Downtown Technology District

[richyb83]

This story was on WAFB news last night....2 minute video included

City-parish leaders want to attract major tech companies to Baton Rouge

BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) -

Mayor Kip Holden and the East Baton Rouge Metro Council want to make the Capital City the new hotspot for high-tech companies. 

"I hope that we are, Baton Rouge is able to stay up with the times, maybe even be ahead of the times," said Metro Councilman Buddy Amoroso. 

He and the rest of the council are exploring the idea of creating a technology district in the Downtown area. The purpose is to attract major companies like Tesla, a maker of high end electric cars, and smaller startups. 

A focus of the initiative is smart car technology, which includes electric cars and driverless vehicles. 

John Snow, a consultant with the city, is working on the initiative, which is being spearheaded by Holden. He said the driverless automobile, known as the Autonomous car, is the way of the future and Baton Rouge will be very accommodating for businesses. 

"Vehicles can be tied into your grid system, to traffic lights. It's all with a goal of really digitizing the automotive industry and digitizing how people navigate through congestion and traffic," Snow said. 

The Metro Council looked at the proposal at its meeting on May 11, but deferred it to a later meeting. Amoroso said some of his colleagues are concerned about the exact location of the district, which is still being worked out. 

"There was reasonings that we wanted something to be a very urban setting, and that was kind of why we picked the area that we did pick it on," Amoroso said. "My colleagues want to know that it was done in a fair way, that we're not trying to give one part of the city an advantage that the other one doesn't have." 

No new incentives will be offered through the initiative. Officials say the initiative is intended to market existing incentives in Baton Rouge. 

The initiative could come up again at the next council meeting, which is scheduled for May 25.

http://www.wafb.com/story/31987493/city-parish-leaders-want-to-attract-major-tech-companies-to-baton-rouge

 

[Antrell Williams]

At least downtown appeals to their usual employee base. 

[Mr. Burnham]

Why can't we dedicate our time, money, and resources into more longterm investments like making Baton Rouge a passenger rail center for the country. 

At least it's not being put into Mid-City or North Baton Rouge. I guess it means less gentrification. 

[Antrell Williams]

There really isn't any gentrification yet in Baton Rouge. This would be great in Mid-City or Southern's Campus.

[dan326]

That seems like an interesting idea.

I might have said this before but if they want to gentrify North BR, they need to make it attractive to mid and upper middle class black people because at least to me, its biggest weakness (its identity as a predominately black area) could be flipped to be its strength (think Atlanta). Obviously BR can’t get on Atlanta’s level but it’s still a good ideal.

 

[Mr. Burnham]

But do we want NBR to be gentrified? Does it really solve the underlying problem or just move it to another part of the city?

[Antrell Williams]

7 hours ago, dan326 said:

That seems like an interesting idea.

I might have said this before but if they want to gentrify North BR, they need to make it attractive to mid and upper middle class black people because at least to me, its biggest weakness (its identity as a predominately black area) could be flipped to be its strength (think Atlanta). Obviously BR can’t get on Atlanta’s level but it’s still a good ideal.

 

Gentrification in the US usually involves a completely different culture moving in because of some desirable aspect of the area. I don't believe the problem is solved by getting new people in, I think it's solved by helping the people already there.

23 minutes ago, mr. bernham said:

But do we want NBR to be gentrified? Does it really solve the underlying problem or just move it to another part of the city?

I surely don't. It would move the problem across the river where it's cheap and create a whole new problem.

[Mr. Burnham]

Do you think maybe putting rent caps in neighborhood would be beneficial?

[dan326]

13 hours ago, Antrell Williams said:

Gentrification in the US usually involves a completely different culture moving in because of some desirable aspect of the area. I don't believe the problem is solved by getting new people in, I think it's solved by helping the people already there.

I'm not sure if anything could solve the problem except for the second coming but I think if more, "successful" black people moved in it would provide good role models. 

[Mr. Burnham]

33 minutes ago, dan326 said:

I'm not sure if anything could solve the problem except for the second coming but I think if more, "successful" black people moved in it would provide good role models. 

Yeah, but lets be real, a lot of "successful" black people aren't going to move in. It's going to be primarily be white upper middle class families. 

[dan326]

3 hours ago, mr. bernham said:

Yeah, but lets be real, a lot of "successful" black people aren't going to move in. It's going to be primarily be white upper middle class families. 

You believe it's more realistic to expect the upper middle white families of BR to move north of Florida Boulevard??

[Mr. Burnham]

6 hours ago, dan326 said:

You believe it's more realistic to expect the upper middle white families of BR to move north of Florida Boulevard??

If, for instance, the area around Sacred Heart which is technically NBR began to be gentrified because of new businesses in the area, damn straight upper middle white families will move there. 

gentrification is a slow and gradual process, but that doesn't men it doesn't exist. Who would've thought 30 years ago that Brooklyn would be the hottest place for white middle class families in New York, let alone the national headquarters for the presidential candidate of a major political party that will more than likely win in November? Gentrification changes things.

[Antrell Williams]

On 5/20/2016 at 0:40 PM, dan326 said:

I'm not sure if anything could solve the problem except for the second coming but I think if more, "successful" black people moved in it would provide good role models. 

I could see that happening if they heavily invested in the areas like Scotlandville, Glen Oaks, etc. I don't see them heavily investing in the area though. 

On 5/20/2016 at 5:12 PM, dan326 said:

You believe it's more realistic to expect the upper middle white families of BR to move north of Florida Boulevard??

