The Health District

[dan326]

4 hours ago, cajun said:

Their problem is that people who find lucrative employment move away and leave behind an area with very little spending power.

Great point. I had wanted to post that earlier but didn't know how to word it.

[Antrell Williams]

12 hours ago, cajun said:

People move around.   Just because the neighborhoods are bad doesn't mean the people who live there don't have opportunity....it just means they get the hell out when they could.   

An abundance of employment opportunities in the region makes it much easier to redevelop areas.  

It does mean they have less opportunity. Most of these neighborhoods are full of blight, dilapidated and closed schools, are food deserts, are high crime areas, high drug use, a significant police presence, etc. To say that it doesn't limit opportunity is complete blasphemy. The life of a kid in Glen Oaks can be vastly different than that of a kid in Denham Springs. Being surrounded by negative elements makes it much harder to succeed. 

Atlanta has an abundance of employment opportunities and their ghettos are still the same as they were decades ago.

"Getting the hell out" is precisely the issue that needs to be remedied. Taking the money away to some suburb. 

[dan326]

I don't think anyone is addressing how the government can control individuals or business owners?

Edited March 18, 2016 by dan326

[cajun]

On 3/18/2016 at 11:08 PM, Antrell Williams said:

It does mean they have less opportunity. Most of these neighborhoods are full of blight, dilapidated and closed schools, are food deserts, are high crime areas, high drug use, a significant police presence, etc. To say that it doesn't limit opportunity is complete blasphemy. The life of a kid in Glen Oaks can be vastly different than that of a kid in Denham Springs. Being surrounded by negative elements makes it much harder to succeed. 

Atlanta has an abundance of employment opportunities and their ghettos are still the same as they were decades ago.

"Getting the hell out" is precisely the issue that needs to be remedied. Taking the money away to some suburb. 

North Baton Rouge is home to one of the largest private employers in the state.   It's disingenuous to say that there isn't employment opportunities there.   I've seen very average, unexceptional people exploit those opportunities to their advantage and find pretty significant economic success.    Most of them left north Baton Rouge as soon as they could afford to do so.    You can't force those people to reinvest in an area they see as undesirable.   People actually willing to take advantage of the opportunities around them usually leave.  

You aren't being completely honest or accurate with your descriptions of north Baton Rouge.   I'll address that here: 

Food deserts - North Baton Rouge hosts around 16-17 grocery stores, including what could easily be argued is the best fresh seafood market in the state.   It's no more a food desert than Walker, Central, Watson, St. Francisville, New Roads, Port Allen, Donaldsonville, St. Gabriel, Sherwood Forest, Shenandoah, Livonia, Baker, Zachary, Clinton, or Jackson.   There is an obesity problem and a diet problem, but that's an issue with the entire gulf coast region.   

Drug use - If you think this isn't a problem in every single neighborhood in the entire capital area, I have a bridge to sell you.  There's no such neighborhood where drug abuse can be completely avoided....but as individuals we can take steps to ensure that they don't become a problem in our own houses. 

High Crime Areas - Yep.  That's why there's a significant police presence.  Choose not to partake in criminal, and the chances of it limiting your potential is pretty small.   Be vigilant and careful, and it's unlikely that crime will impact you. 

The biggest threat to opportunity in north Baton Rouge isn't the drugs, retail amenities or the crime.....it's the same problem that impacts countless communities in south Louisiana.   That would be the lack of easy access to a  good quality education.  Even the best public school districts in Louisiana are mediocre at best.   Unfortunately, there's too many people bent on protecting the status quo.   Throwing money at the problem without real reform has never worked in the past and will not work in the future.    A lot of adults that claim to be looking out for the children are actually looking out for their own job security, and they are threatened by the mere suggestion of change.  

A ghetto is just that.   It's a place to avoid living if at all possible.   It's transient by nature as poor residents move in as upward mobility pulls others out.   We can't force people to participate in the economy any more than we can force people to stay off drugs and avoid a criminal record.....so neighborhoods like that will always exist one way or another.    Level or refurbish one ghetto, and another will show up.  That's a big part of north Baton Rouge's problem, but there are significant portions of that area that are stable and healthy, where people take care of their properties and invest in their area.   It's not too far gone to address and I don't think it's fair to lump the entire area into a generalization of "ghetto".  

