Overcoming obstacles
To the editor:
Baton Rouge has exhibited a closed-door policy for long, and I don’t see any signs of a shift [“10 obstacles that Baton Rouge must overcome to attract young talent,” Dec. 14]. The Metro Council’s recent vote on the downtown library is an example. That should have been a noncontroversial no-brainer. Instead, the same people who fight every progressive idea, tax or project were there to fight against a library, of all things.
Until Baton Rouge opens its doors to new ideas, people of nonwhite races, the GLBT community and newcomers in general, and until the existing population understands that the word “tax” is not a four-letter word, I don’t think it will change.
I applaud the efforts being made, but these forward-thinking young people are going to learn, as I have, that they are butting their heads against the wall. At some point, they will get burned out and move on. I hope I’m wrong.
Submitted online by diva
To the editor:
Let those people who want to go to a bigger city with more opportunities go. They will come back with a greater knowledge of what makes a great city work. With luck and connections, they can assume the responsibilities for making Baton Rouge the city that we all want it to be.
Atlanta is a great place for learning, and there are jobs almost for the asking. The city thrives on young professionals, who are eager to learn and gain experience. It’s a Southern mecca for all races and religions. When we moved back to Baton Rouge, we actually felt uncomfortable in restaurants, theaters and concerns because we had become accustomed to the young professionals, who made the city exciting.
I used to say Baton Rouge was 20 years behind. Now it’s 30 years behind. After being away for 30 years, I can tell you what’s going to happen in Baton Rouge because we’ve already been through the same things in Atlanta. For people who are afraid of progress and losing what’s here now, you can have both.
Submitted online by emlar
To the editor:
I’m one of those 20-somethings who has left and returned for graduate school. Unfortunately, I’m leaving again next year because of the lack of acceptable employment opportunities here.
Baton Rouge has great potential, which is evident in everything from the public school’s magnet programs, downtown development, improved nightlife and strong housing market. Crime, education, unattractive suburbs, dirty streets and the lack of a transportation infrastructure are massive drawbacks, but the low salaries and the lack of opportunity are the main problems.
The focus should be on attracting outside employers to the area and encouraging young startups. We need more jobs of all kinds.
Submitted online by formerTexan
The odyssey continues
To the editor:
If we want downtown to be attractive for young professionals, I suggest spending $19 million on some trendy bars, nice restaurants and some good nightclubs [“Random Thoughts,” Dec. 14]. That would do more than any library would. After all, how many young professionals are picking jobs and their homes based on the downtown library?
We do need a new library downtown. The place is out of date and not very attractive. Libraries are important to a community, not just for downtown revitalization, but for the well-being of an entire parish.
Submitted online by citizen
To the editor:
Until Mid City becomes more than a magnet for the homeless, the drug abusers, the child molesters, the mentally ill inclined to commit arson, and felons, the security will never be such to support a vibrant downtown.
The fact is, Mid City improvements seem to come from arsonists, who burn down blighted buildings, which in turn makes way for apartments for people who need rent assistance. There is the tendency to centralize the problem.
Poverty on poverty, in an uneducated core of Mid City, will be a drag on actual improvement for the next 50 years, at which time the unfortunate cycle will renew with new and improved halfway houses and soup kitchens for a new generation of society’s problems still willing to populate Mid City adjacent to the so-called vibrant downtown.
I wish I could see a brighter vision. So far I can’t.
Submitted online by Hedgehog
Who are you calling elderly?
To the editor:
In your Nov. 2 cover story [“The power of persuasion”], you mentioned my attempt to persuade the Metro Council to maintain the Goodwood neighborhood [zoned] residential.
Your article described me as “an elderly gentleman.” I am flattered to be described as gentlemanly, but elderly—certainly not! While it is true that I am enjoying my 80th year in Baton Rouge, certainly that’s not elderly. Viewed another way, it is only 11 dog years.
Please give the author the appropriate number of lashes.
Amiss Kean, Baton Rouge
