ID4720LOGAN

2006-03-28T00:36:00.000-08:00

table group in the works

2006-03-28T00:33:00.000-08:00

PEEP!

2006-03-28T00:32:00.000-08:00

library elevation

2006-03-28T00:30:00.000-08:00

instructor's apartments

2006-03-28T00:27:00.000-08:00

South facade elevation illustrating the application of Kalwall system

2006-03-28T00:25:00.000-08:00

live/ work studios and apartments

2006-03-28T00:22:00.000-08:00

tunnel framing plan

2006-03-28T00:18:00.000-08:00

tunnels on 1st level, extending up to 2nd level
shown exposed and with library shelves/ gallery wall space attached

2006-03-28T00:14:00.000-08:00

!st Level Restroom elevation

2006-03-08T01:07:00.000-08:00

Last week was Mardi Gras and most of it was spent at the design firm I work for, NANO, preparing for the Higher Ground competition that Tulane School of Architecture and Architectural Record put on. Wow, that was time consuming. So, this week, after I could not look at another autocad command, I began to finalize some of the interior components and add them to elevations. The following images are of the GoGo chair(atleast that is its name for now), which is a conference chair. The bathrooms on the first floor are a very large component of the space considering the amount of wall space created by them, so they are receiving special attention and have taken an unusual form. The exterior shell of the restrooms will be plywood and aluminum. Skylights will be added for extra daylight. I also constructed a clay model of the skate ramp/ auditorium/ movement space that was very beneficial in figuring out proper scale and the construction of the final model.

2006-03-08T00:58:00.000-08:00

The rooftop of The APEX building contains Das Garten,
a beer garden. In keeping with historical preservation
rules of Baton Rouge, nothing dramatic will protrude
over the edge of the building that a viewer would be
able to see from street level. But... considering the
fact the existing building has received so much damage
from previous owners that the historical preservation
society consideres it a hopeless cause, a dramatic,
colorful, modern, sculptural rooftop garden and bar
are in the works. 200 Lafayette St. may be viewed
perfectly when entering or exiting the city on the
Mississippi bridge, and there are many buildings that
are taller that the APEX that will allow for the rooftop
to gain center stage. The following image is a preliminary
roof plan.

2006-03-08T00:27:00.000-08:00

The third and fourth floors are allotted to the
studio spaces for the APEX. Right now the
floorplan is still open. The 5th floor is the
live/ work studios. There are 4 studios
consisting of a bedroom, bathroom, "yard"
space, shared kitchen, and studio work space.
The design of these spaces must be flexible to
suit the needs of the individual artisit that
will occupy them. Lightweight walls on tracks
that may be opened to enlarge the community space
or closed to add privacy are being investigated.
Below are some schematic designs of these spaces.
Also below are the working plans for the
dormitories and instructor apartments that
occupy the 6th and 7th floors. 10 students and
3 instructors live on each floor. Part of the 6th
floor contains double height space and the
7th floor's floor will be partially translucent
to allow light from the rooftop skylights to
filter through.

5th Level Floorplan

schematic live/work apartments

most recent schematics of live/work apartment

6th Level Floorplans

7th Level Detail

Floorplans of typical dorm rooms

2006-03-07T22:19:00.000-08:00

The first and second floors of The APEX are
almost complete. The following images are
an overview of the plans to this date.The
angular shape dividing the APEX gallery is
a "tunnel" thats exterior becomes display
space on the 1st floor and library shelving
on the 2nd floor.

1st Level Floorplan

2nd Level Floorplan

2006-02-09T20:08:00.000-08:00

This week was spent completing floor plans and working on schematic sketches of interior components. On Wednesday Jean Carter, the State Fire Marshall, came to campus and met with our class. We researched codes before he came to figure out our occupancy type and load. In doing so, many questions were formed and promptly answered by Mr. Carter. It was very beneficial to meet with him and hear first hand what sort of leniency is given in certain situations. Mr. Carter made codes seem like fun.
My most exciting project at the moment is designing a auditorium that is also a skate boarding ramp. What am I getting myself into? I am also working on a "tunnel" that forms display space for the art gallery with its exterior walls, and explores our five senses on the inside. I would like all features of the tunnel to be activated or created by the person/ persons walking through the tunnel. Any thoughts, ideas, knowlegde is needed. Please feel free.

2006-01-26T16:25:00.000-08:00

The following image is the
new logo designed for the APEX

2005-11-06T15:14:00.000-08:00

spaces within project

1. wood shop
2. metal shop
3. ceramics facilities
4. textiles facilities
5. computer faclities
-scanners, printers, copiers
6. small library
7. glass work facilities

8. a few small residential spaces for students
9. even fewer, but larger spaces for guest

10. skate park
11. rock climbing walls
12. rooftop net courts ( tennis/ badminton/ect.)
13.rooftop gardens
14.bowling

-places to gather should be worked into the other program requirements
-sporting facilities should take up as little space as possible due to the fact that they are not deliniated their own space, but the other requirements create spaces and surfaces for them. granted, some space must be given to the skatepark, but the negative space created by it should be able to be utilized by other needs ( maybe gathering spaces)

2005-11-06T15:07:00.000-08:00

building

King Hotel

i need the height and square footage for my massive program. i will have to gut the entire interior. what about historical preservation codes? new windows?

2005-11-06T14:55:00.000-08:00

committee

designer/ mentor- carrol mentioned someone who is a professional model builder. i need all of the help i can get in that area, well i guess every area

consultant- there ae two local indoor skating facilities that i hope will be willing to help me with ideas and the process of buliding a skatepark, hopefully some other good resources will become available

- i also feel that i will have many consultants that will simply be the users of the various types of facilities that i would like to incorporate. some of these will fall into the "faculty members" catagory, due to the number of art workshops on campus. some will be skaters, rock climbers, dmxer's ect.
i would like to video tape my interviews.

my father is the associate dean of business management at UNO, so i hope to use his brain in figuring out how this building will maintain itself.

