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Rouzan TND


Zackman

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meh.

The more I see it, the more that I oppose it.....but not for the same reason the NIMBYs do.

I'm glad to see you joining in my apathy Cajun. I am assuming you oppose it because you've begun to realize the "Smart Growth" concept is nothing more then a marketing tool to create prettier suburban sprawl and does not address a single issue facing our city, even though its selling itself as the solution? I would love to go to the TND when its complete and watch how many people drive in their cars from their homes to the "faux shopping district" im sure the number would be nearly 100% excluding weekends. And lets not get started on the Disney World Main Street architecture....wacko.gif

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Looks nice to me and besides, who really walks anywhere in this town? :dontknow:

Exactly Dan. Maybe its time we change that philosophy. lol

My criticism lies within Rouzan's marketing strategy, and i continuously read it in the Business Report, is that people will be able to walk to the pharmacy, or make small errands with out getting in their car. Well, its just not the most accurate statement...

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Let's not make the perfect the enemy of the good...right?

I know much less about this development than most of you, but I'm trying to play catch up and to me it's a marvel that it has made it past the phalanx of NIMBYs this far. When I first heard about Rouzan, I figured it would go at the vast stretch of vacancy at Perkins and Acadian Thruway (what is going there anyway)? The fact is, if Smart Growth were really achieving what it aimed it would probably be anti-democratic, because the means to that end involve so many incursions on the American sacred cow of property rights. Making the city walkable will hardly be achieved by Perkins Rowe and Rouzan alone, but at least it will whet the appetite for this sort of street configuration, thereby ideally encouraging people to buy into it incrementally as it becomes more mainstream.

Keep in mind River Ridge in Lafayette is really just an upscale medium density community, which is quite an anomaly in the South since most upscale developments rest in huge lots. It's walkable on its own terms though the retail component is not big enough to meet the needs of River Ridge residents, nor is it a large enough draw to attract sufficient visitors from outside the development. But the idea of River Ridge is predicated on a community that challenges notions of prosperity equating to insularity. That in itself is to be admired.

In an ideal world, Rouzan would probably more suited to the urban prairie east of Spanish Town on the other side of I-110. And ideally, the configuration there would be a main street of retail, perhaps on Spanish Town Road or Main Street, with higher density residential close by, and lower density double shotguns a few blocks further from the main corridor. Maybe someday something like that will happen, even if developers currently have a different vision for that project. As much as I'd love to see this happen in the older neighborhoods of Baton Rouge, it's hard to find a big enough contingent willing to buy into that lifestyle in an area with a reputation for crime (and probably even harder to find a bank willing to finance that lifestyle).

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Making the city walkable will hardly be achieved by Perkins Rowe and Rouzan alone, but at least it will whet the appetite for this sort of street configuration, thereby ideally encouraging people to buy into it incrementally as it becomes more mainstream.

Spot-on point.

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Nice post American Dirt :thumbsup:

I realize this type of development would be better served along the periphery of downtown somewhere; but if anything is going to be built on Ford's pasture...I would rather this than another dull single-entrance cookie-cutter subdivision. The Perkins Road corridor is the hottest in BR from City Park to beyond Seigen Lane...just hope that Acadian Village and Acadian Plaza can provide some more synergy with the Perkins Rd Overpass area

Would like to visit River Ranch one day...Bryde made a nice thread with some cool pics a while back...his one complaint was it looked a bit too sterile

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  • 2 months later...

I was sitting down with some friends last night when we began to discuss Rouzan and how they have taken the idea of "Smart Growth" and hijacked it. Spinosa has used it as a marketing tool, but meanwhile he is still selling the same sprawling product to the public, just with a new face on it. While we were discussing it, i saw these two images in my head that i've posted below. I took the original Rouzan plan and compared it to the development across the street along congress blvd. Before I continue on in my reasoning, I'd like to hear y'alls opinions on the two diagrams ive posted below.

rouzanmap052210.jpg

rouzan.jpg

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Interesting diagram buckett :shades: I'm curious as to what your reasoning is.....Are you suggesting the red-shading(on bottom pic) is like "village center" Rouzan is proposing with similar componets? And the residential in the green section?? Those little house-looking offices lined up along Old Forge Dr are ugly!

I think Bunker Hill Drive should have an I-10 overpass connecting CitiPlace to relieve a little traffic on College Drive.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Rouzan groundbreaking nears

Construction on Rouzan, the controversial TND on Perkins Road, is expected to begin within two weeks, says project manager Tommy Spinosa III. Spinosa says the groundbreaking will include infrastructure work on the development's Mimosa District neighborhood, preparing the streets and roads for the first 26 lots. Spinosa says nine building contracts have already been secured for homebuyers. Construction on those houses can be started in about three or four months, after the roadwork and infrastructure are complete. Spinosa says efforts to more actively market the TND to buyers will begin in the next couple of months. "We want to break ground first and let people get in and see that it's no longer just a dream,"

http://www.businessreport.com/archives/daily-report/latest/

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  • 3 weeks later...