Edited March 21, 2016 by cajun

[cajun]

On 3/17/2016 at 3:23 PM, dan326 said:

Great point. I had wanted to post that earlier but didn't know how to word it.

It's a problem in the sense that it makes it challenging to redevelop areas if the people who live there vote with their feet as soon as they can.   It's also evidence that there is upward mobility and opportunities available for people who do want to improve their lot in life.    It's not impossible to break the cycle.   I'm glad that people were able to earn real money and move to a nicer place, but there's nothing wrong with also being disappointed that so many choose to leave instead of staying.   We can't force people to stay. 

There's always going to be undesirable neighborhoods....and yes, north Baton Rouge has a few of them.    The best results will come from narrowly focusing redevelopment efforts in areas in more stable portions of north Baton Rouge, then expanding those efforts after they find success.    I'm a little concerned that we have such a broad redevelopment district.   That indicates to me that the effort to improve north Baton Rouge lacks focus or realistic goals....and may be more rooted in political expediency than an honest effort to make changes.

Edited March 21, 2016 by cajun

[greg225]

31 minutes ago, cajun said:

Food deserts - North Baton Rouge hosts around 16-17 grocery stores, including what could easily be argued is the best fresh seafood market in the state.   It's no more a food desert than Walker, Central, Watson, St. Francisville, New Roads, Port Allen, Donaldsonville, St. Gabriel, Sherwood Forest, Shenandoah, Livonia, Baker, Zachary, Clinton, or Jackson.   There is an obesity problem and a diet problem, but that's an issue with the entire gulf coast region.   

 

I disagree its probably 8-9 grocery stores maybe 10, but its about how close they are to the neighborhoods in NBR I'm talking about the city limits of Baton Rouge. Sherwood is a area in SBR  like Scotlandville is a area in NBR. Clinton, Jackson, New Roads, Zachary, Baker, St Gabriel, Central, Donaldsonville, Walker, Watson and St. Francisville is smaller than NBR. NBR population is 100,000 people that's almost half of Baton Rouge population. 

Edited March 21, 2016 by greg225

[Antrell Williams]

7 hours ago, greg225 said:

I disagree its probably 8-9 grocery stores maybe 10, but its about how close they are to the neighborhoods in NBR I'm talking about the city limits of Baton Rouge. Sherwood is a area in SBR  like Scotlandville is a area in NBR. Clinton, Jackson, New Roads, Zachary, Baker, St Gabriel, Central, Donaldsonville, Walker, Watson and St. Francisville is smaller than NBR. NBR population is 100,000 people that's almost half of Baton Rouge population. 

This is what I thought when I read that. 

Shenandoah has Albertsons, Neighborhood Walmart, Hi-Nabor, and Shopper's Value. And that area is solidly middle class. 

8 hours ago, cajun said:

North Baton Rouge is home to one of the largest private employers in the state.   It's disingenuous to say that there isn't employment opportunities there.   I've seen very average, unexceptional people exploit those opportunities to their advantage and find pretty significant economic success.    Most of them left north Baton Rouge as soon as they could afford to do so.    You can't force those people to reinvest in an area they see as undesirable.   People actually willing to take advantage of the opportunities around them usually leave.  

You aren't being completely honest or accurate with your descriptions of north Baton Rouge.   I'll address that here: 

Food deserts - North Baton Rouge hosts around 16-17 grocery stores, including what could easily be argued is the best fresh seafood market in the state.   It's no more a food desert than Walker, Central, Watson, St. Francisville, New Roads, Port Allen, Donaldsonville, St. Gabriel, Sherwood Forest, Shenandoah, Livonia, Baker, Zachary, Clinton, or Jackson.   There is an obesity problem and a diet problem, but that's an issue with the entire gulf coast region.   

Drug use - If you think this isn't a problem in every single neighborhood in the entire capital area, I have a bridge to sell you.  There's no such neighborhood where drug abuse can be completely avoided....but as individuals we can take steps to ensure that they don't become a problem in our own houses. 

High Crime Areas - Yep.  That's why there's a significant police presence.  Choose not to partake in criminal, and the chances of it limiting your potential is pretty small.   Be vigilant and careful, and it's unlikely that crime will impact you. 

