re: BRAF wants a tax to pay for City Park Lakes restoration.

The Lakes plan is a great plan. I went the other night to for the meeting they had. I don't think it is overly ambitious at all. They cut out most of the fluff from the project and concentrated on water quality and trails. I would gladly pay a tax to support it but I don't think they will need one.

Imagining the lakes area with a children's museum and potentially a zoo(one can dream) that is next to LSU and connected to most of the city by bike trails is a game changing idea for Baton Rouge.

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no they don't

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Purely anecdotal, but my wife walks the lakes with a friend that lives in Central. I'm certain she isn't the only one. My boss lives clear across town and rides his bike to the lakes and does a few loops then returns back to his home as well.

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They're currently building the Knock Knock Children's Museum on Dalrymple across from the lakes.

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This is going to be a huge draw for the area. The private funding going into this is insane. One area of the place (and there are supposed to be 10-12 or so) has a private donation of almost $1 million. Just for one specific area.

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It's called community enrichment. Ever thought that it might be useful to invest in everyone's future to make the area you live in stronger?

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And I'm for that 1000%.

I play golf at a private club, I don't use BREC, my kids are all grown, so schools are not a problem, and I do not frequent the libraries like I once did.

But I do believe a rising tide lifts all boats. A great park system, clean lakes, good schools and libraries is beneficial for all of us.

I do agree that BREC flies under the radar. I don't think there is much accountability. I've played their golf courses, used their ball fields, played on their soccer fields and know other than cut the grass they weren't doing a whole lot.

I suspect there is little accountability with the library system either. Sure I see nice, new libraries going up; but I'm not sure how well they are run, etc. But honestly I have no idea, but I'm apprehensive about govt.

Ideally we would have enough money for everything. All the projects listed have value, but my thoughts were are they asking for too much right now? Can we do all this? And if we can't which are the most important projects?

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There is a rundown apartment complex right across from the city parks golf course that could be bought and torn down for a parking garage.

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Unfortunately that area can't support a lot of traffic.

For one thing not having an Eastbound entrance ramp to I-10 off Dalrymple is bad.

Second thing Park Blvd., Morning Glory, Broussard,Perkins and even Dalrymple itself is undersized for what's really needed.

One good thing there is somewhat of a grid system north and east of City Park, but the streets are all two lane.

Some kind of planning and street upgrade is needed before that area can support a larger volume of people. Right now it's best for mostly the neighborhood crowd and LSU, but with the museum coming along, and possibly a zoo; something has to be done to help out traffic.

With the cash that BREC is sitting on,we shouldn't even be considering this. Another reason I'm leaving this parish. I get the importance of the LSU lakes, but to tax people who don't live within 15-20 miles of it would be asinine.

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Grit-Eating Shin

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People who bitch about public funding for libraries should never bitch about an increasingly ignorant society.

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I bitch about how they spend their money and how they could best put that money to use. I didn't bitch about the funding for them.

I want to use funds for something like this in a way that touches as many people as possible and enriches as much as possible.

There is absolutely zero wrong with having a discussion about the best use for the funds the BR Library System gets. Which is what I thought we were doing.

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but to tax people who don't live within 15-20 miles of it would be asinine.

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Most people in the parish aren't even 10 miles from the lakes.

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Grit-Eating Shin
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People who bitch about public funding for libraries should never bitch about an increasingly ignorant society.


I bitch about how they spend their money and how they could best put that money to use. I didn't bitch about the funding for them.

I want to use funds for something like this in a way that touches as many people as possible and enriches as much as possible.

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You better not be talking about the children's museum.

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Most people in the parish aren't even 10 miles from the lakes.

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So then let "most people in the parish" pay for it. Most of the unincorporated area, Central, and Zachary don't benefit from it so let the city proper pay for it if they want it... or like I already said, use existing BREC cash coffers.