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Message
re: Older Baton Rouge residents. What lead to the decline of NBR?
Posted on 6/23/16 at 1:29 pm to LaBR4
Posted on 6/23/16 at 1:29 pm to LaBR4
quote:
In in the 50's/60's and 70s' you had people working at Exxon and Downtown so North BR was it, then everything starting developing towards the South in the late 60s/early 70's..what is present day Acadian, College, Perkins, all the way to Siegen, etc. People wanted to go where the new stuff was, some enjoyed taking over previous space that became less desirable. I wasn't born until the the 80s, that's all I've got.
Development on Siegen is much more recent. I was born in 1979 and Siegen was still a gravel road between Perkins and Highland when I was a kid. There was almost nothing on Siegen until the old movie theater was built and then later the North Mall shopping center with the bridge over the train tracks.
1
Posted on 6/23/16 at 1:41 pm to Y.A. Tittle
quote:
If memory serves me correct, there was a lot of NIMBY type shite even back then to fight the Lee Dr. widening.
I think there was some of that, but now I doubt you'd even try.
FWIW, the project should have been done and it would have really helped unlock College Drive on the South end.
Posted on 6/23/16 at 1:49 pm to Tigeralum2008
I'm not reading all the pages but I will speculate that I-12 and I-10 are what did most of it. I know that 12 was just getting finished around 1972 or so and at the time NBR was just fine. But with I-12 much further south all the new development was pulled down there, leaving NBR to stagnate.
Posted on 6/23/16 at 1:59 pm to foshizzle
quote:
I'm not reading all the pages but I will speculate that I-12 and I-10 are what did most of it. I know that 12 was just getting finished around 1972 or so and at the time NBR was just fine. But with I-12 much further south all the new development was pulled down there, leaving NBR to stagnate.
Not really, the big question is why did NBR proper (the area around Istrouma High School, Plank Road, etc go into decline while an area like Southdowns, Terrace, and around Webb Park which isn't an upper scale area and it is also made up of older wood frame housing thrived and is still hanging on today.
Posted on 6/23/16 at 1:59 pm to foshizzle
quote:
I'm not reading all the pages but I will speculate that I-12 and I-10 are what did most of it. I know that 12 was just getting finished around 1972 or so and at the time NBR was just fine. But with I-12 much further south all the new development was pulled down there, leaving NBR to stagnate.
That doesn't really explain it, though, because for years the best interstate infrastructure in BR was in NBR. That was the only 6 lane interstate for the longest time and the traffic there to get to and from downtown was a breeze. I guess the fact that it was just a spur road and not a through way, played some part, but it was pretty negligible, I'd say. I still stand by my original hypothesis, which has been woefully misunderstood by all but a few posters (Martini, most notably) who similarly understand the city's history beyond just the most superficial perspective.
This post was edited on 6/23/16 at 2:01 pm
Posted on 6/23/16 at 2:02 pm to MLCLyons
Yeah, I remember Siegan getting developed in the mid 90s. I remember going to Tinseltown shortly after it opened to see Men In Black.
One big impediment for the growth of south br was the landowners. Several families owned large tracks of land that suddenly were accessible after the interstate was built. One catelist was the farmer who donated a portion of his land to build OLOL Hospital. He made a killing developing the rest into restaurants, offices, and apartments.
That's why everything out there looks so haphazard. It was done one at a time by farmers and developers with little oversight and no overall vision or plan, hence the absense of connectivity.
One big impediment for the growth of south br was the landowners. Several families owned large tracks of land that suddenly were accessible after the interstate was built. One catelist was the farmer who donated a portion of his land to build OLOL Hospital. He made a killing developing the rest into restaurants, offices, and apartments.
That's why everything out there looks so haphazard. It was done one at a time by farmers and developers with little oversight and no overall vision or plan, hence the absense of connectivity.
Posted on 6/23/16 at 2:05 pm to kingbob
quote:
One catelist was the farmer who donated a portion of his land to build OLOL Hospital. He made a killing developing the rest into restaurants, offices, and apartments.