The biggest threat to opportunity in north Baton Rouge isn't the drugs, retail amenities or the crime.....it's the same problem that impacts countless communities in south Louisiana.   That would be the lack of easy access to a  good quality education.  Even the best public school districts in Louisiana are mediocre at best.   Unfortunately, there's too many people bent on protecting the status quo.   Throwing money at the problem without real reform has never worked in the past and will not work in the future.    A lot of adults that claim to be looking out for the children are actually looking out for their own job security, and they are threatened by the mere suggestion of change.  

A ghetto is just that.   It's a place to avoid living if at all possible.   It's transient by nature as poor residents move in as upward mobility pulls others out.   We can't force people to participate in the economy any more than we can force people to stay off drugs and avoid a criminal record.....so neighborhoods like that will always exist one way or another.    Level or refurbish one ghetto, and another will show up.  That's a big part of north Baton Rouge's problem, but there are significant portions of that area that are stable and healthy, where people take care of their properties and invest in their area.   It's not too far gone to address and I don't think it's fair to lump the entire area into a generalization of "ghetto".  

All of those areas are very small compared to north Baton Rouge/Baker. 

There are plenty of neighborhoods where people don't sell drugs in the open. There are plenty of neighborhoods where it's not common for people to be selling drugs in a house with children. I've seen it myself. Drug use in the hood is more heavily stigmatized than the pill poppers who might live in Copper Hill, and when they get arrested, they won't be able to bail themselves out and pay the charge away. 

Living in a high crime area will affect you no matter if you are Billy the Kid or Mother Theresa. It will certainly shape the personality of a person. Being profiled, pulled over, or scared to go out at night, constantly hearing sirens, will have an effect.

I believe education and jobs is the key, but what reform? Throwing money at literally everything else works, why not here? They threw money at downtown, they threw money at Lee High, they threw money at Baton Rouge High, they threw money at private businesses, they threw money at historical restoration tax credits, and all the other publicly funded projects like Government St, Health District, etc. Why not throw money at north Baton Rouge? Is that not a double standard? I'm talking about schools and everything here.

A ghetto is a minority-majority neighborhood, which in most countries is poor and crime ridden. When have ghetto's been transient? People from the middle or upper class don't move into the hood, poor people stay there, and some get out. 

The American ghetto is what you'd call a result of slavery and Jim Crow laws. Without regulating blacks to a certain part of town with less than perfect healthcare, education, housing, and opportunity, there would be none of these neighborhoods today. Seattle and Austin don't have ghetto's, neither do Portland (either one), or any other majority white city. So no those neighborhoods don't exist one way or another. I'm pretty familiar with the area and while yes Park Forest and Monticello, parts of Glen Oaks, etc might be well kept but it's nothing like living in south Baton Rouge. They are still far away from many entertainment and shopping. 

 

[Mr. Burnham]

Wait...Cajun, I totally disagree with you. NBR is a food desert and it's crime/poverty can be heavily blamed on the cycle of poverty and institutionalized racism. I agree with Antrell on why NBR is what it is today.

[cajun]

16 hours ago, mr. bernham said:

Wait...Cajun, I totally disagree with you. NBR is a food desert

A food desert would have a lack of grocery stores or farmer's markets.   North Baton Rouge has neither.   There could be more options, but no intellectually honest person would describe it as a food desert. 

 

Quote

it's crime/poverty can be heavily blamed on the cycle of poverty and institutionalized racism. 

 

If there's a lack of opportunity for people there, it's not from the lack of available jobs for both skilled and unskilled labor.....it's from a lack of quality education, which perpetuates the cycle of poverty in impoverished communities all over the country.   North Baton Rouge is no different, and the answer isn't any less complicated.  

Edited March 24, 2016 by cajun

[greg225]

News alert: Baton Rouge General and Ochsner to join forces in local market  

In a move that will reshape the landscape of the local healthcare market, General Health System, which owns the Baton Rouge General Medical Center, and New Orleans-based Ochsner Health System are planning to join forces in a strategic partnership that will combine the two institutions and create a network with more than 30 local clinics, five acute care and specialty hospitals, and 5,000 employees.

In a prepared statement, officials with both institutions stress that the deal, which is still a letter of intent and not a final agreement, is not a merger or acquisition by either hospital. But the partnership will be a close one, creating a “combined integrated system that includes joint governance, management and financial integration.”

“This partnership is the next step in transforming health care in Baton Rouge,” says Mark Slyter, president and CEO of General Health System/Baton Rouge General.

Under the new arrangement, Slyter will lead a joint operations board that will include representatives from both institutions and oversee the integrated operations.

