Future BR (non related to ongoing project)

[itsjustme3]

I do agree, I just think at some point BR should expand and construct a larger Airport.

I completely agree, it would be so nice to see City Park expanded.

That why I think we should expand, to have more flights than the limited number we have now.

You don't understand how it works. A city or a airport can't just say "hey let's have more flights". It's not up to the airport to have flights stop in Baton Rouge. It's dependent on the airlines. If the airlines said we are adding stops at BTR then BTR would expand.

[itsjustme3]

Yes, when there is demand for something you must have the supply. They go hand in hand, I understand the BR does not have the demand expected for and international airport, what I am saying is that they should expand the airport to have more 'supply'.

No you don't understand

[itsjustme3]

There will be no increase in White Collar jobs if we can not get some 'anchor' businesses here.

huh? What in the world is a anchor business?

Baton Rouge needs to make itself a viable city for future growth. One of the many (and more important ways) it can do that is by expanding our airport. I'm not even saying BR gets an International Airport, just expand the size of the current one.

No you said BR needs a international airport.

In addition to that the city should try and get a few more fortune 500 companies here (two or three).

You don't think they try that every day???? It's not up to a city.

Another more vital step is to make North BR more attractive

lol

The main thing is that BR makes itself attractive, that can be accomplished with a bigger, more affordable, accessible, and more routed airport.

Where is all this free money coming from?????

This is my favorite thread. I needed a good laugh this morning and I've gotten a whole days full.

[Antrell Williams]

There will be no increase in White Collar jobs if we can not get some 'anchor' businesses here. That then brings the reason why I believe that if BR wants to become bigger and better the city will be in direct competition with NOLA, if MSY is there why not use it and stay in New Orleans. 

 

Baton Rouge needs to make itself a viable city for future growth. One of the many (and more important ways) it can do that is by expanding our airport. I'm not even saying BR gets an International Airport, just expand the size of the current one. In addition to that the city should try and get a few more fortune 500 companies here (two or three). Another more vital step is to make North BR more attractive, something I touched up on in this list. The main thing is that BR makes itself attractive, that can be accomplished with a bigger, more affordable, accessible, and more routed airport. 

I don't quite think you understand. And that's ok.

 

Baton Rouge and New Orleans need not to compete with each other, but help each other grow and prosper together as a region. Our airport has very little to do with today's growth, and expansion doesn't come without airlines spending money on flights. If there are no passengers, there are no flights, period. They aren't just going to lose money. It's extremely hard to get a F500 company to move, and I can't think of reasons why they would come to Baton Rouge, realistically.

An airport won't fix the city nor North Baton Rouge.

[garrett_225]

The airport is serving us just fine. The airport and the immediate surroundings are pretty much the only thing North Baton Rouge has going for it. Our airport is really a success story. It's not easy for a small airport to compete with a mid-sized airport an hour away. BR airport offers a pretty decent travel experience for those who get to use it. The parking is some of the closest you'll find at any airport. Security is fast and friendly and you don't have to walk a million miles to your gate. They've also invested millions improving the aesthetics of the facility in recent years. Stop looking at the weaknesses and focus on the strengths. Really, the airport is one of the few things that Baton Rouge has gotten (mostly) right. Just IMHO. 

 

Non-stop routes to maybe three more destinations would be nice, and I do wish the parish prison wasn't across the street--but other than that, we've got a pretty good airport.

[timelordnerd]

I don't quite think you understand. And that's ok.

 

Baton Rouge and New Orleans need not to compete with each other, but help each other grow and prosper together as a region. Our airport has very little to do with today's growth, and expansion doesn't come without airlines spending money on flights. If there are no passengers, there are no flights, period. They aren't just going to lose money. It's extremely hard to get a F500 company to move, and I can't think of reasons why they would come to Baton Rouge, realistically.

An airport won't fix the city nor North Baton Rouge.

 

 

The airport is serving us just fine. The airport and the immediate surroundings are pretty much the only thing North Baton Rouge has going for it. Our airport is really a success story. It's not easy for a small airport to compete with a mid-sized airport an hour away. BR airport offers a pretty decent travel experience for those who get to use it. The parking is some of the closest you'll find at any airport. Security is fast and friendly and you don't have to walk a million miles to your gate. They've also invested millions improving the aesthetics of the facility in recent years. Stop looking at the weaknesses and focus on the strengths. Really, the airport is one of the few things that Baton Rouge has gotten (mostly) right. Just IMHO. 

