re: History of Gardere lane

In the late 70s I had a buddy whose Dad developed those god awful fourplexes. We used to cut the grass at the rentals and it was a pretty good area. In 1984 I moved into a place on Jasper and it was really, really nice and very safe and my buddy moved into a place further by the river in the heart of what is the worst area now. We walked to the store to buy beer and it was just a normal place . Between 84-89 I lived in a couple more spots including Bayou Fountain and it was just all college kids . I also bought and flipped a couple of properties in Hermitage. I would never have believed what a shithole that became.

I'll begin my second hundred with a beloved tale oft-told 'round the campfires, my wistfully nostalgic essay on Gardere:

I remember Gardere. The nice Gardere, with affordable housing for LSU students and young married couples in a well-maintained, safe neighborhood.

In the late '80s I lived near Gardere. It was perfect for students -- on the bus line to LSU, and there was a Piggly Wiggly grocery store at the corner of Gardere and Burbank. It was especially good for student couples struggling to work and attend school. I visited people there a few times -- I don't recall any complaints. And of course any time I went there I always felt perfectly SAFE.

In the early 90s I left BR and didn't return for about 10 years. When I came back I was talking with a friend and the subject of Gardere came up. Remembering it from my student days, I talked about what a nice student area it was.

"Are you kidding?", he said, and proceeded to tell me what had happened to the area, including a friend of his from church going there to minister -- and getting stabbed.

Later we were driving around and came to the intersection of Burbank and Gardere.

What had been a great place -- affordable, safe, on the LSU bus line and with a Piggly Wiggly for convenient shopping -- was now a slum. The Piggly Wiggly was gone and the shopping center deserted.

I couldn't believe my eyes. I asked my friend what the hell had happened.

He replied simply, "Section 8".

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I had friends who lived out there in the 80's but I thought it was way too far from campus.

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This is where we plan to dig the St. George Moat.

Tigerland was still a good place to live back then and I could ride my bike to campus in 5 minutes or drive and park in the stadium lot. Plus I had to be on campus most nights until 1,2,3am working in my studio and I don't think the buses ran that late. I lived for my last year in Tigerland w/ no car and it was no big deal.

Is Teakwood Village still around?

Lived on Jasper Ave from 93-97. Complete chit hole but was affordable for a college student. Big 2 bedroom townhouse. My wife and I were the only pale faces for miles. On the day I moved out, the movers freaked out because there was a drive by about 2 parking lots down from where they were loading up my stuff. I thought that place sucked...until I landed in the Birmingham and the land of gumps.

Lived on Bayou Fountain in 1990 while in graduate school, and it wasn’t bad at all, assuming that is considered part of Gardere.

My dad bought some smaller homes back there in the 1980’s. It was going down just not what it is today. I went with my father to replace a door that one of the tenants boyfriends busted after a fight with the tenant. Besides that he had some good tenants until the early 1990’s.