Both Ochsner clinic physicians and Baton Rouge General physicians will be included in the integrated system and leadership and will be jointly managed, though Ochsner physicians will remain part of the Ochsner group and Baton Rouge General physicians will remain part of GHS. For now, they will retain their independent brand identities, though they will likely be co-branded in the future, according to Baton Rouge General spokeswoman Meghan Parrish.

As for employees who handle so-called back office functions like accounting, marketing and human resources, Parrish says no layoffs are anticipated at this time. But she could not elaborate on how the deal will increase efficiency if there are duplication of services.

Ochsner and Baton Rouge General executives will be available for comment later today.

Talks between the two institutions have been underway for more than a year, and Baton Rouge General is the latest of several hospitals in Louisiana to join the rapidly expanding Ochsner Health Network, which was created last year and includes St. Tammany Parish Hospital, Lafayette General Health, Terrebonne General Medical Center and the six-hospital CHRISTUS Health.

The network enables the institutions to collaborate on patient care, technology and services.

More importantly, it gives them leverage when negotiating with insurance companies—something Baton Rouge General badly needs, according to Nathan Kaufman, a health care analyst with San Diego, California-based Kaufman and Associates. The hospital shuttered its Mid City emergency room last year, citing financial losses of more than $2 million per month, and it has a smaller share of the market than Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, which is owned by the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System and recently launched its own network that includes Woman’s Hospital and the Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center.

“Bottom line is Baton Rouge General had to do something like this to be sustainable,” Kaufman says. “It is a dispensable hospital in your market, which is to say Our Lady of the Lake and Woman’s have more market share in their respective services, so when the big insurance companies like Blue Cross negotiates with a stand alone like the General, the hospital has little clout. Ochsner can bring negotiating clout.”

With its combined resources, the two institutions will become a formidable presence in the market, with 31 clinics throughout the nine-parish region. Between them they operate two full-service, acute-care facilities—Baton Rouge General’s Bluebonnet campus and Ochsner’s O’Neal Lane hospital—as well as Baton Rouge General’s Mid City campus, which still operates some acute care beds and concentrates primarily on specialty services. Additionally, Ochsner has a freestanding emergency room in Plaquemine, and GHS owns Baton Rouge Rehab Hospital off Essen Lane.

Together, the two institutions will also be much more competitive with OLOL. In 2015, OLOL saw some 170,000 patients in its emergency departments, had 35,000 inpatient admissions and more than 600,000 clinic visits.

Combined, Baton Rouge General and Ochsner in Baton Rouge saw about 141,000 patients in their emergency departments, had roughly 24,400 inpatient admissions and 546,000 clinic visits.

“When you think about it and add the two together, they will become a really big health system in the market,” says Kaufman. “You can’t fault the General for doing this. There are economies of scale and economies of expertise they will get by affiliating with Ochsner. It just makes sense.”   https://www.businessreport.com/article/news-alert-baton-rouge-general-ochsner-join-forces-local-market

[cajun]

On 3/22/2016 at 10:13 PM, Antrell Williams said:

The American ghetto is what you'd call a result of slavery and Jim Crow laws. Without regulating blacks to a certain part of town with less than perfect healthcare, education, housing, and opportunity, there would be none of these neighborhoods today.

Blacks have not be regulated to a certain part of town in my lifetime or yours, and while it may have been a part of what started a serious problem, it's not why American ghettos continue to exist today in 2016.   The effects of the failed war on poverty, the failed war on drugs, and decades of a failed school integration (and subsequent forced bussing programs) have ensured that predominantly low income black neighborhoods stay just the way they are.    All of those federal programs were well intentioned, but so badly implemented that it can easily be argued that they turned a racial divide into a gulf.  

The fact that north Baton Rouge lacks an emergency room isn't some vast conspiracy against blacks.   It's a product of a nationwide trend of medical service consolidation and merging and the choice of LSU to partner with OLOL instead of Baton Rouge General-Mid City.    The benefits to the OLOL/LSU partnership is that the consolidation of trauma patients into one full service hospital means that the quality and degree of service at said hospital has no equal in the region.    The drawback is that consolidation means that competitors to OLOL/LSU will struggle and some areas will lose an ER.    The drawbacks are mitigated because uninsured patients can be treated with even better care and efficiency because the volume of insured patients and the training aspect of the facility will keep it open.   OLOL's ER is 12 minutes away (or less with lights and sirens) from BR General-Mid City and less than 120 seconds away by med-evac.     That's nothing considering the hospital draws patients from up to 50 miles away - as far away as Henderson, northern Pointe Coupee, Woodville, and Ibberville.  