2005-11-06T14:41:00.000-08:00

condidering a focus

i am interested in model making as my focus. i believe that a tactile model is the best way to have people understand what you are trying to accomplish, especially when you must sell your design to many and try to make them donate to the cause. the new laser cutting machinery that the design department has acquired would be my main source of questions, and would require many hours of research and preparation, but i believe i will be able to produce a professional quality model, hopefully making it interactive, and making my project easy to understand.

this would allow me to continue my educaton in wood and metal working and my exploration into materials.

also, my interest in furniture design and custom fixtures and features would not suffer. i would be able to make models of all interior components, possibly enlarging certain pieces as independent models

2005-11-06T13:20:00.000-08:00

identifying my perspective

1. personal design philosophy
- do not get sucked into trends, but always looking forward to what could happen, or will happen
- reading is more important than any skill that i have been taught in design school, we cannot design for this world, especially not in a forward thinking way, if we do not know what is happening right now or what has already happened in civilations before ours
-humanitarian design must not consist of the design of public spaces, but must always consider how that design, even if it is a small home (or inflatable bag) will influence and aid the now and future of human civilization along with the rest of life on this planet
-if you look at everything in a very large context, is what your doing that important?
-is your sweet new mobile pod home that is completely green and will disintigrate back into the earth leaving nothing behind at the touch of a button important to someone that can never afford it? no
-can you make it so that it is? yes, make it so that they can afford it
-designers must find a balance between making things asthetically wonderful and challenging each other to see what the extents of the built world are, and making sure that everyone has a place to live and a way to feed themselves
-we cannot feel ok about ourselves designing a chair when a homeless person walks by the storefront window it sits in and sees the $3000 price tag.
-but we cannot give up our ability and need to design on a level that awes and inspires.
as a designer i must not only help those that could give a flying frog about " good design,"
but also improve, stimulate, and impress those that expect nothing but good design.
Many people work their entire lives so that they can have a few years of relaxation and their children can have an easier life than they did. I owe it to them to design beautiful and touching spaces. And i owe to myself to design things that make me have a mental breakdown trying to figure out how its going to work and can then sit around with other designers and discuss it while drinking beer, because that is what makes me happy, damn it.
-what do we do? continue to learn, always involve ourself in some sort of education system, let that system not be about boundries and answers, but about questions

"...making and perserving fixed places that are the settings for the interaction of people and ideas over time..." -Robert A.M. Stern, dean, yale school of architecture

vision of independent study project

i would like to use this opportunity of time to investigate a facility that is all about education of art and design, while also providing areas for people to interact with each other on a physical level.
Physical activity is of utmost importance to the well being of people, and how are people to comment on society if they are so depressed because all they have done is sit at a desk, or stand behind a chop saw. No matter what someone wants to do with their lives, even if they get their dream job, it will become monotonous if nothing new comes into play.If there was a place where people can work in awesome facilities, while being provided various outlets to help bypass moments of boredom, exhaustion, blockage, rage,ect., i believe a interactive community could
evolve.

one problem with my dream place, is that it must fund its upkeep. The money to build the facility presumably could be raised and federally funded, but how will the buliding stay alive. A facility that is too expensive to be used by the people that need it is worthless. And if people have no money and want to learn a skill, they should be able to do that. Normally, i would say run to the government, but do we really want them to have the control, and besides, oh yeah, Louisiana has no money. so this will be an issue, probably my largest, since the word grouping " economically feasable" were the first out of my professor's mouth when i presented the idea.

2005-11-06T11:41:00.000-08:00

Review of Influences

1.Based on all of the activities that occured this semester, asking me to briefly summerize topics that are relevant to me makes me stare blankly at the computer screen. So many issues seem not only of utmost importance, but also as of equal importance to each other. Finding a way for Louisiana to continue as a culturally rich state that might be improving its interest in urban areas and education, not only for the poor ( basically public education, b/c in BR if one can afford to send there kids to private school, they will) but also for the arts (Shaw Center for the arts, new State Museum, LASM, The River Center, ect.) has become one of the most critical problems I would like to be a part of solving. Funding in LA has been cut by millions, we are in debt in the billions.How are we to continue to improve our state when 1/6 of it has been wiped out, our number one money making city is losing its appeal to many, our oil industry has been hit. There is no money. Why would we spend money on education and the arts and new public facilities, when we can't even house everyone, and there is so much to replace? I would like to answer this and figure out what would be the best way to educate while making money and help to turn Baton Rouge into the capitol city it has never been. I LSU can be such a powerhouse in the BR community, why can't other facilities of learning and public gathering be just as influental on the new face of Baton Rouge.

One problem though, what about New Orleans. My only hope is that enough people love the big easy, that it will come back. If Baton Rouge improves itself, along with each other, and trasportation between the two continues to improve, they could be twin cities, feeding off of each other. A true symbiotic relationship.

2.experiences that have influenced the way my mind works and the ideals that i think i believe in this year

- life-long interest in art/design ( all types, painting, sculpture,architecture, engineering, dance, theater, graphic design and communication, illustration,textiles, especially quilting, video, music,even though 1/2 of these fall under each other) and a strong belief that without these things we might as only have our sense of taste ( and as long as there is still fried chicken, that might be ok)and i guess i would still want to be able to see all of the tremendous beauty that surrounds me everyday, but would i find it as beautiful if i had not experienced it through others words and images, i hope so, but probably not

- growing up in Baton Rouge while also spending 1/3 of my time each year on a farm where my family is from, having that balance between attending 2 of the most expensive private schools in BR and and all of the people and Catholic religion that comes along with it and visting my farm town of Mangham, LA ( population= 2000 and declining, almost everybody lives 5 acre x 200 acres apart, baptist, still have a black and a white homecoming king and queen, infuriatingly ignorant) has put quite a spin on things. I have experienced second/ first hand what a better education can do for someone. I am very lucky that my parents where not only intelligent enough to get the best education that they could have for themselves, but also sacrificed everything so that I could also aquire one (if only I could spell). People can be extremely happy only knowing their family and working with the land their entire lives, but without cities, not much would have changed since the beginning of mankind. The ability to live in close proximity with each other, having completely different backgrounds, and not rage into battle all the time is quite an achievement. We should celebrate that.

-attending design school has definitely influenced the way i view the world and my purpose in it.
It gives me a place. i still feel like an ant, but atleast i feel like i have a mission.

-working for a design firm that actually listens to what i have to say, even if it is just to disagree and teach me, and does not know the word apathy, has made me much more confident in speaking about what i feel or have questions about. also, figure things out for yourself.

one those clear realizations about yourself ( well myself, i am lazy and would rather ask somebody than investigate) One day I inquired to one of my bosses about the mechanics of a drawer. he silently and briskly walked over to a cabinet ( with a hint of aggrevation) and pulled the entire drawer out and handed it to me. I couldn't even be embarrassed. it is ok to ask questions once you have researched and need to know about experiences. standing on the shoulders of giants is not easy.

