re: Who here grew up in Baton Rouge?

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I did return after living away for four years, but that was in the mid 90s.

If I were to move away now, I doubt I would come back.

Born at Woman's Hospital, lived there for 22 years. Would never go back.

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outside of the crime, traffic, road system, and public schools

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Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?

I grew up in Baton Rouge. I've lived in New Orleans, Scottsdale, and Houston. I would pick Baton Rouge over all of them because of family, LSU, etc... Professionally I would choose all of them over Baton Rouge. Hence the reason I will probably never live in Baton Rouge again.

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Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?

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I was chuckling to myself as I typed that. If you can afford good private schools or get your kids into magnet programs and live and work in a select few neighborhoods, those problems are only inconveniences. I know this because my SO lives in Old Goodwood. Whenever I complain about the traffic she just says (you just don't know how to drive in this city). I'm sorry, I live in a part of town that you can't get in or out of in under 30 minutes from 4-7 every day. Most neighborhoods aren't that convenient for getting most places.

I grew up in Baker in the 80s - mid 90s. I've been searching for that type of community to raise my future children in ever since. Closest that I have personally found is the Shenandoah area. That said, if Baton Rouge doesn't get it's head out of it's arse by the time I have school age children I'm moving to Ascension. The pathetic state of our school system outside of a handful of elementary schools and the magnet program is appalling. Not to mention our dysfunctional council. Honestly if not for family I would have left awhile ago. Still hopeful for an "aha" moment to happen in this city.

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Baby steps, but its already started.

Water Campus

IBM

EA

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That is all good news.

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And to answer the original question, I grew up here, love it here, and intend to stay here indefinitely. I hate the St. George crap because I see our city improving and the last thing we need right now is to divide it and lose all the positive momentum we have gained.

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When you think of the more long term desirable areas of town, what are they and why are they?

Areas like the Garden District, Hundred Oaks, Southdowns, Capital Heights, Old Goodwood, and the like....

All have more redeemable architecture, old growth trees, and because of that desirability tend to attract more local businesses, better food, and feel like a neighborhood should feel. That's what people want.

Now, in Southdowns, because of the desirability and market, they finally tear down an old nasty strip mall Walmart, yet only to erect another new and shiny strip mall, which will in 20 years become run down and old like the last one did. On the other side of Acadian, fire did everyone a favor of sorts, except for losing Chelsea's of course, and they slap some more temporary architecture up to get dated real fast with the rest of the strip center looking really really dated and uglier because of the new shiny strip mall addition. It's all temporary answers to problems that affect most areas of Baton Rouge... Temporary cheap quick answers to get money real fast and not thinking about the long term effects of such architecture in years to come.

When people drive through downtown they go, "hey cool, look at all the old buildings." When they drive through the neighborhoods mentioned, they go "hey cool, look at the cool houses, and beautiful trees, and people walking their dogs and walking around."

Nobody says to themselves in 20 years or so from a strip mall being built..."hey cool, look y'all, a cool strip mall, a metal warehouse with a stucco front that was a Walmart back in the day."

People don't do that. They go... "Ewwwww, let's leave and go somewhere new and shiny."


Why when you travel down Magazine Street, parts of Mid City, Uptown, Old Metairie, and the Warehouse district do you see these old areas with people breaking legs to live there? It's desirable architecture and has a real sense of just who it is so that people take great pride in where they're from.

The trouble with here and most areas that face our same problems is we don't build shite like we want to stay for a while, and so we don't. We also build stuff that looks like we have no sense of ourselves or that identify us as a unique area to be valued. If you weren't familiar with the area, you could be teleported to any other city around most of this country, look around and you wouldn't have a clue where you were until someone told you. Same restaurants, signage, businesses, and temporary architecture. Nobody plans on staying for very long, and that's why urban blight happens in areas that have nothing there that makes it special enough to want to stay there when it gets dated and not so shiny as it once was.


Mom used to ask me... "Son, just because Johnny jumps off the bridge, does that mean you have to as well?"

That's the question this city should be asking itself. Do we really see ourselves as a special or unique city with a sense of itself, or are we comfortable with being unremarkably mediocre like everywhere else?
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That said, if Baton Rouge doesn't get it's head out of it's arse by the time I have school age children I'm moving to Ascension. The pathetic state of our school system outside of a handful of elementary schools and the magnet program is appalling

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I went to private school my entire life until college. I received a wonderful education in a great environment. Is the cost prohibitive for you to send your kids there? I am totally isolated from the public school woes I hear so much about.

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I went to private school my entire life until college. I received a wonderful education in a great environment. Is the cost prohibitive for you to send your kids there? I am totally isolated from the public school woes I hear so much about.

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Whether or not it's cost prohibitive doesn't change the fact that it's a huge amount of money. In Ascension, you get to pocket ALL of that money (as well as have lower housing costs, property taxes, and sales taxes) and your kids get almost as good of an education from the public schools. It's a better deal, but you pay for it in other ways.

By the time that decision rolls around my wife and I will hopefully be able to afford private school. If not and that is what is needed then I will make it happen somehow. But if that were to happen I'd have to decide if it's worth that or just easier to pack up and move to Ascension where good schools are free.