BusinessReport.com

Posted on February 9 at 1:35 p.m.

Unkay, JR. I'll check my resume for eligibility & will be first in line to apply for a Pinnacle "LLLLLady" position ...

https://www.hrapply.com/pnkinc/AppJobVie...

(cut to music)
Bair-dair-dair-dair-dair-darint ...
Chick-a-chick-a-ahhhh!!!

On Let Pinnacle play

Posted on December 19 at 3:56 p.m.

JR,

Thank you for this lovely piece, and for giving Camm Morton the commendation he so deserves. This is truly a loss for Commercial Properties. It's unfortunate that Mr. Morton will depart his post without leaving the legacy that was to be Smiley Heights. I can not think of another Southern developer with the vision and faith to propose a mixed-income neighborhood. I truly believe it could have worked -- and it was at right time, too. (Sigh)

And yes, Southdowns trusted him and BRAF implicitly with that abandoned Wal-Mart site plan ...

That's a love that can't be bought. :-)

On Thanks, Camm

Posted on December 19 at 9:30 a.m.

In a half attempt to tie this into a broader "What's Next" theme, consider the following:

(1) Do you agree that some text to go with the diagram on (Rouzan's) website?" would be helpful?

(2) Do you believe a third or fourth lane on Highland Road should be a consideration? Why or why not?

(3) Do you believe Baton Rougeons would utilize a mass transit system? If not, why? (Ex: Heat index, fear of crime, loss of independence, etc.)

(4) It is often said that "residents must demand change" when seeking redress for infrastructural problems. How, specifically is this done? For this question, please consider the example of "demanding" that the City address the failing central sewerage lines in Southdowns. In your answer, please take into account that years of residential calls and letters to DPW, and votes based on campaign platforms have yielded no results.

This is not a test.

Have a hug. I wish you all a joyous New Year.

On What now?

Posted on December 19 at 9:29 a.m.

I picked up this text from the "Du4jay" comment(on the "Battle Over Rouzan" story.) He/she makes reference to the "whatever is at the end of Stanford" arterial connection. That would be historic Highland Road. We hear a lot about 3 or 4 laning College Drive, but never Highland Road. Why not?

du4jay writes:

[The people directly on Lee probably don't want it because it would probably involve reducing the size of their yards. For the surrounding parts, they might see Acadian/ Stanford as the future. In the case of transportation, Baton Rouge is almost like the Northshore of Lake P. The city has outgrown a lot of it's circulation. One side of town, you have arteries like Perkins, College, Acadian, but the only way they link up to the ones on the West side are through the neighborhoods like Southdowns, University Hills (or whatever that is at the end of Stanford).

The first line item I would suggest to remedy the problem is to get a desirable transit system up and running. I mean state of the art, on time and reliable, which they should be anyway to where people would actually want to use it rather than sit in traffic in their own individual cars.
This Rouzan might be a lot more palatable if everyone in the surrounding area did not know, for certain that every resident of that development is going to have a car for their mama, pappa, grama, 2 year old, family dog and maid.

The whole thing might be palatable if there were a traffic study done. How about an environmental impact study? How about some text to go with the vague diagram on the website?

A project that involves a zoning change that drastically changes the given area, is going to raise eyebrows anywhere. People are not stupid enough nowadays in our democracy to give developers a carte blanche pass to do whatever they want to maximize profit without integrating into the community.]

On What now?

Posted on December 18 at 11:07 a.m.

Silva, thanks for your complimentary testament to the intellectual fortitude of our residents. It is true – Southdowns residents are "educated, informed, intelligent and open-minded." In fact, in Baton Rouge, Southside boasts the highest concentration of residents holding advanced degrees. In cultural study, the best-educated areas of town are considered to be the epicenters of progressive thought in the community. It is not surprising, then, that a well educated community produces an well organized inquiry into a community issue. I don't speak of the SSCA, either. I refer to the citizens – nearly seventy-five percent (by rough estimate) with concrete, relevant questions about this plan. Southside residents opposed to this development -- as it is currently proposed (high-density) -- are not a group of ill-informed dolts, plodding through life. A heavily-published professor at LSU's College of Business Administration, an accountant who oversees some of the top businesses in the state, a multitude of doctoral chairs, attorneys, a developer (yes, a developer), a world-renowned physicist, and a well-respected neurologist are just a handful of people from this neighborhood who've recognized the inherent difficulties that this conceptual project brings. If Boo Thomas (she really is a sweetheart) is a friend to these people, it might be that she was educated with or by them. If educated people utilize the governmental process (that should be) in place to demand answers from Mr. Spinosa, and Mr. Skyring – I'm not really surprised. By the way, Sascha Tessier, you rock!