2005-11-01T13:25:00.000-08:00

Teaching facilities include up- to- date production and post-production and presentation facilities for sound, video animation, graphic and film projects. Those include analog and digital video camcorders, analog and digital sound recording and editing equipment, animation workstations, 16 mm film camera, portable and studio lighting and small and large format video presentation equipment (see below). http://art20.art.utexas.edu/facilities.html

Express yourself!
We’re Austin’s museum of art at The Art School —where you can tap into your inner artist in a wide array of classes for all ages. The Art School of the Austin Museum of Art is located on the 12-acre Lake Austin site of historic Laguna Gloria, a natural setting conducive to the creation of art. Our studios have direct access to the out-of-doors, and we encourage you to explore the grounds while working on class projects. Our goal is to foster your creativity, enhance your visual awareness, and improve your technical skills in your chosen medium. Our small classes increase your interactions with our credentialed and talented faculty members.

The Art School strives to maintain the highest standards of educational excellence, offering you the added bonus of experiencing changing exhibitions at two locations. The Friends of Laguna Gloria and Museum membership give you tuition discounts, preferential registration, invitations to openings, and other benefits. There are so many ways to enjoy The Art School and our campus at the beautiful Austin Museum of Art--Laguna Gloria. So whether you are a beginning student, a serious amateur, or a returning artist, we invite you to enroll.

http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2004-02-20/arts_string.html
These were going to transform the center of the city into a cultural wonderland: nine new or newly renovated museums, two new performing arts organization headquarters, one newly renovated theatre and one new theatre, and a center containing three performing arts spaces. What's more, almost all of them would be clustered within a couple of square miles in the heart of the city, and they would all be complete by the end of 2003.

Of course, that was then, this is now. The dot-coms and the prosperity they represented are long gone, and the cultural makeover of Austin is far from complete. Actually, almost half of the proposed projects are finished, and another one is under construction. But those success stories tend to get lost in the shadow of the more ambitious, higher profile projects that have stumbled along since the bust. The Long Center for the Performing Arts and Austin Museum of Art downtown facility were the two biggest projects and have suffered because of it. Ambitious designs inflated the original construction costs, and both got just beyond the halfway marks in their capital campaigns when fundraising stalled, ultimately leading both organizations to discard their architectural plans. What form these facilities will finally take and how long it will take them to be built can only be guessed at.

A cursory glance at the projects listed below shows that the ones which were finished were either among the smallest to be proposed or benefited from state money. The ones that are in limbo are the ambitious projects that counted on private money to fund construction. That suggests that Austin may be able to dream big about the arts but isn't yet able to generate the substantial financial support to see those big dreams through. Proponents of the boldest projects are now talking about scaling back their visions and building more modest facilities when or if they move forward with their plans. It's been a humbling lesson for our cultural community, and the lesson may not be finished yet.

Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown
In 1968, a group of eminent artists and writers, recognizing the need to support talented individuals at the outset of their careers, established the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown. Since that time the Center, whose founders include Robert Motherwell, Myron Stout, Jack Tworkov, Alan Dugan, and Stanley Kunitz, has provided housing and stipends to over 500 emerging artists from the United States and abroad.

The Center is unique in its focus on the crucial early years of an artistic career, offering Fellows an opportunity for investigation and growth in their chosen field. Each year eight writers and eight visual artists are offered seven-month residencies, including living and working space and a monthly stipend for expenses. In addition, two former Fellows from each group may be asked to return for a second and final year.
Reviewed by a jury of professionals, selection is based solely on the quality of work and the 'emerging artists' criteria. Past jurors include Luis Cruz Azaceta, Louise Bourgeois and Martin Puryear for visual arts and Michael Harper, Mark Strand and Grace Paley for writing.

Distinguished artists and writers visit the Center throughout the year, presenting readings and lectures to the public and working with the Fellows in informal workshops and consultations. Shankpainter, the Center's literary review, is published by the Fellows and provides a showcase for current and former residents, including work by visual artists. Fellows are in no way directed or supervised during their stay; both solitude and a diverse cultural community are available

Since the turn of the century, artists have found a cultural haven in Provincetown. The Work Center property plays a key role in that heritage. Before the Center acquired the site, artists such as Motherwell, Stout, Helen Frankenthaler and Hans Hofmann rented studio space on the grounds of what was then Days' Lumber Yard. Since purchasing the property in 1972, the Center has contributed to that history with such names as Louise Glück, Tama Janowitz, Denis Johnson, Michael Cunningham, Ellen Driscoll, Sam Messer, Jim Peters, and Paul Bowen.

The Fine Arts Work Center, founded in 1968, is a direct descendant of this rich cultural history. The Center is a nonprofit institution devoted to encouraging and supporting young artists and is built on the belief that freedom and community are the best means and natural conditions for artistic growth. The facilities of the Fine Arts Work Center have a unique and rich place in the history of modern American art and the Work Center Program carries on in this tradition.

Since 1968, the Fine Arts Work Center has worked to provide time and space for emerging artists and writers at critical moments in their creative development. Thanks to the help of countless friends and patrons, over the past few years we've strengthened our Winter Fellowship, Summer Workshop, and Fall Workshop Programs, each of which brings a diversity of emerging writers and artists to Provincetown to live and work.

There's still much more to be done. We're not able to complete our mission without your much-appreciated support. Donations by individuals make up 10% of the Work Center's overall operating costs and more than one third of the expenses for the Winter Fellowship program. Each Winter Fellowship costs more than $20,000 annually.

Visual Arts Fellows are provided with apartments and separate working studios of approximately 400 square feet of floor space. Additional facilities include a basic woodshop, a print shop with etching press, and a darkroom with basic equipment.

2005-10-26T16:09:00.000-07:00

Precedents

skateparks

Louisville, Kentucky
Louisvelle Extreme Park
www.skateboardparks.com/kentucky/louisvilleextremepark/

following info from http://cincinnati.biz journals.com/cincinnati/stories/2002/10/28/story6.html?page=1

When Tim Slusher's 10-year-old son wanted a ramp to glide around on with his in-line skates, Slusher was ready to build it in the back yard of his home in Villa Hills.

Then he thought bigger — much bigger — and instead opted to rent a 59,000-square-foot warehouse in Florence and begin construction on what some sports enthusiasts say will be the largest, most up-to-date indoor skating facility in the Midwest.

"It is kind of strange how my mind works," the 38-year-old insurance agent for Allstate said.