That was the Burdens, I believe. They owned pretty much all of the property from what is basically College Drive to Essen on either side of I-10.
Posted on 6/23/16 at 3:13 pm to RDOtiger
quote:
I was a kid back in the 80's, but I can still remember seeing Ford advertising new vehicle loans for 14% APR -- I don't remember the 80's having low interest rates...
That was low compared to what Jimmy Carter left us. 7.9% on a house in 1983 was jammin'.
Posted on 6/23/16 at 4:48 pm to Y.A. Tittle
quote:
Desegregation was probably the death knell, but the area was in decline before then
Trolling motor versus 300HP Evinrude.
Posted on 6/23/16 at 5:29 pm to Boudreaux35
The problem is not a racial problem. Low income folks have to live somewhere. There are a lot of older smaller homes in North Baton Rouge. My mother and stepfather lived on Amarillo Street from 1976-1988. A lot of older folks lived in the area next to Exxon. Those folks died off and my parents moved to MidCity as Exxon began buying up lots of property around Hollywood street.
My mom rented a house and then bought a trailer in North Baton Rouge but has good wholesome neighbors that were black and white.
I also did not like living next to the Exxon plants because the pollution frankly smelled bad many times. Newer subdivisions further south enticed those with extra income to live closer to middle Baton Rouge where the economy was thriving.
Crime can exist anywhere. I never had any trouble in North Baton Rouge.
My mom rented a house and then bought a trailer in North Baton Rouge but has good wholesome neighbors that were black and white.
I also did not like living next to the Exxon plants because the pollution frankly smelled bad many times. Newer subdivisions further south enticed those with extra income to live closer to middle Baton Rouge where the economy was thriving.
Crime can exist anywhere. I never had any trouble in North Baton Rouge.
Posted on 6/23/16 at 6:38 pm to MottLaneKid
Reasons why my parents left and I did ask my parents.
My parents said the main reason was going to a place where we could get a better education.
They did look at some properties in Livingston Parish. At that time EBRP schools were a lot better.
1. Hollywood Elem was not a good public school and Red Oaks at that time being in a nicer part of Baton Rouge had a larger tax base. This gave them the ability to offer a better education than Hollywood which at that time African Americans started going there. The guidance counselor at Hollywood was suggesting to parents like mine that were concerned with their children's education to leave. You had African American kids coming into the school in the early 1970's and a new African American principal along with less funding than schools in better areas.
2. When the African Americsns moved in across the street the family was causing problems in the neighborhood. The mixture of the people being problems along with the time period 1960's/ 1970's was fuel on the fire. White people at that time did not feel secure living next to African Americans especially ones that caused problems.
My parents said the main reason was going to a place where we could get a better education.
They did look at some properties in Livingston Parish. At that time EBRP schools were a lot better.
1. Hollywood Elem was not a good public school and Red Oaks at that time being in a nicer part of Baton Rouge had a larger tax base. This gave them the ability to offer a better education than Hollywood which at that time African Americans started going there. The guidance counselor at Hollywood was suggesting to parents like mine that were concerned with their children's education to leave. You had African American kids coming into the school in the early 1970's and a new African American principal along with less funding than schools in better areas.
2. When the African Americsns moved in across the street the family was causing problems in the neighborhood. The mixture of the people being problems along with the time period 1960's/ 1970's was fuel on the fire. White people at that time did not feel secure living next to African Americans especially ones that caused problems.
This post was edited on 6/23/16 at 6:41 pm
Posted on 6/23/16 at 6:38 pm to Tigeralum2008
People realizing living next door to petrochemical plants was less than desirable, incentives and kick back schemes for surbanization. The lets try to contain crime to certain neighborhoods policies. Edwin Edwards and the teachers unions, free love, etc
Posted on 6/23/16 at 6:54 pm to Howyouluhdat
quote:
Keep telling yourself that
That "nations largest refinery" there since 1910. Say what BS...
