A new report says while the percentage of people working in or near downtown Baton Rouge declined over an eight-year period, there hasn’t been the sort of job growth in the outer suburbs that other southern cities experienced. According to a report from the Brookings Institute, from 1998 to 2006, the percentage of people working within three miles of downtown fell from 18.5% to 16%. That’s a slightly bigger drop than the 2.1% average reported in 98 of the largest U.S. metro areas. At the same time, the number of people working farther than 10 miles from downtown went from 29% in 1998, to 29.6% in 2006.
Nationally, the number of jobs moving to outer suburbs was up 2.6%, in cities such as Atlanta, Birmingham, Ala., and Charlotte, N.C., the average went up by at least 4%. Baton Rouge saw a 1.8% increase in the percentage of jobs between 3 and 10 miles of downtown, while those numbers dropped nationally by 0.5%. The “job sprawl” report found 21% of employees in the largest metro area work downtown, while 45% are employed in the outer suburbs. To read the report, click here.