 

Non-stop routes to maybe three more destinations would be nice, and I do wish the parish prison wasn't across the street--but other than that, we've got a pretty good airport.

I understand what you are all saying, and I agree that BTR serves our current needs. I still believe that the city should try and expand it, more people would use it if you could have a few more non-stops. My family and I fly a lot, when we can we fly BTR because it's more accessible, yet when we need to take longer flights we have to use New Orleans. I know that if BTR expanded even just by expanding the gate number we would use it even more. Baton Rouge citizenry will too, I guess there just are not enough flights to convince the companies. If that's the case BTR needs to start marketing big time showing that they are a nice alternative to MSY. 

 

I still think New Orleans and Baton Rouge are still in competition with each other, it's not like old times when NOLA was the undisputed CITY for Louisiana. Baton Rouge is attracting attention and if our city wants to push further we can not be too buddy buddy with NOLA, it's comparable (on a much, much, smaller scale) to Dallas VS Houston. They are not in direct competition yet the still compete for more companies, people, etc. 

[richyb83]

Baton Rouge Metro Airport will need A LOT more space than what it currently has to ever be considered for an International Airport....the new runway on this lower red box is not near enough room for legit run-way. There is possibly enough room to expand the run-way NE (then Plank Road would need a tunnel)....then the Brownsfield residents might resist.  BR's close proximity to NOLA is a real hindrance. Austin TX would have suffered the same fate being too close to San Antonio....however they lucked out when their larger Air Force Base closed & they chose to relocate there instead...leaving the old airport to become a TND. BR does not have this luxury.

 

BR does have a cool mini-Aerotropolis emerging like Garrett225 said   

Below is a concept I came up with a while back, granted it's very idealistic and would require massive demand for flights out of or into BR (and money). It's inspired by Beijing international: 

 

 

Beijing International for reference:

[itsjustme3]

LOL. You just don't get it.

[Antrell Williams]

I understand what you are all saying, and I agree that BTR serves our current needs. I still believe that the city should try and expand it, more people would use it if you could have a few more non-stops. My family and I fly a lot, when we can we fly BTR because it's more accessible, yet when we need to take longer flights we have to use New Orleans. I know that if BTR expanded even just by expanding the gate number we would use it even more. Baton Rouge citizenry will too, I guess there just are not enough flights to convince the companies. If that's the case BTR needs to start marketing big time showing that they are a nice alternative to MSY. 

 

I still think New Orleans and Baton Rouge are still in competition with each other, it's not like old times when NOLA was the undisputed CITY for Louisiana. Baton Rouge is attracting attention and if our city wants to push further we can not be too buddy buddy with NOLA, it's comparable (on a much, much, smaller scale) to Dallas VS Houston. They are not in direct competition yet the still compete for more companies, people, etc. 

Doesn't seem that you do get it.

What we have is already better than what we should have, it's amazing it does so well being in the hood. It's just not going to happen right now, man.

 

 

Can we move on?

[all2neat]

I like his enthusiasm. You gotta give him credit where due but I agree the airport dream will probably stay just that. Demand has to outpace supply before any expansion will take place. One good example was delta flying larger size jets a couple times per day. The demand was starting to outpace the supply so the expanded the supply by increasing the jet size. You need to work up demand to require the airlines the fly larger planes. Once you do this you need to have enough people making the same connections to the same place. If the airlines notice a lot of BTR to LAX via DFW or ATL, odds are one of the airlines is going to add a direct flight to LAX. You have to get the demand in place. 

 

One example I can give you is Minot, ND. When I went to college they had 3 flights per day. They were typically a DC-9 so a decent sized plane. It was originally North West (eventually acquired by Delta). Everyone in town knew what time the planes would be on the ground. The airport has two gates. They thought about expanding the airport to try to attract a second airline to add much needed competition. The airlines refused stating lack of demand. Fast forward to the last 4 years and demand had gone up over 1000% due to massive oil production increases. They now have 4 airlines and about 25 flights per day. The last time I was there I was amazed because there were four planes on the ground at the same time, more than a whole day's flights when I was in college. they are finally getting that airport expansion. Not to try to attract new airlines but to meet demand. Of course they are building a couple extra gates to help future proof the airport, and that is reasonable.