Slusher's new brainchild, called Ollie's Skate Park, is in a warehouse off Dixie Highway. Inside the facility are large wooden ramps — some stretching as wide as 50 feet and up to 15 feet in height. Most are still being built, but when the park opens in November, skaters and skateboarders of all ability levels will use the wooden platforms to hone their skills.

Still, Slusher's dream to build a skate park hasn't come without some bumps in the road.

Though smaller skate parks exist in the Greater Cincinnati area, banking institutions weren't willing to finance the new park — Slusher will have spent close to $500,000 out of his own pocket after construction — and some business owners were reluctant to share space with teen-agers donning boards and skates.

Experts in the skating industry say it's a problem faced by many entrepreneurs looking to jump-start a park in communities where misconceptions about the growing sport still exist.

People tend to look at skaters as rebellious teens looking for one more way to get under their parents' skin. But that's changing, said Rick Bratman, president of the Aggressive Skaters Association.

"Right now the kids who are involved in skateboarding and in-line skating are the valedictorians of high school or class presidents," Bratman said. "These are the kids who are the leaders of today's society."

These misconceptions were a problem Slusher faced when trying to find the perfect spot for his park.
At a site in Mineola Industrial Park, nearby businesses didn't let the idea fly.They claimed the park would increase vandalism, garbage on the ground and graffiti on walls.
The opposition led Slusher to look elsewhere.
Elizabeth Moning of the O'Connell, Bender & Powers team of Colliers Turley Martin Tucker helped Slusher find the space. Moning said the building has 24-foot ceilings — a must-have for the park's ramps that will soon be used by skaters for performing tricks.

Slusher's case also was helped by a high vacancy rate in the market.

"This was a creative use that a landlord might not have considered if there was a smaller vacancy," Moning said.

The company that's designing and building the skate park has creativity at the top of its design schematics.
Based in Winter Springs, Fla., Team Pain travels around the country building private and public skate parks. The company was started almost 20 years ago by Tim Payne when he was a young skater desperate for hills in Florida.

Payne considers his works more than just ramps.

"They are sculptures out of wood," he said. Projects include ramps for ESPN's X Games and parks in Aspen, Colo., and St. Augustine, Fla.

Office manager Tito Porrata said Slusher's park was unique because its size represents "a new breed of parks." In past years, the average-size indoor skate park was 25,000 square feet.

By more than doubling that number, Slusher is representing a growing need for these facilities.

Yet Slusher couldn't find a bank that was willing to finance his new park.

"Around here (banks) had no clue what this would do and weren't really interested in financing it," Slusher said. "It is a big chunk of change no matter how you look at it."

Banks look at a lot of factors when deciding on financing a new business, said Jeff Rosen, executive vice president of small-business banking for US Bank.

Rosen did not work with Slusher on financing his business. In general, Rosen said, business plans, as well as the work and financial history of the owner, all come into play.

But Rosen added, "If something is a new concept, we may look at it a little differently."
Still, whether Slusher's business venture becomes a profitable mainstay in the community depends on attracting a hefty number of skaters. To survive, Slusher said he needs between 200 and 250 memberships and about 500 people coming in per week.

Users will either pay each time they visit the park, become members or purchase a year-long pass.

Memberships run $100 a year. Members still must pay $7 to skate but get discounts on skating equipment. Nonmembers pay $10, and die-hard skaters can pay $500 annually for an unlimited skating pass that lets them use the park as much as they want.

He also hopes to use the park for competitions.

Heidi Lemmon, with the SkatePark Association of United States of America based in Venice, Calif., said Slusher shouldn't have any problem attracting business.

She called Kentucky a "hub for skaters" and said Slusher's park was the biggest registered with her organization, which represents more than 200 private parks throughout the country.
Though Slusher wants his new business venture to succeed, he's keeping his day job with Allstate Insuran ce.

Still, the challenge isn't one taken on by people who aren't serious, Lemmon said.

"People that get involved in this — it is a labor of love," she said. "They really want to do it

New York City has fully embraced its skateboarding population. http://www.skatecity.com/nyc/where/manhattann.html

rock climbing

http://www.rockface.com.au/html/home.htm

information for workshop facilities will be taken from various professionals in the fields to find out what would be ideal

i would like to video record the interviews

interviews will also be necessary from local skaters, climbers, bowlers, ect., and owners of skateparks in Baton Rouge and any climbing facilities available

Rukus skate park in Baton Rouge , industoplex rd.

2005-10-24T18:46:00.000-07:00

3 options for downtown senior project

1. a facility that would house out of state and in state artist and specialist
-the people that are housed would run the various on site facilities, such as a wood shop, metal shop, glass blowing facilities, ceramics, state of the art library, computer facilities
- time in shops could be rented, help from the best in their fields would always be available, and collabrative projects would be encouraged
- precedents would vary for each workshop

2. a skate park, rock climbing, bowling, dance studios

-maybe this could be combined with the art studios?

3. a gas station that has absolutely no precedents
- rooftop dog park
-multi-level
-how could a gas station be more efficient and made for a downtown site?
-up,up,up
-

2005-10-19T17:36:00.000-07:00

Who lives in downtown Baton Rouge?

Many different kinds of people live in downtown BR including myself.. There are families, some with children ( but only those who don't think downtown is dangerous and don't mind being far away from a school.) College students are abundant, especially grad students. Plenty of crazy, but harmless old ( and young) people run the streets.

Who works in downtown Baton Rouge?
lawyers

the following information is taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baton_Rouge,_Louisiana#Demographics

As of the census² of 2000, there are 227,818 people, 88,973 households, and 52,672 families residing in the city. The population density is 1,144.7/km² (2,964.7/mi²). There are 97,388 housing units at an average density of 489.4/km² (1,267.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 45.70% White, 50.02% African American, 0.18% Native American, 2.62% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.49% from other races, and 0.96% from two or more races. 1.72% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There are 88,973 households out of which 28.1% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.8% are married couples living together, 19.0% have a female householder with no husband present, and 40.8% are non-families. 31.7% of all households are made up of individuals and 8.6% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.42 and the average family size is 3.12.