Absolutely. It will start with OSBR and Mid-City, Northdale could be next, Scotlandville after. 

[dan326]

I replied in the northern parish thread.

[Mr. Burnham]

7 hours ago, dan326 said:

OSBR and near Sacred Heart/Mid-City yeah, but those other ones...

But once those area's become gentrified, the properties surrounding that entire area will only grow in demand, which will push out older residents, which long-term means more gentrification. 

On one hand you could say that it just makes the inner-city better, but in reality it does nothing to help the city or solve the underlying problems facing the black community in Baton Rouge.

[richyb83]

New Baton Rouge district approved for pursuit of smart car companies

With the unanimous approval of the Transportation, Technology and Innovation District at Wednesday’s Metro Council meeting, city and state economic development leaders can now begin meeting to hammer out their pitch and work on a list of smart car tech companies to try to recruit to Baton Rouge.

The resolution creating the district puts the Capital City in the conversation as a landing spot for both fledgling companies and established national corporations looking for a place to manufacture and develop smart car technologies.

The working group will consists of members from the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, Louisiana Economic Development, LSU, Southern University, Baton Rouge Community College, Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development and the city-parish.

The district would focus on downtown as well as two development-ready, LED-certified sites in the Baton Rouge Aviation Business Park and LSU Innovation Park. No tax incentives were created with the district, and recruiters will rely on statewide incentives such as LED’s Digital Media tax credit and others already built-in to downtown, the Aviation Business Park and the LSU Innovation Park

*rest of article*

https://www.businessreport.com/article/new-baton-rouge-district-approved-pursuit-smart-car-companies

[cajun]

On 5/18/2016 at 10:38 PM, Antrell Williams said:

There really isn't any gentrification yet in Baton Rouge. This would be great in Mid-City or Southern's Campus.

Not on a medium or large scale.....but I've seen older neighborhoods recycle with young people and new investment (not gentrification though....just a healthy resurgence).   That happened to Capital Heights about a decade ago.

On 5/22/2016 at 11:19 PM, mr. bernham said:

But once those area's become gentrified, the properties surrounding that entire area will only grow in demand, which will push out older residents, which long-term means more gentrification. 

On one hand you could say that it just makes the inner-city better, but in reality it does nothing to help the city or solve the underlying problems facing the black community in Baton Rouge.

True but that shouldn't stop the resurgence of neighborhoods like mid-city.   It's economically beneficial for everyone in the city if there's more investment and reinvestment into neighborhoods like you mentioned.    The most educated and (unfortunately) the most "connected" are best positioned to take advantage of that.  

On 5/22/2016 at 11:04 AM, Antrell Williams said:

I could see that happening if they heavily invested in the areas like Scotlandville, Glen Oaks, etc. I don't see them heavily investing in the area though. 

Absolutely. It will start with OSBR and Mid-City, Northdale could be next, Scotlandville after. 

I think Mid City might be first.  Really depends on how investment with LSU, Water Campus plays out IMO.  I'm skeptical that current leadership on the state level will happily let major Baton Rouge institutions flourish at all, especially when tax revenue and income statewide are down.  If I'm right, there will be more focus east of downtown.   If I'm wrong, it will be OSBR.   

There have been some investors buying into OSBR quietly.   I'm not talking about the kind that make headlines either.    I mean like the kind of people that post on this board that may have a rental property or two.  

[Antrell Williams]

21 hours ago, cajun said:

 

I think Mid City might be first.  Really depends on how investment with LSU, Water Campus plays out IMO.  I'm skeptical that current leadership on the state level will happily let major Baton Rouge institutions flourish at all, especially when tax revenue and income statewide are down.  If I'm right, there will be more focus east of downtown.   If I'm wrong, it will be OSBR.   

There have been some investors buying into OSBR quietly.   I'm not talking about the kind that make headlines either.    I mean like the kind of people that post on this board that may have a rental property or two.  

The Water Campus, River District, River House, and rail line will be the determining factor for OSBR in my opinion. I think Mid-City will be easier as there's more open space and industry there, newer developments will probably be more prevalent. 

I've been looking at some properties around the area as well.

[cajun]

On 5/20/2016 at 1:14 PM, mr. bernham said:

Yeah, but lets be real, a lot of "successful" black people aren't going to move in. It's going to be primarily be white upper middle class families. 

Yuppies don't show up until after they displace the techies, who themselves don't show up until after the Hipsters move on to the next low rent but "cool" place.  They won't show up until it's safe and convenient to whoever is foolish enough to hire them. 

On 6/11/2016 at 11:57 AM, Antrell Williams said:

 

I've been looking at some properties around the area as well.

Safer short term would be on the LSU side of McKinley St IMO.   I'm hearing that rentable properties are harder to come by in that area as older Baton Rouge investors are buying in.

[Antrell Williams]

7 hours ago, cajun said:

Yuppies don't show up until after they displace the techies, who themselves don't show up until after the Hipsters move on to the next low rent but "cool" place.  They won't show up until it's safe and convenient to whoever is foolish enough to hire them. 

Safer short term would be on the LSU side of McKinley St IMO.   I'm hearing that rentable properties are harder to come by in that area as older Baton Rouge investors are buying in.

South Baton Rouge has been quiet for years now. I would be pretty comfortable on probably half of the blocks. Thomas H. Delpit could easily be a cultural retail/entertainment corridor between Terrace Ave and E Washington.