The fight over downtown
To the editor:
I’ve been a proponent of making downtown a vibrant entertainment district. I remember the days when it was a bleak, deserted bastion dotted with wig shops and faded memories.
The idea of bringing alcohol, food and music to Third Street has always been successfully bashed by the people who do not agree with that particular lifestyle. I have no problem with that. Everyone has his or her own opinion. It’s the American Way. I’m one of the folks that would rather see, feel and smell my “reality” instead of watching it from the La-Z-Boy in front of the tube. Baton Rouge is blessed to have entertainers, chefs and just good folks call this place home. We now have a mayor and chief of police who fall in that category. The future, after nearly two stagnant decades, has light in the distance.
We’re at a very critical crossroad with the perception given to those who oppose the whole nightlife concept. This last incident (Daily Report, April 3) has done nothing but load their cannons with all the ammunition they need to say, “We told you so.” This is a long race, and we’ve stumbled leaving the gate. How very sad and unfortunate.
I hate to point the finger at youth, but that’s where it’s at. If we let downtown become Tigerland North, with its nightly brawls, parking lot scuffles and wall-rattling car stereos, then we’re headed straight for doom. That kind of “fun” should be left on Bob Pettit Boulevard, not Third Street. No one is going to want to buy a $200,000 condo in that environment.
The powers to be need to put their heads together and have the streets properly policed. Now is the time to let the undesirables know that it won’t fly here. There is too much at stake to let a few bad eggs spoil the cake.
Robby Zeringue, Baton Rouge
To the editor:
My fiancé and I go downtown just about every weekend to listen to music, grab a bite to eat or walk on the levee. We enjoy very much escaping the suburbs and going downtown for something a little different.
The dirty little secret no one wants to speak aloud is that most of the fighting occurring downtown is among young adult, black males. Will the black community be willing to address this issue with openness and honesty? Will our city officials make decisions necessary to insure the safety of the majority of Baton Rouge’s citizens by imposing consequences on the few that have no respect for themselves or others?
It is an issue I will watch with great interest.
Kim Weimer, Baton Rouge
A real gas
To the editor:
What is wrong with people? In looking at the latest poll on “What is your breaking point for gasoline prices?” (Daily Report, April 7), I am utterly shocked at the results. It seems to me that most people would have already chosen the “Less than $2.50 a gallon” choice. Let’s not forget where we were a few years ago, not just last year. Gas is high enough at even $2.50 a gallon. It is literally putting me in the poorhouse. Who on earth wants to have gas settle at $3.50, $3.25, $3.00, $2.75 or even $2.50? Get me back to the days of 99 cents a gallon. I guess that’s dreaming. OK, I’ll settle for $1.50 a gallon. Come on people!
Paul Bethel, Baton Rouge
N.O. vs. B.R.
To the editor:
To further the basis of your position [“Random Thoughts,” April 8], one may want to recall the ill-fated attempt in the early ‘60s to pursue the possible construction of a large international airport between New Orleans and Baton Rouge that would conceivably serve the best interest of both cities for future growth.
To no one in Baton Rouge’s surprise, the “special interests groups” of New Orleans never allowed that dynamic and futuristic idea to even reach serious discussion. Today, both cities are suffering the consequences. Thus, your article written in 2008 simply reiterates the longstanding truth.
Lynn E. Dugas, Baton Rouge
To the editor:
New Orleans is not doing what it needs to do to grow past Katrina. This problem lays at the feet of the incompetent local government. When New Orleans starts living in the present and looking to the future while preserving the past [not protecting the past methodologies], they might start getting somewhere.
John Z. French, Baton Rouge
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