225BatonRouge.com

Thanks, Baton Rouge.

This issue marks the first anniversary for 225 magazine. What a whirlwind year it’s been for the city and this magazine!

We had no idea when we began planning last spring what was ahead. Our staff has done an awesome job creating a unique product that was long overdue for our capital city. You have written, called and stopped me on the street to convey that. I thank you for the compliments and applaud the 225 staff for their efforts. I also want to express my appreciation to everyone at Business Report for their support in making 225 a success. It has been a team effort. And thanks to our advertisers who had faith in our new venture and made it possible.

Most of all, thanks to you, the reader, for reading 225 and for being so generous with your ideas, thoughts and opinions.

Our first year was not without its bumps and typos, but we are proud of the final product. Our biggest challenge in year one was trying to fulfill your appetite for copies of 225.

We apologize that our racks are often empty, but most of our 25,000 copies are grabbed in the first week of each month, and apparently that’s not enough to keep up with demand. So we thank those of you who share your copy with friends—please keep it up.

225 has helped readers discover people, places and things to do.

We’ve tackled issues affecting quality of life in our community, like the FEMA trailer parks and politics on the BREC board. And we’ve made an impact.

We also enjoyed bringing you the first Best of 225 issue which is now an annual ritual. The challenge is not only finding great things to write about in 225, but choosing which stories to cover. That’s good news, and we expect 2007 will be no exception.

To celebrate our one-year anniversary, we decided to give our readers a little something different: Baton Rouge in pictures. We tasked photographers Chad Chenier, Brian Baiamonte, David Gallent, Aaron Hogan and Lori Waselchuk with documenting people and places that are changing this city and making it an interesting place to live. The result is a compilation of photos (beginning on Page 52) that captures Baton Rouge right now.

There is so much more ahead, not only for the magazine you’re holding but for our companion Web site. Check out 225BatonRouge.com and sign up for our free weekly e-mail, 225 SELECT. In the coming months we’ll continue to enhance the site with consistently fresh content.

We hope you’ve enjoyed 225, and as always we welcome your feedback and ideas. E-mail me or our editor, Tom Guarisco. The best is yet to come.

Newcomers to our region

Baton Rouge’s population has swollen considerably in the past year. Many came from New Orleans or southwest Louisiana, displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. But there are plenty other newcomers from all over the country and beyond. Who are all these people, and what’s it like to become a Baton Rouge resident right now? We profiled several newcomers, providing a glimpse of Baton Rouge from the eyes of outsiders. Check out their perspectives starting on Page 44.

Speak up and vote Nov. 7

Tuesday, Nov. 7 is election day. Turnout for the recent Sept. 30 election was a dismal 22% statewide. That is sad commentary for our citizens.

In these elections, voters will decide on Congress, family court judge, a few Zachary council races, a couple of tax issues and eight amendments to the state constitution—all important votes.

A few are easy choices for me. I’ll vote to re-elect Congressman Richard Baker. And among the amendments, two in particular I strongly support: No. 7, which will reduce seven assessors in Orleans parish to one, and Amendment No. 8, which will allow the city of Central to establish its own school district. Their children deserve that. Do your homework on the candidates and the issues, and whatever you decide, be sure to vote. No vote, no voice, no need to complain.