re: When did Lafayette pass Baton Rouge as the 2nd best city in LA?

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Lafayette is very cliquey. Very welcoming to visitors but less so to other locals that don’t fit in with their “way of life”. It’s kind like a never ending high school.

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definitely

it has gotten way worse through the years as more Lafayette public school grads sent their kids to STM or AES and gained access to the old lafayette money cliques by marrying into them or doing business with them

The Fatima/Cathedral crowds were actually pretty small for decades, combine them and it grew at a fast rate.

TCHS is its own world of St Genevive mixed with Carencro people and add in some St Martin Parish ex-pats

then the surrounding towns with planned developments became their own cliques, Sugar mill pond etc

Judge Parker’s ruling

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Orange, Texas

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And that’s not exactly a destination. lol

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You didn't answer my question. Outside of magnet programs, no one I know in Lafayette or Baton Rouge extols the merits their public school systems. If you aren't willing to send you kid to either of them, their relative merits don't matter.

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For non-G&T kids Southside HS has no equivalent in EBR

one of the original draws of settling in Youngsville was GT Lindon/YMS/Comeaux system - I know this personally

that system became GTL/Gallet/YMS/Southside and is a major draw

one of the big draws of milton area is the Milton Elem/MMS/Southside system

That is why there are so many starter home neighborhoods in the Youngsville/Milton area. Schools.

For the city kids, the brand new Lafayette high school has a very good reputation for non-G&T level kids just looking to go to public high school.

One would have to leave East Baton Rouge Parish to get the same effect.

We aren’t even going close to the charter school system in Lafayette versus the charter schools in Baton Rouge.

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Fair enough. You've got a couple of days of mediocre parades as opposed to one day of mediocre parades. Point in your favor quote:

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OK, you completely glossed over my entire point. There is a lot more free and accessible things to do centered in the middle of Lafayette that Baton Rouge just can’t or won’t do because of its geography or historical set up. Mardi Gras is one of several things I listed. Moncus Park, Festival International, Downtown Alive etc are free and centrally located for everyone to access.
Moncus Park is 100 acre park squarely in the middle of the city. Baton Rouge doesnt have anything like that because there is no where to put it.

MG is kind of a big deal for the people and the economy. MG is such an insignificant part of BTR they don’t even celebrate it on Mardi Gras day. The biggest parade is on the Saturday before Mardi Gras. A lot of the city goes to New Orleans or Lafayette for Mardi Gras day with good reason.

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No, I really don't. There might be some very localized traffic at major off ramps where people would stop for gas or food, but again, easy to navigate around. Where did you live in work during your five years here that the interstate caused you so much consternation?

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if you want to act like an interstate running directly through a city doesn’t affect every single north south thoroughfare that intersect with it than you are either lying to yourself or being disingenuous. I lived off of Lee/college Drive for two years and Acadian for two years. the traffic coming off of I 10 on both of those was a nightmare, seven days a week, 365 days out of the year and that was over 30 years ago. it hasnt gotten any better since

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This is always one of my favorites... I'll give you one guess as to which geographic feature people who live and work in Baton Rouge never have to cross on an average day... The New Bridge is a you problem, not a me problem. I'm a little curious how you lived here for five years and somehow don't know that. Then again, you currently live in Houston with your wife's family in BR, so that's likely substantially weighing on your analysis.

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this view is amazing to me. Do you honestly think that having two bridges crossing the Mississippi river only affects those that have to go across the river? What happens to traffic in Baton Rouge when one of the bridges gets shut down or heavily congested? Do you think it only affects those that have to cross the bridge? Are you serious?

Do you realize that having only two bridges in Baton Rouge severely compacts all of the traffic on a major interstate into the main route that goes directly through the middle of Baton Rouge, going east or west? It’s not just about crossing the bridges dude. It’s about the way the traffic flows on a normal day, much less an abnormal day. Very high concentrations of Tractor trailers going through the middle of the city 24 hours a day.

Austin Texas has the same problem with I35. Except the problem in Austin is far far worse. Because Austin is twice the size of Baton Rouge. if Baton Rouge continues to keep growing without some sort of alternate strategy for traffic it’s going to become like Austin in the next 10 years.

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Which I get; it's also why people touting living in Lafayette "for the culture" makes no sense to me. My Magnalite pot traveled with me to Baton Rouge when I moved here. Doesn't seem to cook any differently on this side of the river. What about the city itself exudes this mythical "culture"?

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I honestly don’t think Lafayette is any different than it has been in my lifetime. The only difference is how many people from outside of Lafayette have moved there in the last 20 years.

When I was young, the oil and gas industry collapsed, and a lot of of my friends moved to Houston when their dad‘s got transferred. Since that era of the 80s/90s, I don’t think Lafayette has really changed at all. I think it has just gotten bigger and more outsiders have come in. I don’t know what mythical culture you’re talking about. It seems pretty much the same to me.

Maybe it seems mythical to outsiders? I honestly dont know what people are talking about.

Baton Rouge with heavy industry andbeing the capital of the state, means a lot of people from outside of the area have moved there and stayed there. LSU and Southern have also played a big part in that. I find that for the most part people from Baton Rouge seem to be reflective of people that have relocated there, or more like a South Mississippi, Florida parishes sort of culture. Baton Rouge is definitely not Cajun.

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Guilty as charged. But as we sit here in 2026, any special sauce it had in the 70s isn't particularly relevant anymore. And that's not to say that Lafayette is awful or anything; it isn't. It's just not special or interesting in any appreciable way. And there's nothing wrong with that. Most places aren't special or interesting. My issue is that people still claim that Lafayette is special and interesting, yet every reason they cite to doesn't seem to hold water. It's a standard 120k popular small city with an average, if a bit boom/busy economy, a significantly above average food scene for its size, and a somewhat interesting cultural history, but no longer an interesting live culture.

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for the record, I am not criticizing you or anything you have said here at all. You have your opinion of things and your life in Baton Rouge works for you. I don’t have any issue with that whatsoever. I think the premise of the thread is which is better in general for everyone. And I would argue that Lafayette is if you were planning on raising a family. If you’re not and are just a single dude looking for a good time I’m not sure Lafayette would be the place for you. Especially if you were not from there. Different strokes, different folks.

I am also not that old. When I mentioned a different viewpoint, what I meant was growing up in the 80s. At that time in Lafayette, driving age was 15 and the drinking age was 18. We had a lot of freedom and we had a lot of fun and we didn’t worry about a lot of things that are a constant worry in today’s world. For you and your family Baton Rouge is clearly the best choice. I get it. For me and my family we moved to Houston. That was the best choice. I still love Lafayette and I don’t want to live there anymore, but I understand the attraction of Lafayette versus other cities in Louisiana