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Louisiana lovin’

As some of you may know, I have been out of town (Atlanta) on business for the past couple of months. For the past two weeks I was shipped off to another area (Baton Rouge) to continue my work, and I thought I would relay my thoughts on Louisiana to the great readers of UrbanCincy.

I spent most of my time in Baton Rouge. I will say that the people are very laid back and easy to get along with, but with that said…Baton Rouge seemed to be lacking any coherent development pattern(s), disposable income, and most importantly it was muggy even in February. The place was alright. Downtown had a few museums, lots of government buildings and some new construction. Overall Baton Rouge was kind of dirty, a little sloppy and somewhat depressing.

I was also able to spend a weekend in New Orleans. I spent the majority of my time there in the French Quarter and loved every minute. There were some other nice areas that I saw (Magazine Street), but overall New Orleans seemed to have many of the same qualities as Baton Rouge but on a larger scale.

The Lower 9th Ward looks as if the hurricane had just recently hit, and the place is almost entirely vacant. The CBD was kind of creepy and not all that comfortable. If you would like to hear more rantings and most importantly see my pictures of the cities…check out my photo threads on UrbanOhio.

The Garden District (Baton Rouge)
Downtown Baton Rouge
New Orleans’ French Quarter

By Randy A. Simes

Randy is an award-winning urban planner who founded UrbanCincy in May 2007. He grew up on Cincinnati’s west side in Covedale, and graduated from the University of Cincinnati’s nationally acclaimed School of Planning in June 2009. In addition to maintaining ownership and serving as the managing editor for UrbanCincy, Randy has worked professionally as a planning consultant throughout the United States, Korea and the Middle East. After brief stints in Atlanta and Chicago, he currently lives in the Daechi neighborhood of Seoul’s Gangnam district.