A ghetto is a minority-majority neighborhood, which in most countries is poor and crime ridden. When have ghetto's been transient? People from the middle or upper class don't move into the hood, poor people stay there, and some get out. 

Ghettos are largely transient and always has been.   The housing stock is predominantly rental, and residents that find economic success move on with quickness and are replaced by more people seeking very low cost rental housing.  

 

 

[Antrell Williams]

6 hours ago, cajun said:

Blacks have not be regulated to a certain part of town in my lifetime or yours, and while it may have been a part of what started a serious problem, it's not why American ghettos continue to exist today in 2016.   The effects of the failed war on poverty, the failed war on drugs, and decades of a failed school integration (and subsequent forced bussing programs) have ensured that predominantly low income black neighborhoods stay just the way they are.    All of those federal programs were well intentioned, but so badly implemented that it can easily be argued that they turned a racial divide into a gulf.  

The fact that north Baton Rouge lacks an emergency room isn't some vast conspiracy against blacks.   It's a product of a nationwide trend of medical service consolidation and merging and the choice of LSU to partner with OLOL instead of Baton Rouge General-Mid City.    The benefits to the OLOL/LSU partnership is that the consolidation of trauma patients into one full service hospital means that the quality and degree of service at said hospital has no equal in the region.    The drawback is that consolidation means that competitors to OLOL/LSU will struggle and some areas will lose an ER.    The drawbacks are mitigated because uninsured patients can be treated with even better care and efficiency because the volume of insured patients and the training aspect of the facility will keep it open.   OLOL's ER is 12 minutes away (or less with lights and sirens) from BR General-Mid City and less than 120 seconds away by med-evac.     That's nothing considering the hospital draws patients from up to 50 miles away - as far away as Henderson, northern Pointe Coupee, Woodville, and Ibberville.  

 

 

Ghettos are largely transient and always has been.   The housing stock is predominantly rental, and residents that find economic success move on with quickness and are replaced by more people seeking very low cost rental housing.  

 

 

My mother and grandmother were born into segregation. The economic opportunity provided to blacks in the post Civil Rights era was not at all designed to induce wealth building in the black community. That very fact limits the opportunity for people my age by limiting those of our parents. It is the exact reason why they exist today. Where are there ghettos full of guns and drugs that are predominately white? There are none. Not even in overwhelmingly white cities. There are no ghetto's in Boise or Burlington. 

The "War on Drugs" was never meant to rid the neighborhoods of drugs or crime. Never.

Whether or not if you believe it:

“You want to know what this was really all about,” Ehrlichman, who died in 1999, said in the interview after Baum asked him about Nixon’s harsh anti-drug policies.

“The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I’m saying,” Ehrlichman continued.

“We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.”

The fact that a hospital was closed, doesn't necessarily mean that it's intentionally meant to oppress the people there. But I sure as hell don't think that it was done to help anyone but themselves. Nationwide consolidation sounds the same tactic the oil companies pull when prices drop and they lay-off thosands of people. They are maximizing profits only. 

 

The fact that you say ghettos are transient leads me to believe you have little to no time spent in any black neighborhoods. The majority of my family lives in north Baton Rouge with only one uncle living in Charlotte. Most people don't leave the hood, and people don't move in, it's a cycle that will repeat if we continue down this same path. The only people who move to Glen Oaks are people from Scotlandville or OSBR, or Sherwood, etc. 

[greg225]

Baton Rouge Health District’s new director getting organized, planning for diabetes center    

hree weeks into her job as executive director of the newly created Baton Rouge Health District, Suzy Sonnier wants to develop a strategic plan to help guide the implementation of the master plan for the district, which includes health care institutions clustered between Essen Lane and Bluebonnet Boulevard in southeast Baton Rouge.

She also wants to move forward with the development of a Diabetes and Obesity Research Center, which was highlighted in the master plan as a centerpiece of the district and a potential catalyst for additional health care and economic development.

“It’s exciting because there’s so much potential,” says Sonnier, who served as secretary of the state Department of Children and Family Services during Gov. Bobby Jindal’s second term. “But for me the most important thing is figuring out what we can do first that creates a domino effect for everything else—what will keep driving the growth so it will be self sustaining.”

