Criticism of Baton Rouge

I feel like this board has multiple threads every week regarding the problems with our city. As a lurker since 2005, I don't remember the criticism being this strong in the past. I
saw firsthand how hard Katrina was on the city and the flood put many people in a negative mindset with very good reason. I'm not here to deny the problems (poor infrastructure, poor public schools excluding magnet program, racial tension, unhealthy population...) but I feel like Baton Rouge has a lot going for it that we rarely ever mention. I think we should focus more on the positive things that we have going for us.

LSU is what brought everyone here together. Without it, we wouldn't have Tigerdroppings. I think we can all agree that it is a beautiful school that gives us a lot of enjoyment. I'm not the biggest baseball fan, but in the past month I have been to two games and had a great time in amazing weather. We also have a ton of wonderful local events. St Pattys day went great and the Zapps beers festival and Blues festival seemed to be a lot of fun. My wife and I took our 6 month old and 2.5 year old to the Tin Roof Brewery for a BBQ event on Sunday and we had a great time. Of course, there are other events like live after five that a lot of people enjoy, but the board focused on the racial controversy critisizing those pointing out the lack of diversity in the musicians that play there.

I also feel like we have a lot coming to Baton Rouge in the near future. Our city is trying to make improvements to Government st and the White Star Market looks very interesting. We have more new restaurants opening up than we have time to visit (probably because of our young kids but that's another topic). The children's museum on Darymple also looks to be amazing. I plan on taking my kids there anytime we are bored and it's raining. When it's not raining, we go to the parks as much as we can. Are they the best parks in the country- nope, but they are always clean and enjoyable.

As someone who grew up in St Martinville, I know what it's like to live in a city with not much going for it. After the Fruit of the Loom plant closed, I saw a rapid decline in our town. Will Baton Rouge ever be the next Denver or Charlotte- no chance. However, a little positive mentality and a desire to improve our city rather than criticize it at every opportunity could go a long way. I love St Francisville and the northshore, but there is no other decent size city in Louisiana that I would rather live in than Baton Rouge and I am very thankful to live here.

TLdr: let's try to be more positive about the place that we call home and improve it rather than criticize it all the time.