 

I think BTR is still in that future proof state. I never see the airport at capacity and until planes are waiting on the tarmac for other planes to leave (excluding a repair issue) an expansion won't happen. Airports that expand typically can't keep up. It costs (typically) billions of dollars to expand an airport. That type of expense needs to come with a reasonable expectation of return. You don't want an airport like PIT, where it sit mostly empty. It was a hub and now it isn't. It's way larger then it needs to be now. If you expand the airport now that very likely would be the case, it would mostly sit empty which is just a huge waste of money.

 

In terms of it being international. New Orleans can barely keep it's international flights and it's a tourist destination. BTR's flight numbers don't come close to MSY. The onliy way you are going to get international flights in BTR is for it to become a major tourist destination or a major corporate base. Many thing need to be fixed before either of these things happen and it very likely would require both to get any real consistent international flights. Louisiana is going to suffer from being too close to several other major intercontinental airports. With Houston, Dallas, and Atlanta all about an hours flight time away why move any of that international business here when you are already setup in those major hubs.

[Antrell Williams]

Louisiana is going to suffer from being too close to several other major intercontinental airports. With Houston, Dallas, and Atlanta all about an hours flight time away why move any of that international business here when you are already setup in those major hubs.

That's exactly where MSY comes into play.

Baton Rouge will never become a tourist destination, not compared to New Orleans. They only way they come is for business, can't see that for a long time!

[dan326]

LOL!! Sorry Tlord but I agree with justme.

[timelordnerd]

Doesn't seem that you do get it.

What we have is already better than what we should have, it's amazing it does so well being in the hood. It's just not going to happen right now, man.

 

 

Can we move on?

Yes, sorry that I held everyone back from talking about the other things mentioned on this list and other peoples. 

 

LOL!! Sorry Tlord but I agree with justme.

I understand

 

That's exactly where MSY comes into play.

Baton Rouge will never become a tourist destination, not compared to New Orleans. They only way they come is for business, can't see that for a long time!

I guess business is an area that BR should work on

[Antrell Williams]

Yes, sorry that I held everyone back from talking about the other things mentioned on this list and other peoples. 

 

I guess business is an area that BR should work on

No worries.

 

We need to focus on white collar jobs and keeping our LSU and SU grads here. (As well as Tulane, UNO, Loyola, UL, SELA, LATech, etc).

[timelordnerd]

No worries.

 

We need to focus on white collar jobs and keeping our LSU and SU grads here. (As well as Tulane, UNO, Loyola, UL, SELA, LATech, etc).

Exactly

[all2neat]

Jobs, education, and crime are the most important things.

[Mr. Burnham]

The purpose of this thread is to evaluate what future BR can become, the city is growing rather quickly and it's now starting to attract the attention of filmmakers. On top of that more money is pouring into the city and future projects look like they are all going well, the problem is how will the city respond and improve as a result. Below are a few ideas of how we can become better: 

 

1. International Airport; I don't care where, hell for all I care they could keep the metro or clear it and start over. The city needs one, NOLA is too small and the metro will never meet the growing demand for direct connections. I think we need a large International Airport that can serve literally the whole state and more due to the states growing film industry, economy, and overall attraction. 

 

2. Green Space; looking at a map of BR you can see that we really are a rather green city, however it is not organized well and lacks what I believe to be an important component of any rising city; a central city park. Like NOLA, BR needs a large park for recreation, gatherings, public events, and improved beauty. On top of that our park system could be connected more fashionably than it is now. More greenery along Florida and other streets and stripmalls would be nice too. 

 

3. Versatile City Travel Options; BR is city of cars, if you want to get anywhere you better have a car. We need to change this, CATS is going in the right direction with the new terminals, but I should be able to walk from my house to Towne Center or Citi Place (I'm only five minutes away) I can not even safely walk to CHS even though it's a short bike ride from my house. On top of that we need light-rail, plain and simple. 

 

4. More Museums; Maybe I'm just a museum guy, but seriously I'm tired of "Political Museums". I want to see art, and historical museums downtown. Maybe music museums, I don't know we just need more museums. 

