When you leave home to go out of town, how anxious are you to return? For sure, I love trips out of town. However, I am always glad to get back home. Home is home. And Northwest Louisiana is my home. I have always lived here. I love it here. And after being away, I can’t wait to get back. In short, I never want to leave home for too long. I am here because I want to live here.
A few years ago, I read a column written by Garey Forster of The Advocate in Baton Rouge. In his column, titled “There’s a leaving Louisiana crisis, and nobody’s doing anything about it,” Forster talks about Louisiana’s vast natural resources — oil, natural gas, seafood, agriculture and more. All of these resources are among the many reasons that we all love Louisiana.
However, Forster’s column also makes the point that Louisiana’s people are our most valuable resource — and this is absolutely true. He further states that people are leaving Louisiana in large numbers and no one is doing anything about it. I agree with that 100%.
Forster’s column caused me to spend a considerable amount of time thinking about this issue. In doing so, I remembered that I had written a somewhat similar column a few years ago. I always save my computer documents in specific folders on my desktop, but I somehow could not find the particular column I was looking for. From memory, I remember pointing out just how many of my high school friends left Northwest Louisiana for college and never returned.
They even knew way back then that they were going to leave and never call our region home again. To this very day, they only return to visit family. Through the years, they have often asked me if I was leaving too. My standard and consistent answer was always, “No, I am never leaving.”
Yes, I knew even back then that Northwest Louisiana is where I want to be. I was born here. I was raised here. And I have spent all of my 64 years here. Sure, I have had opportunities to leave through the years, but this is my home. This is where I belong. I am here — and I’m not leaving.
In reality, my friends obviously did not feel the same way. Four of my close high school friends now live in Texas, and they have been there for well over 30 years. Leaving home for better opportunities elsewhere is their choice, and they have every right to do so. Furthermore, I fully support them in that decision. But that’s not for me.
Yes, I have friends who are much smarter than I am. I’m not that smart, but I hung around with smart people, hoping some of it would rub off on me. Since my high school days, I have always wondered why my friends were so anxious to leave Northwest Louisiana. Many times I’ve thought about what things would have been like if there had been enough opportunities here for people like my friends to stay rather than move away permanently.
We have seen so many of our young people in Northwest Louisiana leave. They never return home to establish their careers and live their lives. They leave for college and never come back to call this area home again. Forster points out in his column that we need to find out from our major employers what the state of Louisiana can do to keep our young people here. He suggests that our state legislature get involved and adopt major policy reforms aimed at attracting investment and jobs. Again, I totally agree.
Louisiana’s long-time demographic trend of population decline cannot be allowed to continue. I love talking about a bright future for Northwest Louisiana and our state as a whole. However, if this trend continues much longer, our future will grow dim quickly due to the fact that we now face major economic competition from nearly every other state in the South.
That said, I realize efforts have been made in the past by our state and local governments, Chambers of Commerce and various economic development entities. Many people have worked very hard to address these issues. Much has been accomplished, and as a result, the trend of our young people leaving home for better opportunities elsewhere is finally starting to head in the opposite direction. Thank goodness.
However, I think we can all agree there is still much more work to do. So, where do we begin? Let’s get started with the next steps. We can’t give up.
Randy Brown is Regional Publisher and Executive VP of Specht Newspapers, Inc.