In the city the population is spread out with 24.4% under the age of 18, 17.5% from 18 to 24, 27.2% from 25 to 44, 19.4% from 45 to 64, and 11.4% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 30 years. For every 100 females there are 90.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 86.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city is $30,368, and the median income for a family is $40,266. Males have a median income of $34,893 versus $23,115 for females. The per capita income for the city is $18,512. 24.0% of the population and 18.0% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 31.4% of those under the age of 18 and 13.6% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

These figures shifted dramatically in September 2005, in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, as reported in the Baton Rouge Advocate of October 5, 2005. The Mayor's office estimated that the population of the parish just before the hurricane was about 415,000. Two weeks later, it had reached between 800,000 and 1,000,000 based on careful estimates extrapolated from traffic counts. The Baton Rouge Area Chamber of Commerce guessed, based on its own study, that the area had absorbed about 235,000 evacuees from the New Orleans area, of whom about 160,000 stayed in private homes with family and friends, 41,000 in leased apartments or houses, 32,000 in hotels and motels, 20,000 in shelters, and 10,000 in unsod new homes, college dormitories, and other facilities.

Both the Mayor's office and the Chamber are expecting permanent growth in the Baton Rouge area, after most New Orleanians return to their homes, to be between 25,000 and 50,000.

A related figure is the total enrollment in the parish's public schools, which was 46,580 on the day before the hurricane and 52,518 on October 1st. The sudden increase in enrollment has placed great strain on the school system, with night classes being scheduled for many evacuee students. These figures also do not take into account those private (mostly Catholic) school students from New Orleans who enrolled in the Baton Rouge counterparts of their own schools -- often being taught by evacuated instructors, many of them members of Catholic teaching orders.

During the day Baton Rouge appears to have a normal downtown with business people (bankers, lawyers, food service, designers, ect.) running around. But when nightfall comes, the business district is desolate. There are only a handful of places to eat that stay open after 2 pm, and no decent convenience store or drug store. Unless a person comes downtown for a special event at the River Center or Shaw Center, or to gamble or drink, there are not many options of activities to travel downtown for. For example, on this local website, there was not a single item unders events for today: http://www.batonrouge.com/downtown.cfm

There seems to be a mad dash for loft apartments in the CBD, but the Spanish Town and Beuregard Town communities have long been thriving places to live. They were and still are like islands, surrounded by impoverished areas, interstate, and the CBD. I live in spanish town, and have never felt more surrounded by life. There are quite the characters living around me.

Traffic is only backed up in the mornings and around 5. Driving in downtown is always a pleasure. Plus most of the residents of downtown ride bikes and walk. Rock on!

If only everyday was the Spanish Town Mardi Gras parade..........................

2005-10-17T17:10:00.000-07:00

con text (k n t kst )

1. Includes the political, social, historical, psychological,
institutional,and aesthetic factors that shape the way we
understand the performance event.

2. The context of an event includes the circumstances
and conditions which "surround" it.

3. Context may be historical, geographical, cultural,
political, or economic.It is not solely a matter of its
visual dimension with an implied aesthetic
conservatism.

The following is a summery of Baton Rouge's history as a whole.
I think it will be useful in dterermining where Baton rouge must go from here.
The information was received from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baton_Rouge,_Louisiana#Establishment

Baton Rouge, French: Bâton-Rouge (pronounced /ˈbætn ˈɹuːʒ/ in English,
and /batɔ̃ ʀuʒ/ in French) is the capital of Louisiana, a state of
the United States of America, and is the second largest city in Louisiana
behind New Orleans. As of the 2000 census, its population is 227,818.
It is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish. Baton Rouge is home to
the main campus of Louisiana State University and to Southern University.

The name "Baton Rouge" means “red stick” in French. In 1699, the Sieur d’Iberville
led an exploration party of about 200 French-Canadians up the Mississippi River, and on 17 March,
on a bluff on the east (“left”) bank, they saw a cypress pole festooned
with bloody animal and fish heads, which they learned was a
boundary-marker between the hunting territories of two of the local Houma Indian groups.
The bluff (by consensus among historians) is located on what is now the campus of
Southern University, in the northern part of the city, and a commemorative sculpture by
Frank Hayden has been erected nearby.

The first real settlement at the present site of Baton Rouge took place in 1718 when Bernard Diron Dartaguette
received a grant from the colonial government at New Orleans. Records indicate two whites and 25 blacks
(presumably slaves) resided on the concession. On New Year’s Day, 1722, the first mass at the settlement was
celebrated in Dartaguette’s parlor by Father Pierre François-Xavier de Charlevoix, a Jesuit teacher and
missionary who was on his way to New Orleans, having traveled from Quebec by way of the Great Lakes
and down the Mississippi. By 1727,however, the Dartaguette settlement had vanished; the reason for its
disappearance is not known, though it probably was a combination of
crop failure and the concurrent success of the settlement at Pointe Coupee,
across the river and a few miles north. As the location had no
particular importance to the French, they ignored it thereafter; this
period of less than a decade was the sum total of Baton Rouge under
French rule.

The British period

The origins of Baton Rouge as a continuously settled community date from the establishment of a British military outpost there in 1763, following the secret Treaty of Fontainebleau in the fall of 1762 that included the cession of New Orleans and western Louisiana by France to Spain and the acquisition by Great Britain of eastern Louisiana. British territory on the east was separated from Spanish lands on the west by the Mississippi from its source down to Bayou Manchac, which flows into the Amite River and then into Lake Maurepas. Baton Rouge, just north of Bayou Manchac, and now part of the colony of West Florida, suddenly had strategic significance as the southwest-most corner of British North America.

One post, named Fort Bute, was constructed on the north bank of Bayou Manchac itself, facing a comparable Spanish installation directly opposite it. A second post, Fort New Richmond, was built on the river on the present site of downtown Baton Rouge. A royal proclamation of 7 October 1763 granted the West Florida colonists “the rights and benefits of English law” and established an assembly. The colony’s first governor was Capt. George Johnstone of the Royal Navy, who was authorized to make land grants to officers and soldiers who had served in the recent war, and many of the subsequent large landholdings in the Baton Rouge area can be traced to Johnstone’s grants. (One of the earliest and wealthiest landowners, Sir William Dunbar, was granted an extensive plantation near Fort New Richmond in the early 1770s.) Planters in the Baton Rouge area were unusually prosperous, thanks both to the fertile soil and to the brisk illegal trade with neighboring Spanish Louisiana, and the fort became the center of an expanding agricultural community, though the town had not yet evolved.

The American Revolution

When the older British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America rebelled in 1776, the newer colony of West Florida, lacking a history of local government and distrustful of the potentially hostile Spanish nearby, remained loyal to the British crown. (For this reason, old Baton Rouge families who can trace their ancestry to the British colonial period usually find they are descended from Tories, not American revolutionaries.)

