Editor: A parish divided?

While East Baton Rouge may be a divided parish politically, says Business Report Executive Editor JR Ball, a CityStats study released today by the Baton Rouge Area Foundation “emphatically shows that a majority of us in East Baton Rouge—regardless of our ZIP code—share many of the same wants and desires for the future of the parish.” And while there’s a lot of quibbling about the details, Ball says, “it’s also clear that when it comes to the attributes that make a community a desirable place to live, what’s important to someone living in Southdowns is, in almost every case, equally important to someone living in Magnolia Square—including a vibrant downtown.” The BRAF study—which you can see in its entirety here—was conducted by LSU’s Public Policy Research Lab. It asked questions similar to the Gallup Poll survey with the hope of determining how residents view the social offerings, aesthetics and openness of East Baton Rouge, as well as their level of attachment to calling this place home. “A clear majority of parish residents support a significant downtown riverfront attraction. People will pay higher taxes for roads, bridge repairs, drainage and—surprisingly—mass transportation, but not for prisons and downtown parking garages. We also want walking trails, jogging paths and better street connectivity—key pieces of the FuturEBR plan,” Ball says. “So if we agree on so much, why do three-quarters of us believe we’re a parish divided?” Find out why Ball thinks so—and how the divide can be repaired—by reading the full column here. Send your comments to editors@businessreport.com.