 

5. Better Downtown; I know they are doing everything they can, but I do not want Downtown to become a hotbed for modern architecture. I like it, but I also love some traditional French stuff too. I feel that if Downtown tried to combine the two it would really look stunning. 

 

6. A Park on the River; One word = Desoto Park

 

7. Improved design in the State Capitol region; As historic as the Pentagon is, it does not fit, maybe they can move it the Rural Life Museum. In it's place build a new museum or Louisiana Wildlife Museum. 

 

8. Out of City Transport; In addition to an new Airport, I would like to see the LASM renovated back into a new Train Station for a line to NOLA, maybe in the future it can have links out of state. 

 

9. A Theater District; In BR there are three big theater groups: Theater Baton Rouge, Playmakers, and Center Stage. We need incentives to get them closer to each other and Downtown. With them Downtown it could help jump-start a theater atmosphere and provide a nice setting to the film festival. 

 

10. Organized regions; we need an organized Medical, Film, and Commercial Districts. They need to be organized and flow fluently together. 

 

11. What are some ideas you guys have?

1. No, no, no, this city is WAY too small. It may be growing, but not that big

2. Yeah, more parks would be cool

3. It would be cool to have a light-rail line. Maybe start small and have one go from the Airport to LSU?

4. I like Museums too, maybe one in a park?

5. TBH, this cities downtown looks pretty nice. From the research I have done it looks like they are adding more green space and the blocks there will be more developed soon, just give it time.

6. Maybe that Park could have the museum

7. Nah, I think cities that take pride and preserve their history are the best cities 

8. Ooh, that sounds interesting

9. I always find that theater is interesting, but where would this go 

10. That comes with further development. The most important thing is that you let those regions develop naturally, maybe go in and add more continuity (greenery, improve the roads), but the more you let it grow naturally and develop. The easier it will be for a city to create a 'district'. The more you force it, the harder it is for people to develop there. 

11. I drove down Florida Blvd. It would be nice to see some mid rises and some of the towers get renovated. That large Spanish looking area seems cool though! What's that area called?

[Mr. Burnham]

Another bump in your plan for the city; N.O. airport has largest passenger increase in the US 

http://theadvocate.com/home/9030598-125/no-airport-has-largest-passenger

[all2neat]

Instead of focusing on an airport BR needs to focus on a rail link between NOLA MSY and BR.

[timelordnerd]

Another bump in your plan for the city; N.O. airport has largest passenger increase in the US 

http://theadvocate.com/home/9030598-125/no-airport-has-largest-passenger

Not really, just shows more people are traveling to the state. For all we know those people could be coming to BR, but due to our airports high prices and limited travel options NOLA is the only way to go. At this point I'm thinking we should lower prices and complete the renovations/add light rail line. After that sit back and watch the people come...

[garrett_225]

Not really, just shows more people are traveling to the state. For all we know those people could be coming to BR, but due to our airports high prices and limited travel options NOLA is the only way to go. At this point I'm thinking we should lower prices and complete the renovations/add light rail line. After that sit back and watch the people come...

 

If you think Baton Rouge is expensive, you've never flown from another small, regional airport. 

 

It's actually quite comparable to flights out of NOLA, in my experience. 

[Antrell Williams]

Not really, just shows more people are traveling to the state. For all we know those people could be coming to BR, but due to our airports high prices and limited travel options NOLA is the only way to go. At this point I'm thinking we should lower prices and complete the renovations/add light rail line. After that sit back and watch the people come...

"We" can't lower prices. Supply and demand lowers prices. And light-rail is out of the question. Maybe BRT.

[itsjustme3]

For all we know those people could be coming to BR, but due to our airports high prices

You know how I know you've never left Baton Rouge?

[Renzo]

You know how I know you've never left Baton Rouge?

 

what gave it away?

[Mr. Burnham]

Not really, just shows more people are traveling to the state. For all we know those people could be coming to BR, but due to our airports high prices and limited travel options NOLA is the only way to go. At this point I'm thinking we should lower prices and complete the renovations/add light rail line. After that sit back and watch the people come...

Stop, just stop. I get you have very high ambitions for the city, but you are starting in all the wrong areas. You want this city to be better? Advocate for better schools and things that improve the daily life of the city.