CPEX announces Baton Rouge/New Orleans growth coalition

More than 40 Baton Rouge- and New Orleans-based organizations have joined forces to push for expanded transportation and housing options intended to stimulate economic growth across southeast Louisiana. The CONNECT coalition will push for passenger rail service between the two cities, but that won’t be the only focus. “The coalition will be about repositioning the conversation about transit, and ensuring it becomes part of the whole equation of downtown revitalization and neighborhood revitalization in both cities,” says Rachel DiResto, vice president of the Center for Planning Excellence. “The rail is the spine that creates the linkage, and the other transit modes are the ribs off of that spine.” CPEX, which is hosting its annual Louisiana Smart Growth Summit today and tomorrow at the Shaw Center, led the creation of the coalition with help from a $100,000 grant from the Ford Foundation. DiResto says the organizations that have joined CONNECT so far include nonprofits, business and industry groups, trade associations and economic development outfits. The executive committee consists of CPEX, AARP, the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, the Greater New Orleans Foundation, the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, the University of New Orleans, the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation and the Louisiana Housing Alliance. —David Jacobs