Spain remained neutral for nearly three years, though Bernardo de Galvez, the Spanish governor of Louisiana, gave covert material aid to the few rebels in West Florida, assisted by Oliver Pollock, a wealthy American agent in New Orleans. In January 1778, however, the war finally came to the lower Mississippi when James Willing, a wealthy young Philadelphian who had moved to Natchez, led a raiding party on the plantations in the Baton Rouge district. They engaged in burning and looting, carrying off more than $1.5 million in personal property, before being driven off by the militia. This action convinced the British to reinforce the local garrisons from their main base at Pensacola. In February, France declared war on Great Britain, and eighteen months later, Spain followed suit out of colonial self-interest. Gov. Galvez then marched north from New Orleans on 27 August 1779 with some 1,400 French and Spanish militia (and seven known American volunteers). He took Fort Bute after a minor skirmish on 7 September and Fort New Richmond surrendered two weeks later after a three-hour artillery bombardment. Don Carlos Louis Boucher de Grand Pré became Commandant of the District of Baton Rouge while Don Pedro José Favrot became Commandant of the Post of Baton Rouge, which was renamed Fort San Carlos. Residents were given six days to declare their allegiance to Spain and most complied rather than lose their land and homes. Galvez subsequently took Mobile in 1780 and Pensacola in 1781, and that was the end of the British on the Gulf Coast.

The Spanish period

English continued to be one of the three official languages in Baton Rouge (with French and Spanish) and the Spanish administration was generally tolerant and diplomatic; Grand Pré became a highly respected figure, remaining as commandant until 1808. Favrot retired to his plantation after 42 years of service, coming out of retirement during the War of 1812, and is buried in Baton Rouge.

The Spanish administration ordered the building of roads, bridges, and levees, and by the late 1780s, Baton Rouge had began to transform into a flourishing town, with a population in 1788 of 682. Don Antonio de Gras, a businessman who had assisted the American rebels during the Revolution, donated the land on which St. Joseph’s Cathedral now stands; his marriage in January 1793 to Genevieve Dulat was the first recorded under the new Spanish government.

During the twenty years between the end of the American Revolution and the Louisiana Purchase, land-hungry American immigrants streamed into the South, including West Florida. The Louisiana Purchase in 1803 did not include West Florida (or Baton Rouge), and by 1810 Spain’s position in West Florida had become completely untenable. On 22 September of that year, a rebel convention at St. Francisville deposed the Spanish governor, Carlos de Hault de Lassus, and ordered militia commander Philemon Thomas to seize Baton Rouge and Fort San Carlos. The following day, the fort was taken before daybreak, with two Spanish troops and no rebels killed. De Lassus and a number of other officials were taken prisoner and the Bonnie Blue Flag of the Republic of West Florida was raised over the town. One of the leaders of the rebellion was Baton Rougean Fulwar Skipwith, who would serve as president of the Republic. Also locally prominent was Col. Philip Hickey, captain of the militia under the Spanish and later colonel in the Louisiana militia in the War of 1812.

On 27 October 1810, President James Madison issued a proclamation authorizing Gov. William C. C. Claiborne of Orleans Territory to take possession of West Florida, and on 10 December the U.S. flag went up in Baton Rouge.

Since Louisiana statehood

On 16 January 1817, the state legislature incorporated the town of Baton Rouge and empowered it to elect a government. Instead of a mayor as chief executive, the town elected a “town magistrate” who also served as president of the board of selectmen; Town Magistrate John R. Dufroq became the first “mayor” of Baton Rouge in 1850. Unfortunately, records from the early period, before 1832, were destroyed in the Civil War and information about other early civic leaders is incomplete.

By 1805, two still-existing neighborhoods already had been laid out: “Spanishtown,” now in the area of Boyd Avenue near Capitol Lake, and “Beauregard Town,” bounded by North, East, and South Boulevards and the river. Spanishtown was the home of Spanish residents and those Canary Islanders who had moved into Baton Rouge from nearby Galveztown, though by 1819 many French families also had moved in. Beauregard Town was laid out by Capt. Elias Beauregard, great-uncle of Civil War General Pierre G. T. Beauregard, and was intended to include a fashionable central square, modeled on Jackson Square in New Orleans. As the city grew in the early 19th century, most Anglo families lived in the middle of town, along North, Main, and Laurel Streets, while the French built homes closer to the river.

A colony of Pennsylvania German farmers settled to the south of town, having moved north to high ground from their original settlement on Bayou Manchac after a series of floods in the 1780s. They were known locally as “Dutch Highlanders” (“Dutch” being an older word for “German”) and today’s Highland Road cuts through their original indigo and cotton plantations. The Kleinpeter and Staring families have been prominent in Baton Rouge affairs ever since.

The first steamboat, the New Orleans, landed at Baton Rouge in January 1812 and the town’s prosperous economy subsequently became highly identified with the river traffic. In 1822 alone, more than eight steamboats, 175 barges, and several hundred freight-carrying flatboats tied up at Baton Rouge’s wharves.

Baton Rouge’s location also continued to be a strategic consideration, and between 1819 and 1822 the War Department built the Pentagon Barracks near the site of old Fort San Carlos as quarters for an infantry regiment; much of the construction was supervised by Lt. Col. Zachary Taylor. (Taylor liked Baton Rouge so much he made the town his official residence and bought a cotton plantation nearby in West Feliciana Parish.) In the 1830s, a federal arsenal was built near the barracks, on the grounds of the present state capitol. After the Mexican War, with the westward movement of the frontier, the military presence in Baton Rouge dwindled in importance. The Pentagon Barracks was later acquired by the state of Louisiana and has served as dormitories for Louisiana State University, as state offices, and as apartments for high-ranking state officials and employees, including (at present) the lieutenant-governor.

In 1825, Baton Rouge was visited by the Marquis de Lafayette as part of his triumphal tour of the United States, and he was the guest of honor at a town ball and banquet. The official reason for his visit was to see his old friend and aide-de-camp, Joseph Armand Allard Duplantier, a long-time resident. (Duplantier died in 1827 and is buried in Highland Cemetery, near the LSU campus.) To celebrate the occasion, the town renamed Second Street “Lafayette Street.”

A yellow fever epidemic decimated the Spanish-speaking community of Baton Rouge in 1828 and the death toll in a cholera epidemic in 1832 is estimated at more than fifteen percent of the town’s population. The town’s population in 1830 was 1,467; by 1840, it was 2,269, and by 1860 it had risen to 5,429.

