Lafayette Mayor Joel Robideaux has unveiled a new initiative designed to market and capitalize on the city’s rich cultural heritage, The Advertiser reports.
At his annual address on Thursday, Robideaux announced the launch of CREATE—Culture, Recreation, Entertainment, Arts, Tourism and Economy—a parishwide interagency multiyear project to expand and grow Lafayette’s cultural economy.
The idea is to sell Lafayette in much the same way Nashville bills itself as the “Country Music Capital of the World.” Robideaux said Nashville got the moniker because “they just made it up.” Lafayette is already rich with a food and music culture, he added.
“We don’t even have to make it up,” the mayor said in his address, noting Lafayette has the second most Grammy winners in Louisiana.
Robideaux also said the municipality’s parishwide high-speed internet service allows Lafayette to accommodate tech companies that might set their sights on cities like Austin or Chattanooga.
“We have to do whatever we can to parlay what we have to make us that place where these companies are going to want to move,” he said.
