Shreveport, Louisiana

An industrial city reborn as a gambling hot spot, Shreveport stretches out from the banks of the Red River, and feels less like Louisiana and more like the easternmost town in Texas: the rolling plains surrounding the city are dotted with herds of cattle and old oil wells, and the town still has the raw and busy feel of the days when derricks drilled for black gold and locally-grown cotton was shipped out to the world. The city has retained wealth from those hectic days, reflected in several tony residential neighborhoods.