elise

The other day my husband and I were talking about downtown Baton Rouge and why it's not like other downtown areas. He pointed out that most downtowns are in the center of a town and everything grows around it. That way it's the core of the city, an equal distance from anywhere you travel and usually very easy to get to (he has problems with the way people built interstates/highways/main thoroughfares in BR, he's from NO). But Baton Rouge's downtown is butted up against the river and everything seemed to mainly grow east. The conversation soon turned to West Baton Rouge and why it hasn't grown at the same rate. I think that if West Baton Rouge was a more developed area it would help EBR, especially the downtown area. Every year during Mardi Gras, my husband and I drive from Marrero to Algiers, hop on the ferry and go run around the quarter. That's possible because they have enough people on the West Bank and enough stuff to do on the East Bank of the river to warrant a ferry trip from one side to the other. So I was wondering, why hasn't WBR grown at the same rate as EBR and surrounding areas? How have they affected each other's development? Why is it that so many people would rather live in Ascension or Livingston than WBR? I've been to Port Allen many times and it seems like such a nice place to live. We even looked for a house there once. So what gives?

That's what I want too, something like the Riverwalk. The first thing I thought when I saw that thing was what would happen if a barge got loose and bam! I would much rather walk on solid ground next to the Mississippi River than walk on a platform dangling above it.

I was just wondering... is there any new info on the commuter rail idea?