I was sitting down with some friends last night when we began to discuss Rouzan and how they have taken the idea of "Smart Growth" and hijacked it. Spinosa has used it as a marketing tool, but meanwhile he is still selling the same sprawling product to the public, just with a new face on it. While we were discussing it, i saw these two images in my head that i've posted below. I took the original Rouzan plan and compared it to the development across the street along congress blvd. Before I continue on in my reasoning, I'd like to hear y'alls opinions on the two diagrams ive posted below.

rouzanmap052210.jpg

rouzan.jpg

Sorry Richy, I completely forgot I had posted this.....

The Red represents commercial, and the green represent residential, just as in the original Rouzan Plan. The area I have diagramed is the neighbored along Congress Blvd.

The case I am trying to make, is that there is nothing "smart" about this "growth." If you notice my diagram, you can see that Rouzan imitates the exact same pattern of development that exists across Perkins road. Single family residential, separated by a small park, and then connected by two roads to the somewhat dense commercial area. There is absolutely no relationship with the housing and commercial areas. All "smart growth" has done is make this type of single use, suburban development "prettier" by adding a faux style of architecture and a unified development code, but it is no different than we currently build in the suburbs.

But I mean, literally, it is the EXACT same development, and i just find it outrageous that people are buying into this idea.

Edited by buckett5425
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  • 3 months later...
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  • 1 month later...

Wow...two 5-story buildings...that's going to change the look of that area

Rouzan phase two final plan before Planning Commission Monday

Working with the Department of Public Works, developer Tommy Spinosa has cleared up lingering traffic and drainage issues concerning phase two of the Rouzan development on Perkins Road. The final development plan is on Monday's Planning Commission agenda, after being deferred last month due because the application was incomplete.

"We talked to the Department of Public Works this morning, and they said all the issues have been resolved," Planning Director Troy Bunch said Thursday. "They have some stipulations, but nothing that would indicate from their standpoint that the matter would be deferred."

According to renderings submitted to the city-parish Planning Commission on Dec. 16, the so-called Neighborhood Center of the Rouzan TND will include two five-story buildings on a total of 2.14 acres, with 0.72 acres of green space, 25 residential units and 61 parking spaces. Building A will be 7,150-square-feet, with retail on the first floor and mixed-use/office space on the upper floors. Phase two, which comprises less than 2% of the 118-acre TND, is scheduled to begin during the fourth quarter of 2011 and should be completed in early 2013, according to the submitted application. Bunch says the phase two final development plan is consistent with the Rouzan concept plan OK'd by the Metro Council in January 2008.

http://www.businessreport.com/archives/daily-report/2011/feb/18/2100/

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  • 1 month later...

The more I know about Rouzon, the more I officially hate it. I haven't seen a project that was so obviously not supported by any of the neighborhoods around it since St. Jean's Place apartments.

After much effort into pretending to care, those developers went forward too.

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  • 3 weeks later...

FYI - although the property looks dead, if you drive down towards the end of Glasgow Ave (off Perkins) you'll see where they are already selling lots, marking utility lines and installing the drain catch bins.

They're going to need to redo Glasgow at because the street is falling apart. You'd THINK they would have done that before work began.

Edited by itsjustme2
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  • 6 months later...

So what's it going to be???

Spinosa, officials dispute library timetable

Developer Tommy Spinosa Jr. said he won’t build infrastructure such as access roads, sewer and water lines to support a new library branch until the facility is under construction on land he has donated for it on Perkins Road southeast of College Drive.

Spinosa said Thursday he’s made it clear to library officials that he’s “not going to invest substantial sums in the infrastructure and wait for you to come.”

Library Director David Farrar did not respond to phone calls and emails seeking comment on what impact, if any, the developer’s position might have on the future of the library project.

Some Library Board of Control members, however, have expressed reservations about moving forward with building a new branch library at the site before the infrastructure is in place.

http://theadvocate.c...-timetable.html

Edited by richyb83
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  • 2 weeks later...

Rouzan development's first homes going up

The first two homes are under construction in the initial phase of development at the Rouzan TND on Perkins Road, and development manager Tommy Spinosa III says more are on the way. "A third is scheduled to break ground in about two weeks, and two more should be under way by the end of the year," he says. All told, 16 of 26 lots in the Mimosa District are sold. Homes in the development will range from about $350,000 to $700,000, with square footage varying between 1,500 and 4,000. Spinosa says Rouzan is conducting open house tours on Sundays from 2-4 p.m. In February, the city-parish Planning and Zoning Commission approved a second phase of Rouzan, which consists of a pair of five-story buildings to be used for residential, retail and office space. There is no groundbreaking date set for the second phase, Spinosa says. "We're just kind of taking it one phase at a time," he says.

Businessreport.com

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