re: Things that you are noticing in your area that seem to be flying under the radar

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And banks. Who the heck is using some of these random, one-off banks that never had a branch in BR to begin with?

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Yep - like that big branch at the corner of Bluebonnet and Jefferson. Resource Bank or something like that. A prime real estate location for a bank branch I've never heard of.

Last time I was in Lafayette, there seemed to be a car wash on every damn corner, and more in construction phase.

Car washes, banks and storage facilities going up everywhere.

Car washes are fricking expensive now. The base level wash at the place near me is $8. Bennys used to be $3 a few years ago

Damn those are cheap monthly memberships. The car wash by me wants $60 a month for the best level wash

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Bums begging for spare money at EVERY single red light and intersection on major thoroughfares.

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BR had very few homeless people when I was growing up. It was pretty rare to see one. Now they are everywhere.

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Bums begging for spare money at EVERY single red light and intersection on major thoroughfares

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Every gas station too. In my job i drive a lot and between the intersections and gas stations, and basically any parking lot, i’ve become so numb to it. It does make me wonder, though, what it is about our society that makes this so common. Drugs, definitely, but it also does seem like the middle class is shrinking and you have a lot more poor people for whom begging has become a thing. The divide between rich and poor has grown, and i’m no economist but i know this is bad for a society. I see the signs for places hiring, and i actually read the fine print on the “$15.00 an hour” ones. It says *up to $15 an hour for select shifts and locations, so i don’t think they are all offering that. I wonder what the hourly average take for beggars is. I bet it’s more than minimum wage. ETA i’m not advocating to raise min wage, but it does seem like there are more people than there are “middle class” type jobs these days.

CBD shops

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For the car wash statement, I work in that "field", and let me tell you... car wash businesses are cash cows.

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There was a family two houses down from where I grew up that the dad had car washes all over MS, GA, and AL. His wife was a school teacher and they were absolutely loaded. He was constantly building new ones.

Everyone suspected he was into some more nefarious business ventures other than car washes, but they're really nice, conservative people who have never had a lick of trouble.