The old Louisiana State Capitol Castle

In 1846, the Louisiana state legislature decided to move the seat of government away from New Orleans -- largely because a growing majority of legislators and state officials were fundamentalist Protestants and regarded the hedonistic Crescent City with distaste. The constitutional convention the previous year, in fact, had ordained that the state capital should thenceforth be “no closer than sixty miles” to New Orleans; a compromise with legislators who were actually from New Orleans (about one-third of the legislature) resulted in the selection of Baton Rouge. Local citizens donated land and East Baton Rouge Parish appropriated $5,000 for site acquisition.

New York architect James Dakin was hired to design a new statehouse, and rather than mimic the federal Capitol Building in Washington, as so many other states had done, he conceived a Neo-Gothic medieval castle overlooking the Mississippi, complete with turrets and crenellations. The cornerstone was laid 3 November 1847 and dedication ceremonies were scheduled for 1 December 1849, but eight days before that a raging fire wiped out approximately one-fifth of the town. Firefighting facilities were upgraded as a result, and Baton Rouge evolved into a brick town instead of a wooden one. In 1859, the Capitol was featured and favorably described in DeBow’s Review, the most prestigious periodical in the antebellum South. Mark Twain, however, as a steamboat pilot in the 1850s, loathed the sight of it, considering it pretentious, undemocratic, and "famously ugly."

The Civil War

In the Election of 1860, Louisianians had a choice of three candidates (the name of Abraham Lincoln, candidate of the Republican Party did not appear on the ballot in the Deep South): John C. Breckinridge, who actively supported slavery, Stephen A. Douglas, who straddled the slavery issue, and John Bell, who ignored it and supported only “the Constitution and the Union.” Baton Rougeans generally were political moderates (and, above all, businessmen) who desired peace and national unity, and they cast 379 votes for Bell, 274 for Breckinridge, and 98 for Douglas.

In January 1861, Louisiana elected delegates to a state convention to decide the state’s course of action. Baton Rouge sent eight delegates, four of whom were “cooperationists” who opposed secession. On 26 January, however, the convention voted for secession 112 to 17, with most moderates voting with the majority to avoid discord.

Moderate or not, Baton Rouge raised a number of volunteer companies for Confederate service, including the Pelican Rifles, the Delta Rifles, the Creole Guards, and the Baton Rouge Fencibles. (About one-third of the town’s male population eventually volunteered.) Gov. Thomas O. Moore already had ordered the seizure of the federal barracks and arsenal, defended by only eighty men under the command of Maj. Joseph A. Haskin, a one-armed professional soldier in service since the Mexican War. Haskin was disdainful of the amateur militia but was so overwhelmingly outnumbered he finally surrendered his command without firing a shot. Baton Rouge would remain in Confederate hands for only sixteen months.

On 25 April 1862, the day before New Orleans fell to the U.S. Navy fleet under Admiral David Farragut, the Confederate state government decided to abandon Baton Rouge, moving first to Opelousas, and then to Shreveport. All cotton in the area was set afire to prevent it falling into enemy hands. On 9 May, Navy Commander James S. Palmer of the federal gunboat Iroquois landed at the town wharf and took possession, without resistance, of the Pentagon Barracks and the arsenal. He warned local officials that any attempt by the Rebels to reoccupy the town would be met with force. Two weeks later, a party of guerillas attacked a rowboat carrying a naval officer and a load of dirty laundry. In retaliation, Farragut’s flagship, the Hartford, bombarded the town, causing civilian casualties and damaging St. Joseph’s Church and other buildings. The next day, 29 May, U.S. Brig. Gen. Thomas Williams arrived with six regiments of infantry, two artillery batteries, and a troop of cavalry, and began the occupation of Baton Rouge.

Federal forces had attempted unsuccessfully to seize Vicksburg in the summer of 1862 and the Confederate high command decided that regaining access to the Red River and reopening the Mississippi required recapturing Baton Rouge. On 27 July, 4,000 Confederate troops left Vicksburg by train for Camp Moore in Tangipahoa Parish, about fifty miles from Baton Rouge, under the command of Maj. Gen. John C. Breckinridge. At the same time, the Confederate ram Arkansas moved downriver to neutralize U.S. ships near the town. Preparations were inadequate, supplies were already short, and the summer heat and rain brought disease, and Breckinridge reached Baton Rouge with only about half the men he had started with. Federal troops in the garrison, however, were equally hungry, sick, and exhausted. Even though the Arkansas had not yet arrived -- its presence was crucial to prevent the U.S. Navy from raking the Confederates with their deck guns -- Breckinridge attacked at dawn on 5 August. The Confederate line stretched in a semicircle from the present intersection of Plank Road and Scenic Highway in the north to the present-day Webb Park Golf Course in the south, all of which was then out in the country. Most of the fighting took place around what is now the National Cemetery (many Union dead being buried where they fell) and the later site of the Post Office on Florida Boulevard. The battle was a tactical Confederate success, the Union forces being pushed back to the river, but the Arkansas never made it; it had developed engine trouble a few miles upriver and been destroyed by its crew to prevent capture.

About 5,000 men had taken part in the battle, about half on each side. Union casualties totaled 383 (including Gen. Williams, who was killed); Confederate casualties were 456. The town suffered far more from the Union bombardment, the depredations of fleeing refugees, and the felling of most of the town’s trees to build barricades and clear lines of fire. Breckinridge was forced to withdraw to the Comite River, and later to Port Hudson, a few miles north of town, which held out until July 1863. [SEE Siege of Port Hudson].

Gen. Benjamin F. Butler, commanding in New Orleans, ordered the federal evacuation of Baton Rouge a week after the battle but Union troops returned in mid-December; they would stay until the end of Reconstruction in April 1877. Given that Baton Rouge was not a den of secession to begin with, most of its citizens accepted federal occupation willingly enough, though many others went to stay with rural relatives until the war ended. Nevertheless, local leaders in 1864 estimated the town’s losses since secession at more than $10 million in freed slaves, burned buildings, destroyed crops, looted property, and confiscated horses and mules. It took more than a decade for the town and its citizens to begin to recover, especially since New Orleans had again become the state capital.

The late 19th & early 20th centuries

Capitol Building

The mass migration of ex-slaves into urban areas in the South also affected Baton Rouge. It has been estimated that in 1860, blacks made up just under one-third of the town’s population. By 1870, though, Baton Rouge was 52 percent black, partly the result of a decline in white population immediately after the war, but in the 1880 U.S. census, Baton Rouge was 60 percent black. Not until the 1920 census, in fact, would the white population of Baton Rouge again exceed 50 percent. But after Reconstruction ended, the white population controlled the state’s and the city’s institutions, and segregation and “Jim Crow” laws were enforced, though leavened with a dose of paternalism. (And Radical Republican control in Louisiana had never been strong outside of New Orleans in any case.)

