Measuring the success of the city

What does Baton Rouge need to change?

[5 Comment(s)]

By Jonathan Specht

What does Baton Rouge need to become a great city? That’s the question one local organization is asking, and it hopes area residents will help answer it. The Baton Rouge Area Foundation, a community foundation that connects philanthropists and manages projects in the capital area, has launched a project to measure certain indicators of quality of life in Baton Rouge.

At meetings that will be held at 6 p.m. on March 20, April 22 and May 13 at BREC Headquarters, the foundation will be letting the public give their input as to what statistics the project, called CityStats, should measure.

“Our project will be measuring quality of life in Baton Rouge,” said Mukul Verma, director of communications at the Baton Rouge Area Foundation. “We’ll be using about 60 statistical indicators. Our goal is twofold: first, to help us to direct our funds; second, to help our community to solve problems over the long term.”

“When the project uncovers something that isn’t going well in Baton Rouge, we’ll work to convene the community to address the problem,” continued Verma.

Students interviewed for this article made a number of suggestions about changes that Baton Rouge needs to make. A common complaint of students that will surely come up in the foundation’s public input sessions was with Baton Rouge’s transportation opportunities, or lack thereof.

Although, with an average commute time of 22.4 minutes, Baton Rouge’s traffic is better than that of many other Southern cities, anyone who has been on College Drive in the afternoon knows that it can still be horrendous.

A number of studies suggest that Baton Rouge, like the rest of the state, has serious work to do on its roads. The I-10 National Freight Corridor Study, overseen by the eight states along Interstate 10, said, “The urban sections along the I-10 Corridor in Louisiana, such as in Baton Rouge and New Orleans, are highly congested and should be expanded.”

A survey by Overdrive Magazine went further, ranking Interstate 10’s Louisiana section the worst interstate segment in the United States.

Governor Jindal has made it clear that road construction and repair will be a major priority of his administration: His proposal for spending the state government’s budget surplus directs nearly half of its funding towards Louisiana’s roads and ports. But some say that money alone won’t be enough to fix the problem.

“Baton Rouge needs better city planning,” said electrical engineering sophomore Seth Reich. “The traffic lights are terrible, roads are ridiculous and every time politicians try to fix the roads, they just make them more expensively broken.”

Other students suggested that not only roads, but also lack of public transportation was holding back the city.

“I think if some form of public transportation, other than buses, could be implemented, I think it would be a great advantage for Baton Rouge as a whole,” said freshman English major Emily Mistrzak. “Baton Rouge isn't built like your average city. It doesn't run as a major metropolitan area would, but more like that of a town.”

“Creating a different kind of transportation would help alleviate traffic and bring Baton Rouge into the age of new and better technology,” said Mistrzak.

Agreeing with Mistrzak, junior ISDS major Brooke Stains said, “Baton Rouge needs better public transportation, better parks and more diverse entertainment.”

Others agreed that Baton Rouge needs more cultural offerings.

Gina Rae McCormick, an alumna of LSU, said, “I think Baton Rouge is missing unique culture. It seems that all everybody in Baton Rouge is concerned with is LSU sports.”

McCormick said that Baton Rouge was making progress in one area: its opportunities for shopping.

“I think Baton Rouge is becoming a high-end shopping area with the addition of the shops on Corporate Boulevard and the Perkins Rowe development. It would be great if they would build up the downtown area more,” said McCormick.

Paula Biggs, marketing director of the Perkins Rowe development, echoed McCormick’s assessment that the development was important to the future of Baton Rouge.

“Baton Rouge is now the economic heart of Louisiana,” said Briggs. “Along with the growing population and expanding economy comes a desire to become a more progressive city, embracing positive cultural and lifestyle change. Perkins Rowe is the embodiment of that desire, coming as the first grand icon of the new Baton Rouge.”

“Its success is a testament to the concept of smart growth and the ability of our community to rapidly evolve,” Briggs continued. “Instead of being spread out, Perkins Rowe has narrow streets, a strategic parking layout and building location that will incorporate intimacy and community.”

“The architecture is a mix of many styles and some of the buildings are designed to look as if they were adapted over time. This adds to the character of the community because it gives a sense of history and evolution,” said Biggs.

Matt Smith, junior business major, said that good roads and shopping aren’t enough to improve Baton Rouge, and that the city needs a big-ticket attraction.

“As a capital city, compared to places like Austin, Baton Rouge just seems to be lacking something,” said Smith. “We really don’t have many attractions, aside from the State Capitol. I’m not sure what exactly Baton Rouge needs, but we need some kind of major attraction that will make people want to come here.”

But others cautioned that, in making any changes, Baton Rouge should be sensitive to its heritage.

Steve Miller, a student at Kansas State University who previously attended LSU, offered his assessment of the city.

“Baton Rouge is a balance of two worlds: the art and music culture creeping up from New Orleans, while a rustic Southern feel, the true rabbit stew soul of the Deep South, is able to endure,” said Miller. “I would fear changing anything so essential that it might disrupt that balance.”

With its beautiful oak trees, scenic lakes, the excitement of Tiger athletics and affordable housing, Baton Rouge certainly has much to offer. But, as the CityStats project will no doubt discover, it also has much to improve.

Send your comments to editor@tigerweekly.com

Originally Published: Issue 600 - March 12, 2008

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