Baton Rouge moving in the right direction

Eleven years ago I made the move to Baton Rouge and have been able to witness first-hand a transformation in the Capital City. A short decade ago, single-entrance subdivisions ruled, and physical and symbolic barriers separated the places where we lived, worked and played.

But evidence continues to mount that the Capital Region is embracing the principles of “smart growth” and development and design concepts that foster more livable communities.

The key word to remember here is “community.” One of this area’s greatest strengths is generosity and the friendliness of its people. It’s imperative as Baton Rouge moves forward that we demand developments that naturally encourage people to interact and socialize with one another. Without question, the first sign of our community rediscovery has been the incredible renaissance of our downtown area. It hasn’t always been pretty, and there remains much to do. But no one can dispute the area is now more than simply a place where lawyers and state employees go to work. Downtown has become the cultural hub of our region, with the Shaw Center for the Arts, the Louisiana State Museum, the Louisiana Art and Science Museum, an expanded and renovated River Center and a vibrant symphony offering countless entertainment options.

I remember a few years ago attending a concert at the River Center and not being able to find a place to eat or hang out before the performance. There were plenty of restaurants downtown, but every one of them was shuttered after the lunch crowd departed. Today, come downtown and there are plenty of restaurant options.

Now, the final piece of the downtown puzzle—places to live—is beginning to blossom with construction of One Eleven and The Brownstones, plus Richard Preis’s long overdue riverfront project, which has evolved from straight condos to a combination condo/hotel. If all three residential projects come to pass, coupled with Spanish Town and Beauregard Town neighborhoods, downtown will become a thriving residential district.

Most encouraging is that the desire for this sense of community is spreading beyond the boundaries of the Downtown Development District. It started with the creation of Towne Center, with its blend of first-class retailers, specialty boutiques, restaurants, offices and condos. Since then it’s spread throughout the region from Central and Zachary, to West Baton Rouge and Livingston parishes.

The fact that Towne Center has been popular since its opening—and Perkins Rowe is off to a good start—offers clear evidence that a new way of thinking has struck a popular chord with Baton Rouge-area residents.

This “back to the future” approach to development is thriving, with more than a dozen traditional neighborhood developments under construction or on the drawing board. No planned TND has sparked more public debate than the Rouzan project in the heart of Southdowns. Many will point to those heated discussions as evidence that we’re not truly moving forward, but it’s important to remember that the loudest arguments were not against the building of a TND, but rather the density of the project, and its impact on a street grid that’s clearly overburdened. Call me overly optimistic if you will, but to me this is a sign of progress.

No trend has caught on more rapidly in Baton Rouge than the growth of lifestyle centers such as Towne Center, Perkins Rowe, the Mall of Louisiana’s new expansion, and The Grove. What’s encouraging about almost every one of these centers is that they feature a blend of housing options as well as upscale businesses and high-end retail and restaurants, all of which will pump significant tax dollars into our economy. Moreover, these lifestyle centers speak positively about the broad strength of our local economy, not to mention signs of a more progressive-thinking population.

Stay tuned because over the next 10 years Baton Rouge will reap the benefits of its more progressive approach to development—success that I predict will encourage even more development that creates well-rounded communities that strike the crucial balance between working, playing and living.

It would be easy to take Skip Bertman for granted. He’s a Baton Rouge fixture who for 25 years has beaten the streets and hammered home that LSU is capable of greatness. As he prepares to step down as LSU athletic director and assume a two-year post as a fundraiser, we took a step back to measure the legacy Skip has created. Even we were surprised at what we found. In 25 years, Bertman’s visionary thinking, marketing and financial savvy and relentless thirst for excellence helped to create a winning culture at LSU, one that not only helped to snag championships on the field, but built the character of the young men and women who put on LSU colors and competed. Staff writer Jeff Roedel offers a fascinating glimpse of how Bertman thinks, and the legacy he leaves behind, here.