Of the aforementioned, I'll pull the neurologist from the pack, as that's the "opponent" with whom you are most familiar. Have you ever asked yourself "why?" Why would an over-scheduled, over-taxed neurologist, father, (and Southdowns Flambeaux parade captain) like Will Gladney devote hours ... days ... weeks of his schedule to research, opinion-polling, information dissemination, and calls and meetings with residents, the developer and government officials in regard to the JTS plan? Is he really just some ill-informed dolt of a NIMBY plodding through life? It would be a stretch to label Dr. Gladney a "back-woods, anti-progressive redneck." Does it give cause to consider the possibility that maybe – just maybe – there could be some validity to the opposition?

All that said, if you'll scroll up, and click on the names of both "Jon_Deaux" and "rbanplanner" you'll get a fairly good summary of the logical arguments (pro & con) regarding this particular TND. Also, JR Ball is an astute observer of human behavior, and probably a better author than even he may know. It would be interesting to get a more balanced editorial – or a novel – from him, but that's just Dot and her stream of consciousness talkin'.

On What now?

Posted on December 18 at 11:06 a.m.

The neighbors who live in Southdowns have a true sense of place here. They don't simply reside in a home on a lot. They are part of a broad-minded community of diverse people who share a love of this community and it's tradition. Based on the commentary I've seen on the BRBR site, I'm not sure that the proponents themselves will want to reside in Rouzan. After all, Rouzan will be a part of Southside. I don't know what to expect when Rouzan is populated. Do you plan to isolate yourself with other "like minded" people within the confines of 118 acres? I can't speak to the plans of other Southside residents, but I fully intend to welcome and get to know my new neighbors. If Dez Crawford gets the ideal TND she and her husband envision right across the street from her house on Glasgow (eclectic housing and people, a pub, a butcher, a baker and a candle-stick maker) I'll be enjoying Rouzan on a regular basis. If the sewerage problem gets worse over here, I suppose I'll live with it. The overflows stink, but as long as we don't make mud pies – they won't kill us. I'll still miss the bull-frogs, and my healthy plants, though. Although it may not have come across in my written posts, when I ask for a good-humored hug I'm not being sarcastic. I really do mean it. (PS – 'FishEye shows up to the party, that offer may be off the table.) If the response to my request for a hug is met with a "hugs are reserved for the winners" response, I guess I'll have to get over it and understand that the neighborhood, the city, and it's people are changing. Que sera, sera.

"OrchidStreet" witnessed a vile comment by an opponent during the Metro meeting. Unfortunately, I think some people (and one with Alzheimer's) become caught up in this drama and forget they're not in just being asinine in their living rooms. I'm sorry you had to hear that. I'm sorry, also for the people who've had their "we love Southdowns" posters ripped up, their yards intentionally rutted, threatening notes thrown into their yards, cars and houses egged or painted, dogs pelted with bbs – and last, but not least, their young children subjected to grown men driving by to call them "nerds" and "losers" (expletives omitted). I trust that most of this activity came from a couple of guys with some specific interest in the developments' success, and is not representative of Rouzan proponents or future residents as a whole. There's at least one in every crowd, isn't there? I don't understand people who cannot differ on a subject respectfully. After all, we can both be right.

On What now?

Posted on December 14 at 7:27 p.m.

Okie dokie, Fisheye.

I was apoplectic.

I am now laughing uncontrollably ... Thank you, cmac!

On What now?

Posted on December 13 at 7:43 p.m.

Jon_Deaux -- eloquent, thought-provoking, and diplomatic -- as are all of your posts. You've said it all. (Raising my glass to you.)

On What now?

Posted on December 12 at 12:46 p.m.