Before she can do anything, however, Sonnier first has to create a governance structure for the nascent district. So far, she is working primarily with the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, which has spearheaded efforts to create the district and funded the master plan, as well as the leaders of the three major hospitals in the market that have committed to help fund the district—Baton Rouge General Medical Center, Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, and Woman’s Hospital.

It’s still not clear what that governance structure will look like, but Sonnier envisions a board of directors that will include the leaders of those three hospitals.

It likely will also include the leadership of several other institutions that have played a role in the planning of the district to date, including: Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana, LSU, the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, the Baton Rouge Clinic, Baton Rouge Orthopaedic Clinic, the NeuroMedical Center, Our Lady of the Lake College, and the Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center.

Other successful health districts around the country have based their board membership on the level of financial commitment the member institutions are willing to make. Sonnier says the Baton Rouge Health District board could have a similar structure with two or more tiers of membership.

She also envisions establishing a broader community advisory board, as well as several committees and task forces that can work on a strategic plan to help guide implementation of the master plan. She hopes to have at least the main board in place within 90 days.

While a lot of planning and organizational work must be done, Sonnier believes the district can begin to move forward almost immediately with one of its central tenants: the Diabetes and Obesity Center.

She says a request for proposals to develop the center has already been drafted and that it could be issued even before the board is selected, though she says the board would necessarily have to be in place before the RFP could be awarded to a planning and development firm or team of firms.

The center could be developed relatively quickly—within a couple of years—because it could be located within existing space at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, rather than in a new, freestanding structure, Sonnier says. According to the master plan for the district, it would cost about $500,000 to do a business plan for the center. The price tag for developing the center is still yet to be determined.

“The DOC has tremendous potential quickly because we already have a place and a number of researchers,” Sonnier says. “Now, we need to look at the next steps.”   https://www.businessreport.com/article/baton-rouge-health-districts-new-director-getting-organized-planning-diabetes-center

[cajun]

On 3/25/2016 at 10:29 PM, Antrell Williams said:

The fact that you say ghettos are transient leads me to believe you have little to no time spent in any black neighborhoods. The majority of my family lives in north Baton Rouge with only one uncle living in Charlotte. Most people don't leave the hood, and people don't move in, it's a cycle that will repeat if we continue down this same path. The only people who move to Glen Oaks are people from Scotlandville or OSBR, or Sherwood, etc. 

That's anecdotal evidence and it's completely counter to reality.  Also, not all of north Baton Rouge is a ghetto even if it is overwhelmingly black.  

 

Neighborhoods are not static in any way regardless of demographics of the people who inhabit them - and you've even pointed that out in your Glen Oaks example.   Neighborhoods always change - sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse.   Stagnant areas like parts of the rust belt change slower, but they still change.    Inner cities hollow out as people who find opportunity abandon them either out of convenience or a genuine desire to improve their situation.   People don't stick around the worst of these neighborhoods if they don't have to.   

 

Low income neighborhoods with predominantly rental housing in what you are describing as a ghetto are particularly transient in nature.   

 

I'm not trying to be contrarian.  I've outlined a counterpoint to an absurd notion that north Baton Rouge sees no investment.   I've clearly offended you and Greg somehow since stating established facts about economic development in north Baton Rouge, neighborhood trends, and migration patterns has been met with hostility and sometimes insults.   What's the real problem here?  

Edited March 29, 2016 by cajun

[Antrell Williams]

9 hours ago, cajun said:

That's anecdotal evidence and it's completely counter to reality.  Also, not all of north Baton Rouge is a ghetto even if it is overwhelmingly black.  

 

Neighborhoods are not static in any way regardless of demographics of the people who inhabit them - and you've even pointed that out in your Glen Oaks example.   Neighborhoods always change - sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse.   Stagnant areas like parts of the rust belt change slower, but they still change.    Inner cities hollow out as people who find opportunity abandon them either out of convenience or a genuine desire to improve their situation.   People don't stick around the worst of these neighborhoods if they don't have to.   

 

Low income neighborhoods with predominantly rental housing in what you are describing as a ghetto are particularly transient in nature.   

