In June 1998, Baton Rouge embarked on one of the most comprehensive and significant planning processes in its history—a citywide effort aimed at transforming its dying downtown into a New Urbanist-inspired vision of a walkable, vibrant community where a diverse population could live, work and play.
As Business Report details in its new cover story, esteemed planner Andres Duany led planning sessions at the Old State Capitol for eight intensive days, during which consultants, civic leaders and regular citizens gathered to share ideas, suggestions and dreams for revitalizing downtown and, by extension, the entire Capital City’s economy.
The result was Plan Baton Rouge, an ambitious document that served as a roadmap for the revitalization of downtown and, significantly, paved the way for future planning efforts and future planning organizations. Today, the once seemingly unimaginable goals outlined in Plan Baton Rouge—an arts center, a high-end hotel, an entertainment district, hundreds of residential units—have become reality.
But for as much of Plan Baton Rouge that has been realized—and on paper, an estimated 90% of the goals have been implemented—a couple of key hurdles remain.
One is the need for more diversified retail. The other is the need for more downtown residents, which is directly related to the retail issue. Yet, there’s also another, more subtle challenge: In a parish increasingly divided along political, racial and socioeconomic lines, not everyone embraces downtown and its revitalization.
There is a degree of resentment, both among black residents of north Baton Rouge and whites in the suburban southeastern part of the parish, that downtown gets too much attention and benefits unfairly from public investment.
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