buckett5425

The DDD staff is salaried (I believe) and paid through funds collected from residents and business in the DDD boundaries. The least they could do is schedule the meetings so that those who pay for their salaries, could give their feed back about projects that will affect their neighborhoods and property values.

I am also frustrated they planned these events while people are at work, they do it with the intent of inviting less public comments. In the past when I've attended these meeting, they rarely listen to the community anyway and simply ask which bench design would you prefer..... I am going to try and make workshop 3.

I should clarify that statement... I never realized how hard it is to be a good architect and how easy it is to be a terrible one. Some designers truly have bad ideas, but for those designers with good ideas, when money is tight at your firm, you're more worried about meeting the clients needs, and collecting a check, than meeting the needs of the community. The trick is balancing both needs, but if you frustrate the client, they will simply turn to another architect with a cheaper fee who gives them exactly what they want, which in most cases, isn't the best option for the community, but the best option for their wallet. I have completed four of the seven Architectural Registration Exams and will have the other three finished by May. I will receive my license in December"ish" when my Internship Development Program is complete. I know exactly what I want to do now, and hope to make architecture a part time hobby so I can pick and choose my clients and derive my income from other sources, to avoid working for awful clients. haha. I do have some great clients though, that I love, when some of those projects are complete, if y'all ever comment on them in this forum, Ill let you know that it was my work.

I have a better appreciation for architecture now. The Capitol Lofts development was market driven, meaning profit. The pro forma stated X amount of units were needed to maximize profit, so the architect created a volume that would house X amount of units, and then like lipstick, slapped architectural elements to the volume to make it appear attractive. That is not the type of architecture I think will be successful in Spanish Town, however, the Elysian, built using the exact same mantra, in an open field across from Spanish Town is perfectly okay with me....

This is good news. I am glad the state has occupied the building for 20 or so years instead of letting it sit vacant, but I've been hoping for it to be returned to private developers, especially now that downtown can support more private development.

Really, robbed? Link: BR Incident map, it shows crimes from the previous 7 days. Downtown is noticeably absent of any crime, however other areas of town, some perceived as safe, seem to have more activity.... http://brgov.com/reports/public/pmapdist.asp?d=2&i=mvt

Jobs for who, Louisianians, or those who have relocated from their old location to follower their employer?

Jindal should keep throwing rebates and credits at companies, they love that.

I completely agree, but lets get something straight, the Capitol Lofts development was't of a reasonable scale. The houses that were to be demolished for the Capitol Lofts development have now been completely renovated and have been rented. They look great.

Here is a quick rendering of the concept I was talking about. I also agree cajun, that phasing the development will give it the best chance of varying the styles and massing. A demand does exist for office space for lobbyist though...

If designed properly, I believe the redevelopment of that site could be wonderful. Small, mixed-use, linear buildings could front 5th street while the other edges of the lot could be reserved for a few three story, but mainly two story town homes and apartments. The trick to pulling it off would be to incorporate many different massing, styles, and grouping of the buildings, similar to the current Spanish Town tectonic. My fear would be that a market study would be guiding the design, and not common sense, leading to a giant, over-scaled building, just as the Capitol Lofts was proposed.

Absolutely love this building, we almost moved our offices there.

I really like the plan overall, what I dislike is the inconsistency in LSU's ability to master plan. Would the new Barnes and Noble been more effective as an anchor for this new development? What about the new South Campus off GSRI, would those facilities be better located in this mixed use development? What about the new single use EA technology center, it would have been perfect for this mixed use development. If LSU wants to pull this development off successfully, they will need to better examine their current allocation of resources.

Street Breads and Jimmy Johns are on two different levels. Feel free to compare their reviews on Urbanspoon. http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/191/1574202/restaurant/Street-Breads-Lake-Charles http://streetbreads.com/ Street Breads has a cool vibe and the Perkins Road Overpass area is perfect for them, they will add a lot to that corridor. I know the owner and have eaten at the one in Lake Charles several times, they will do very well.

Agreed! Tiger Trails also has a GPS app. It made taking the bus from Spanish Town to LSU very convenient. I most likely would have not taken the bus if they didnt provide the app, waiting at the bus stop for 30 min doesn't appeal to me, however the app allowed me to efficently manage my time and walk to the bus stop 2 min before the bus would arrive.

Singling out one sentence out of context from a few weeks ago with a tongue and cheek rebuttal is an obvious attempt to provoke a similar response. So if you are going to troll a post, quote the entire post when giving your response and please include more substance in your reply or do not respond to my posts at all.

Huh?

I dont think anybody wants to ride their bike through the ghetto on a hot humid day. Try again.

You should consider lobbying the city and state since the monies spent on Downtown Projects come from a dedicated funding source.

Yes, the ROW is from property line to property line and includes all sidewalks. Well I believe that in a best case scenario for complete streets to be implemented properly, that they would want to rebuild as much of the street as possible. However, I am sure if this plan is going to be implemented, that during the design phase, when cost is factored in, many elements in the design will change to utilize as much of the existing road bed and curbs as possible.

The ROW of Government is 60'.

#completestreets

So widening roads will solve all of our problems, that is the argument you are making? We all know how this story ends...

The bike lobby, give me a break? Are they more powerful than the auto industry lobby? God forbid people we suggest our government spend money on anything other than widening roads. Also we must ask the question, why have bike lanes failed miserably in ATL and Houston, is it because those cities are so suburban that any form of transit other than automobile is unfeasible? Yes! How many times must I make this point, bike lanes on Airline Hwy, Bluebonnet, Seigen, will accomplish nothing. Only in areas with moderate density and great streetscapes will bike lanes actually become a feasible mode of neighborhood transit Cajun, no one is suggesting that the majority of people will ride a bike to work 5 days a week. However, with proper bike lanes, you may ride your bike to the local store once or twice a week. If everybody within a mile of a local neighborhood center, such as the Northgate, Perkins overpass area, Downtown, used the bike lane at least once a week for small local trips, there would be a huge demand for such infrastructure. I dont ride my bike to work, its 8 miles away, but I do ride my bike around my neighborhood and downtown at least twice a week for reasons other than recreation, that is what this is about.

Well, the money for the downtown improvements comes from a dedicated tax and can only be spent downtown, that is why the council ultimately approved its construction even though they disagreed with the cost.