Posted on 6/23/16 at 6:56 pm to Martini
Martini
You sir are spot on.
You sir are spot on.
Posted on 6/23/16 at 7:27 pm to larry289
Not to be labelled a SJW or anything, but a contributing factor in conjunction with white flight (interstate access, plant pollution, ability to move to better neighborhood schools) was that blacks were red-lined out of new neighborhoods and denied mortgages that whites had access to for better homes and schools and neighborhoods. Black homes in NBR declined in value and the black owners could not access home equity like middle class whites to keep up home and send their kids to schools. Don't hate on me, things were a bit racist in the 60's-70's.
I remember 600 Scottlandville students being bussed to Southeast BR schools in 1982 for desegregation. DS and Gonzales were already thriving suburbs, and then Prairieville a little later.
I remember 600 Scottlandville students being bussed to Southeast BR schools in 1982 for desegregation. DS and Gonzales were already thriving suburbs, and then Prairieville a little later.
Posted on 6/23/16 at 8:30 pm to Breadcrumbs
My Parents moved from beech street to Central in 1978. Had nothing to do with race, had everything to do with affordable new housing being developed outside the city limits. They still sent us to St. Gerard, and later Redemptorist.
In the late 80's and early 90's white flight went berserk. By the time I finished at Redemptorist hardly any of the neighborhood housed folks that I went to school with. Being a NBR boy it makes me sad to think that the area has declined so much.
In the late 80's and early 90's white flight went berserk. By the time I finished at Redemptorist hardly any of the neighborhood housed folks that I went to school with. Being a NBR boy it makes me sad to think that the area has declined so much.
Posted on 6/23/16 at 8:50 pm to Tigeralum2008
quote:
I worked in NBR for a few years and have never fully understood how an area that was so vibrant in the 1970's evaporated so quickly.
Dude, it all started going to hell after Billy Cannon left.
LC
Posted on 6/23/16 at 9:34 pm to AbitaFan08
quote:
....nope. Not getting banned today. Nice try
Umm, small lots. Yeah, that's it, small lots. I can go now, right?
Posted on 6/25/16 at 7:10 pm to Tchefuncte Tiger
quote:
That was low compared to what Jimmy Carter left us. 7.9% on a house in 1983 was jammin'.
Exactly...
Posted on 6/24/17 at 5:55 pm to johnnyrocket
To the a-hole who said his parents left NBR b/c the first black family that moved in his NBR neighborhood was essentially degenerates .....
You're meaning to tell me that every white family in your neighborhood never caused any problems and were upstanding citizens especially considering how rampant alcoholism was and still is among white men in Baton Rouge. Not to mention it was very common for white men in BR (especially back then) to openly harass and verbally assault black people on a daily basis. I know a black man that was among the first black students at Istrouma High that was beat up and called the N-Word almost daily by your "perfect" white neighbors in NBR.
1) I believe you're a liar
2) You and your family are racists
3) Many black families back then were programmed to be on their "best behavior" around whites due to the long history of lynchings and police beatings for the slightest misunderstandings. Your story seems that much more made up and bogus.
4) Only college educated blacks could afford to move in mostly white neighborhoods then and the behavior you described is not indicative of a college educated black family.
You're meaning to tell me that every white family in your neighborhood never caused any problems and were upstanding citizens especially considering how rampant alcoholism was and still is among white men in Baton Rouge. Not to mention it was very common for white men in BR (especially back then) to openly harass and verbally assault black people on a daily basis. I know a black man that was among the first black students at Istrouma High that was beat up and called the N-Word almost daily by your "perfect" white neighbors in NBR.
1) I believe you're a liar
2) You and your family are racists
3) Many black families back then were programmed to be on their "best behavior" around whites due to the long history of lynchings and police beatings for the slightest misunderstandings. Your story seems that much more made up and bogus.
4) Only college educated blacks could afford to move in mostly white neighborhoods then and the behavior you described is not indicative of a college educated black family.
This post was edited on 6/24/17 at 6:03 pm
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