Big Ideas #7

OK, I know you are probably going to say that any a..hole can say they had the idea for something after it becomes a reality but honest to goodness, cross my heart and hope to die, I really did think of this (you can ask my wife). Shreveport, Louisiana is the town I live in. My birthplace is Alexandria, LA and I call Lafayette, LA my home. About 10 years ago, when they finished I-49 between Lafayette and Shreveport, it opened up access to areas that previously were practically unknown. At the very first exit south of Shreveport, there was ( and still is) a large amount of undeveloped real estate. Seeing that it is only about 10 minutes south of town, I thought it would make an excellent residential development but with a bit of a twist (for this area, anyway). Since there were no retail services there at all, I thought it would be cool to have a planned community where people could walk to the video rental store or dry cleaners,etc. The houses would be no larger than a certain size which would keep people from building mansions and would insure that the people who bought the houses would be middle class. I hate it that the really cool residential developments like River Ranch in Lafayette are geared toward upper income families and individuals. The rents for apartments are not much less than NYC rents and the houses are priced in the same stratosphere as Los Angeles or San Fran. So, what is everyone talking about today when I get to work? Some developer managed to get an interstate exit built about 5 miles closer to Shreveport and is building a residential development with restaurants, etc. I'm sure it's going to be more along the same lines as the one in Lafayette because everything else out there is beaucoup dinero. I guess my idea is still valid and original because it addresses a different socio-economic class but I hate that I don't have the resources to do things like this. I guess I need to find a money man.