In a result that the survey sponsors say may surprise many people, nearly half of East Baton Rouge Parish residents who responded to a recent poll want local government to spend more money “improving the downtown area” over the next 10 years. Nearly 22% think it should spend the same amount, and almost 27% say it should spend less.
The survey, performed by the LSU Public Policy Research Lab for the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, found that even in Baker, Central and Zachary, a 40.5% plurality want government to spend more downtown. Nearly 66% of all respondents support building a significant downtown riverfront attraction, although no consensus emerged as to what that might be.
The survey is part of BRAF’s CityStats project. A total of 1,618 people participated; the results were given for the parish as a whole and broken down into four geographic areas: north, south, and southeast Baton Rouge, and Baker/Central/Zachary. The margin of error was 2.5% for the entire parish and 5.7% within specific areas. Other findings of the survey include:
• Only 7% say East Baton Rouge Parish is fine as it is, and 33% think it needs a “complete overhaul.”
• Nearly 77% say the parish is divided into communities that don’t agree on a common direction.
• Just 44% say they would be sorry to leave Baton Rouge. Almost half of respondents earning less than $25,000 say they wouldn’t be sorry to leave, compared to 27% who earn $100,000 or more. Similarly, 48% of black respondents say they wouldn’t be sorry to leave, compared to 25% of whites.
• About 57% say they’d support higher taxes to build a new mass transit system, and 64% support a light rail line connecting downtown, LSU, Perkins Road and the Mall of Louisiana.
• Most people support the elements of FuturEBR, the recently enacted comprehensive plan for the parish, that they were asked about, with the strongest support [85%] for connecting streets to improve traffic flow.
• Well-educated, high-income respondents tended to have a much lower opinion of Baton Rouge’s nightlife, and were less likely to consider Baton Rouge a welcoming, open community, than poorer, less-educated residents.
• Almost 45% say their local community would be better off if Baton Rouge split from parish government and operated as its own city.
• “Outdoor parks and recreation areas” scored best among six factors considered to bind residents to a community, with a 58% positive rating, while “quality and upkeep of roadways and medians” scored worst.
See the full 17-page report by clicking here.
