roast is a one time event. Once a year…We need things like a big flea market down town every four months.  Put something like that in place on 2nd and 3rd streets . Close the streets and set up a market for three or four days each quarter..Advertise it. That is just one feeble idea, I am sure there is a full field of other’s!

Look at Monroe..(Antique center in town.)

Shreveport..(Gambling)

Marksville..(Gambling)

It’s a long list…..

Alexandria (………………………………………………………………………………..) Nothing. Nada…Zero. (But the possibilities are tremendous!)

I do not pretend in any way what so ever to have the anwsers..but we need another direction in Cenla.

Yes I know you have  a counter reason for everything I have mentioned.                 ..But really?                 Lets show some  progressive thinking, not the same old bullshit….. over and over and over and over  again………

If we continue down the path that we are headed..with no  real definitive road map…we are doomed to absolute mediocrity..

Alexandria is a ship without a rudder ..headed straight for the rocks….

 I hate that thought like almighty hell!!

Alex

If you are a fan of beautiful sports cars this post is worth revisiting. MG-TD 1953

Thought I would repost this about a fantastic 1953 MG-TD for sale in Alexandria, La.  A 3 owner car since new. Worth looking at.

http://alexcenla.wordpress.com/2011/01/29/1953-mg-td-third-owner-since-new-has-it-for-sale/

 

Alex

A random thought on tourism.

Now please correct me if I am wrong. If you have a tourist organization that is supposed to promote Alexandria and Pineville… your objective would be to aim for any market outside of Alexandria and Pineville, correct? Examples would be Shreveport, Baton Rouge, New Orleans.  Your primary targets would be out of Louisiana, correct? So why am I watching commercials being run on local cable promoting Alexandria and Pineville?? Could that not be better served in other markets?  (Please do not say for people spending the night at our over plentiful  Motels and Hotels.)

If you pick up a tourism booklet locally you should see promotions for New Orleans, Memphis, Jackson, etc..You do not advertise Alexandria and Pineville  as city’s to visit  in Alexandria and Pineville. (You do see ads for local business and tourist spots in a magazine, of course.) I am not being critical of local tourist magazines in any way. I fully understand their purpose. There are sometimes two types of magazines ..one local and one statewide in general…So do not jump on that…

I can not scratch my head because I have too little hair as it is…

I would be interested in seeing what the out-of-state budget and targets are…….

tourism 101.

Lets promote Alexandria and Pineville out side Louisiana…

Alex

Unpublished rare photograph Alexandria, La. 1904. 2nd Street.

Lets face it we still have a circus on the left side of the photograph today, but it was much more entertaining back then.

 The old Rapides Bank Building is shown on the right, shortly after it was built…

Enjoy a trip back in time courtesy my friends at the Louisiana History Museum.

The most ignored museum in the state of Louisiana.

If you visit it one time, you keep going back to see what you might have missed.

New exhibits added almost weekly. A jaw-dropping experience!

Parade, 1904. 2nd Street in front of city hall on left. (Not shown)

The Sells Brothers Circus had the largest collection of elephants in North America in 1904.

Enjoy!

Alex

Thoughts on Alexandria government.

After reading  and viewing the proceedings of Alexandria city government for the past few years under the current administration, talking with people involved in its day to  day operation and even trying to get a few thing done for the betterment of the city, I have come to only one conclusion. Our city government through its ineffectiveness, uninterest in promotion, ignorance and self-serving  has effectively neutralized itself. They are mired in a constantly revolving molasses that is mind numbing. To say in more than many ways that they are putting the cart before the horse would be an understatement of gigantic proportions.

Yet we continue to endure the same endless round of repetitive  mistakes and missteps they make and hope for a break in the fog of blindness they  stumble in.

If there is such a thing as a neutralized city government  or perhaps  even   nutered, we have something to brag about.

Yawn!!

(Buzzwords)  Hotel, Fulton,Sidewalks,Back door deals,Stockyard, Bentley, Downtown,City council, Mayor,Cleco,Legal Fees,Movies,Masonic Home,Drive,Project, parks, splash pads, etc…………………………..(If you can come up with more buzzwords, just put them in the comments.)

Alex