BusinessReport.com

Posted on July 15 at 3:37 p.m.

Wonderful, timely article! I commute occasionally from my Garden District home to my downtown office. The commute is 12 minutes by bike, door to door, and about 20 minutes by car, door to door. Why the difference? I can ride right up to the front door of my office building on the bike; whereas, in my car I have to circle around and around the seven levels of the parking garage looking for an empty parking space to park my car.

The determining factors in my decision to commute are the weather and, more commonly, whether I have a meeting or cross-town errands to run during lunch or immediately after work.

Fortunately, I have had very few problems with motorists during this short ride. Encounters with belligerent drivers in Baton Rouge tend to be more frequent on higher-traffic arteries such as College Drive, Bluebonnet and so forth.

Foresight from the Mayor's office in past years could have made this situation much easier. Bike paths along major arteries should have been incorporated from the earliest design phases. Impatient motorists are blaming the wrong people when bicyclists are forced to ride on these roads.

The fact that bicyclists are often victims of harassment by motorists has everything to do with the fact that they are not protected by thousands of pounds of steel and glass. Those same angry motorists don't confront tractor drivers, sugar cane truck drivers, funeral procession drivers, elderly drivers, and other operators of slow-moving vehicles.

Our mayor should see that a big ad campaign is mounted to educate BR drivers about the laws and encourage more patience in sharing the roads. He should make sure that all future roadway projects include bicycle-friendly components. And he should occasionally set an example by riding his own bike somewhere besides the short levee path during the little bike day festivities.

On Pioneering spirit

Posted on July 8 at 2:11 p.m.

We definitely need some progressive candidates for all seats on the MC, which would be a complete reversal of the current direction. The only incumbent worth re-electing is Martha Jane Tassin. I just hope she fends off her opponents again.

If your job does not prohibit political activity, then get involved in your district's race! Give money (the life blood of any campaign), volunteer your time to your candidate's campaign AND (not or) VOTE!!

Good luck Brett. I can't vote for you but I'll be rooting for you from the sidelines.

On Metro Council candidates

Posted on July 2 at 9:27 p.m.

Here, here! Right on again JR. The Metro Council elections are key to the future of this city, as are at-large districts.

One thing not mentioned is mandatory flex schedules for all government employees - state and local. Having employees' work schedules spread out over several hours' time would help traffic greatly, as would 4-day work weeks (again spread out over different days). I asked each candidate about this during the last campaign and all pledged to make it happen. Of course Holden has done nothing about it. And no one can even get to Jindal to suggest it. It's the easiest, most immediate and most economical way to mitigate some of the traffic snarl during so-called rush hours.

You can expect more sprawl and more traffic hassles once Pinnacle gets built. I wonder how many people voted for the Pinnacle project without realizing exactly where they plan to build that monstrosity.

On Fueling smart growth

Posted on July 2 at 2:10 p.m.

Great comments as usual, JR. No one wants to talk about the elephant in the room, though, which is that our mayor has accomplished little in his first term and supports every sprawl-generating idea coming down the proverbial pike, while ignoring progressive ideas that could easily be emulated by looking at those adopted by cities around the world.

Your loop comments are right on the money. A 20th century solution to 21st century problems.

On Fueling smart growth

Posted on February 12 at 12:51 p.m.

It's one thing to openly question policies, procedures and expenditures; it's another thing to actively campaign AGAINST a tax that generates funding for the very entity the commissioner is entrusted to serve. It appears that Glasper is in breach of his fiduciary duty to BREC. Instead of making sure that the money is spent wisely, he criticizes the fact that it's generated at all. If another African-American is needed for racial balance, there are probably plenty of qualified candidates who would do a much better job of being stewards of our park system. Glasper needs to go!!

On Three for the no-show

Posted on February 1 at 2:43 p.m.

JR, I usually agree with you (Rouzan, downtown Library), but this time you called it wrong, and you got it backwards. Why not vote AGAINST it because you haven't heard a compelling argument in FAVOR of it?

I'm no fan of casinos, and never visit the two we have now, but I can't see why "competition" even enters into this argument. Competition is an appropriate argument when the issue is consumer goods and services, not another place for people to lose their money. The few times I've wanted to see a show (Cirque du Soleil, for example), I didn't mind traveling to Biloxi or Marksville. I didn't feel deprived that we don't have a Las Vegas-type venue here. The River Center works well enough.

The casinos draw primarily from the local community. There's just no reason to allow such a huge monstrosity to plant itself in an area where it's just going to draw from the same pool of people who frequent the two existing casinos.

Here's something else to think about. The River Road is a rural, agricultural area, rich in history (even the bad history of slavery). Bicyclists enjoy riding along that historic stretch of road for miles and miles. Pinnacle will be an obstacle and present additional dangers to those on bikes. The Audubon Society correctly pointed out that various bird species will be affected by such a development. We don't need to be expanding development into rural areas and animal habitat; we should be using infill. Pinnacle should buy out the Belle and upgrade it. We should be keeping gambling in the downtown area, where it is more appropriate anyway, in terms of its surroundings.

The way Pinnacle has maneuvered and manipulated this ballot initiative has also turned me off. I'll vote no on February 9th and hope enough other people in Baton Rouge will do the same.

On Let Pinnacle play