By 1880, Baton Rouge was recovering economically and psychologically, though the population that year still was only 7,197 and its boundaries had remained the same. The carpetbaggers and scalawags of Reconstruction politics were replaced by middle-class white Democrats who loathed the Republicans, eulogized the Confederacy, and preached white supremacy. This “Bourbon” era was short-lived in Baton Rouge, however, replaced by a more management-oriented local style of conservatism in the 1890s and on into the early 20th century. Increased civic-mindedness and the arrival of the Louisville, New Orleans, and Texas Railroad led to the development of more forward-looking leadership, which included the construction of a new waterworks, widespread electrification of homes and businesses, and the passage of several large bond issues for the construction of public buildings, new schools, paving of streets, drainage and sewer improvements, and the establishment of a scientific municipal public health department.

At the same time, the state government was constructing in Baton Rouge a new Institute for the Blind and a School for the Deaf. Louisiana State University moved from New Orleans to temporary quarters at the old arsenal and barracks and Southern University relocated from New Orleans to Scotlandville (just north of Baton Rouge at the time but now within the city limits). Finally, legal challenges to the Standard Oil Company in Texas led its board of directors to move its refining operations in 1909 to the banks of the Mississippi just above town; Exxon is still the largest private employer in Baton Rouge.

In the 1930s a new skyscraper state capitol building was built under the direction of Huey P. Long. The old state capitol is now a museum.

2005-10-14T16:59:00.000-07:00

Ted Groeger

Mr. Groeger informed me that hospitlaity design is all about fun. A simple red circle can create an impact and let the user know what they are getting themselves into. Splashes of high end materials, such as copper, can go a long way. The more patterns on a floor the better, especially when they deliniate spaces. A black ceiling is not as great of an idea as it sounds. When creating seating arrangements for cafeterias, lend the users a variety of options, such as private booths or bar seating.

I did find it interesting that when working on such a large job, the members of the team rarely met.

The perspectives he showed were very clear and simple. They sold the design.

2005-10-12T17:34:00.000-07:00

WHERE WILL WE GO?

New Orleans businesses and residents that have temporarily relocated to Baton Rouge due to Katrina are now beginning to return to New Orleans. Some have a home, some have a job, but many have neither. This is an opportunity for Baton Rouge to not only increase our population but to change the entire structure of the city. Many people ( around 250,00) found shelter in BR, but as New Orleans comes back to life, many are leaving.

How do we find a balance between aiding New Orleans in rebuilding and keeping some of its displaced for ourselves. Since many have already purchased a home in Baton Rouge, obviously they are planning on staying for a while, but what about the thousands that have filled our downtown for the past weeks. Restaurants, copy shops, coffee shops, everthing have been stretched to the max and have been making tons of money. But most of these people, along with everyone else have been donating, volunteering, our offering up their homes to not only New Orleaniens, but to people all over LA and MS.

Everyone is tired. Baton Rouge is getting larger, but feels very small and safe compared to New Orleans. It might be easier to increase the residents than it would be to increase businesses in Baton Rouge. There will always be more tourism in NO than BR just because of its history and fame, espacially after the hurricane. It will come back, maybe better than ever, maybe a funkier Las Vegas. Either way, a very fast transportation system from New Orleans to Baton Rouge is the most important step. Many connections have been made between the two cities recently, and many already existed. Communities are stretching out from the metro areas and will eventually meet anyway. A quick and easy commute would allow both cities an opportunity to grow and would intrique others from out of state to move here.

This is a time for great improvement in both of our cities. Right now most of the focus is being placed on rebuilding New Orleans' infastructure and giving people aid to restart their lives, but where will they restart. Renovatons and new construction should not only be going on in NO, but Baton Rouge should focus mainly on improving and creating homes for people. The businesses will follow.

If you have a business that is based in New Orleans and are having trouble keeping contact with clients and employees you are not alone. Modiphy Incorporated, a Baton Rouge web development firm, has donated an extremely helpful service to those businesses affected by Hurricane Katrina. "nolabusiness.com" allows business owners to post both the status of their business and current contact information, as well as get a free webmail account all in one easy step.

2005-10-12T00:34:00.000-07:00

Mike and Maaike

a joint effort between maaike evers and mike simonian, mike and maaike is a resource for experimental design, progressive ideas and unexpected solutions for products, furniture and environments.

http://www.mikeandmaaike.com

some images of their work:

2005-10-11T06:24:00.000-07:00

Perkins Rowe Urban Village vs. Downtown Baton Rouge, LA

ur·ban (ûrbn)adj.
1.Of, relating to, or located in a city.
2.Characteristic of the city or city life.

vil·lage (vlj)n.
1.A small group of dwellings in a rural area, usually ranking in size between a hamlet and a town.
2.In some U.S. states, an incorporated community smaller in population than a town.
3.The inhabitants of a village; villagers.
4.A group of bird or animal habitations suggesting a village.
[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin vllticum, farmstead, from neuter of vllticus, of a villa or farmstead, from vlla, country house, farm. See weik-1 in Indo-European Roots.]

urban village-An urban setting ( lots of traffic, a mall) but the feel of a village (a small group of people living in a small area who all know each other and everything one could want or need is right at there fingertips, including brain surgery, and know one has to worry because noone can live or work or shop in the village if they are not middle to upper class)

Since Baton Rouge is trying so hard to revitalize downtown, it seems counterproductive to put all the new exciting places to live and shop and hang out on the almost opposite side of the city.
When Mr. Davis from downtown development spoke to us and I asked him about public transportation to and from downtown, he said that his work stopped outside of downtown. There is an entire sector of our government that works on improving transportation in Baton Rouge; why are they not working with the downtown development project?

Building Perkins Rowe at this time in the revitalization not only keeps people from coming downtown, it increases traffic in areas that are already packed with people commuting to and from work, shopping, eating, and living ( everything that is needed downtown).

Condominiums along the Mississippi that are completely sold out, and would bring enough residences to the downtown area to maybe get some sort of grocery store or a even a blasted Walgreens, have been in the planning phase for over 3 years know ( and that is only the amount of thime that they have been public knowledge.) Get those babies built. Hopefully some retail will follow, and then maybe all the parks and new art facilities and museums will be put to full use.