What We Are Doing Right in This Town

Well, the Bond Proposal didn’t pass.  Too bad.  Here is a list of things that Baton Rouge IS doing right.

1. Widening I-10 and I-12 to allow for future growth and traffic.
2. Numerous changes due to the Green Light Project
1. Widening Perkins
2. Adding turn lanes to the Perkins – Acadian/ Stanford intersection
3. Many others around town
3. Attracting many businesses to the area
1. Electronic Arts
2. Criterion Catalysts – Port Allen
3. many smaller businesses
4. many retail stores, restaurants
4. Infill projects – increased density means more bang for our infrastructure bucks
1. Rouzan
2. Perkins Rowe
5. Renovating/ fixing up run down parts of town
1. Mid City
2. Downtown
3. Old South Baton Rouge
4. Spanish Town
6. Slowly making it easier to ride a bike around town
7. Diversifying economy so that we are not dependant on an oil industry that will be all but gone in 20 years (thanks to “sustainable/ renewable energy”).
8. Building the movie industry in our town to the point that it will be self sustaining, and not dependant on Hollywood.
9. Baton Rouge is one of the few cities in the country with the capacity to recycle all 7 types of plastics (most can only recycle #1 and #2 – these are the numbers in the little triangle on the bottom of the Coke bottle).

This is not an exhaustive list, and there are many, many things that Baton Rouge needs to work on, but it’s a start.  We need to continue doing these while increasing the work done on the problem areas (crime and education, for starters). 

Please join in the quest to make Baton Rouge the city that it has the capability of being.  Don’t forget, just because it is what you are used to doesn’t mean that it is the best way.  As Tommy Boy’s father said, “You’re either growing or dying - there ain’t no third direction.”