JR, I love this place, but in a rainy season -- Southdowns IS a flood zone of sewer overflow! I've read -- and have been told by DPW workers -- that the sewerage problems are coming from the corrosion of concrete lines. Sulfuric acid has eaten away at them over the past 70 years. Rain water and ground see page then permeates the lines, resulting in the overflow of raw feces and urine onto property, streets, and into the bayou. Aside from the repercussions this overflow for kids playing in the yard -- wildlife suffers (no more bullfrogs in the bayou), and the chorine seepage has a deleterious effect on plantings, and fosters disease.

Given the importance of bond issues paying for sewer upgrades, and constituents demanding a fix, I can certainly understand why the Mayor is keeping quite on the Rouzan plan. There wasn't enough money in the coffers to do tunneling, so they've been talking about putting epoxy in the lines to seal them. When?

My neighbors and I have been "on the list" for city sewer line upgrades for the 15 years that I've been in this particular Southdowns house. I don't know about the Civic Association, but we ARE vocal, JR!!! I shouldn't have to be a member of a civic association to keep hazardous waste out of my yard, anyway! We all call DPW to suck lines clean on a regular basis -- weekly when it is raining. A friend who works for EPA informs me that we have another eight years to solve the entire city's sewer overflows. The clock is ticking. Where is the epoxy truck, and when will it get here?

Ultimately, my point is (aren't you relieved I have one) ...

Shouldn't the city focus on correcting problematic infrastructure BEFORE tying more people into it???

Why isn't basic groundwork done before increasing density? Maybe I do need remedial education, since my undergraduate logic and graduate statistic courses appear to be failing me.

I did learn a Rouzan fact of which I was not aware before Monday's Council meeting. There was a Rouzan proponent who spoke early on (I apologize, I've forgotten her name) who spoke to the nature of TND's providing affordable housing for the community as a whole – from lower through upper socio-economic class. She also pointed to the eclectic mix of pubs, grocery stores, and offices that she grew up with in her own "TND." I will admit, I had no idea that JTS planned to include broad-class affordable housing within Rouzan. The largest and fastest-growing population in Baton Rouge is at or below poverty the line, but are often the least represented in the planning process. I think it's fantastic that the wage-earners serving the coffee in Rouzan will actually be able to afford to live there. That is how a TND really works, and I was surprised and impressed to learn it's part of Tommy Spinosa's plan for Rouzan. Hat's off to you!

On More people, same result

Posted on December 8 at 6:39 p.m.

SDwnsMom, that was TWO other things – and I still feel hurt when your write to me. I don't think I'll be posting much after Monday! I'm here more for kicks and chat than substance at this point, anyway. Anyway, all of this sound reasoning has changed my mind. I'm going to start campaigning FOR Rouzan!

I promise you, I've never claimed to know everything. I'm sure I know very little about very little. One useless factoid I do know is that Tommy Spinosa gave (your) Sweetbriar Street the concession of no through-way extension through Rouzan. If I were you, I'd be thanking Pam Perkins for her dogged diligence regarding that issue.

It is BigMike who lives outside of Southdowns/Pollard. I was obviously wrong to post that you did not live in Southdowns. I apologize. You just didn't really sound like a neighbor.

I have other relatives in Southdowns, too. You taught in public schools. I feel your pain.

I chose the posting name "Dot" in homage to my grand-aunt. No, I'm not the Dot in the photo, so I hope she hasn't taken any heat on my account. I did once meet her at a neighbor's party, though. She's a missionary who travels extensively for volunteer work, and seemed quite religious. As I wrote, I'm not a traveler, and I'm a lousy Catholic.

I look nothing like Angelina Jolie, but am often mistaken for Jennifer Anniston.

I was just saying that Brad Pitt's mug is a bonus, SDwnsMom. It was just a poke at Tommy, and shame on me for poking Tommy. Of course it doesn't matter what a developer looks like. Cooperative and fair building practices (like the ones found on the makeitrightnola.org site) really do matter to many people who want the best for Baton Rouge. But, Lord, Pitt's is fine, isn't he? And, (though we disagree on the Rouzan development) JR Ball is hot too.

ONE MORE THING: Why is the

Rouzan.com

site in Arabic?

I'M KIDDING! I'M KIDDING!

One more chance ... I mean it, now ... GIVE ME A HUG!!!

On The battle over Rouzan