 

I'm not trying to be contrarian.  I've outlined a counterpoint to an absurd notion that north Baton Rouge sees no investment.   I've clearly offended you and Greg somehow since stating established facts about economic development in north Baton Rouge, neighborhood trends, and migration patterns has been met with hostility and sometimes insults.   What's the real problem here?  

Have you spent any significant time in any? It is my reality as well as others. Doesn't matter if it's ghetto or not, it's majority minority, which is negatively stigmatized. 

Yes neighborhoods change but to call these neighborhoods transient isn't true in my experience. Other than areas like Gardere or Mall City.

Well white flight was the reason inner cities hollowed out in the first place. Since that time, those people who moved in largely still live there. There children still live there or other areas. Most of these people have to stick there. 

North Baton Rouge isn't predominantly rental housing, and people rent for decades, so rental units don't accurately portray the idea of transience. 

I think it's similar to the reason why Tara Wicker and others are skeptical of Delgado's sudden interests in north Baton Rouge trying to dictate what needs to be done. You don't seem to have any experience in any of these neighborhoods in any city in America but you have all the solutions and answers. I've met you with facts as well. 

It's like an abusive husband saying sorry the next day and trying to help just hoping you forget the beating the day before and days coming. The problem is you truly don't know the problem.

[richyb83]

This type of modern urban architecture would look nice fronting I-10 btwn Essen & Bluebonnet next to the New Children's Hospital!   The new three story office bldg. abt 3 to 4 miles down at intersection of Highland near Bluebonnet swamp should be sleek as well

Dantin Bruce Development looking to rezone land inside Health District for commercial buildings

One major draw for the property is that it sits alongside the proposed Midway Road that is to be constructed to run parallel to Essen Lane and across Summa and Picardy, Dantin says.

The heavy commercial zoning would allow the firm to build a higher density, multi-story building right next to the Our Lady of the Lake’s Children’s Hospital that broke ground earlier this year—with good visibility from I-10, Dantin says.

https://www.businessreport.com/article/dantin-bruce-development-looking-rezone-land-inside-health-district-commercial-buildings

[cajun]

On 3/30/2016 at 11:22 PM, Antrell Williams said:

Have you spent any significant time in any? It is my reality as well as others. Doesn't matter if it's ghetto or not, it's majority minority, which is negatively stigmatized. 

Yes neighborhoods change but to call these neighborhoods transient isn't true in my experience. Other than areas like Gardere or Mall City.

Well white flight was the reason inner cities hollowed out in the first place. Since that time, those people who moved in largely still live there. There children still live there or other areas. Most of these people have to stick there. 

North Baton Rouge isn't predominantly rental housing, and people rent for decades, so rental units don't accurately portray the idea of transience. 

I think it's similar to the reason why Tara Wicker and others are skeptical of Delgado's sudden interests in north Baton Rouge trying to dictate what needs to be done. You don't seem to have any experience in any of these neighborhoods in any city in America but you have all the solutions and answers. I've met you with facts as well. 

It's like an abusive husband saying sorry the next day and trying to help just hoping you forget the beating the day before and days coming. The problem is you truly don't know the problem.

My wife's family is from a segregated area in Dallas.   Her parents owned their own home there before they moved - they lived on a more stable street where most of the houses were owner-occupied.  

Mall City and Gardere are some of the worst parts of the city.   Their highly transient nature eliminates neighborhood pride, introduces criminal activity, and drags down housing values of all the surrounding areas.    There are a handful of areas like that in north Baton Rouge that, if eliminated or redeveloped, would bring up the entire area.   Not all of north Baton Rouge is like that.   I've never said that all of north Baton Rouge was like that.  Most of it can and will respond well to careful, focused redevelopment.

 

 

Did you seriously equate me to an abusive husband because I pointed out obvious facts on the transient nature of America's worst neighborhoods?  What is wrong with you?   Why bring out insults to address people with whom you have a disagreement?

Edited April 4, 2016 by cajun

[Antrell Williams]

On 4/4/2016 at 10:08 AM, cajun said:

My wife's family is from a segregated area in Dallas.   Her parents owned their own home there before they moved - they lived on a more stable street where most of the houses were owner-occupied.  

Mall City and Gardere are some of the worst parts of the city.   Their highly transient nature eliminates neighborhood pride, introduces criminal activity, and drags down housing values of all the surrounding areas.    There are a handful of areas like that in north Baton Rouge that, if eliminated or redeveloped, would bring up the entire area.   Not all of north Baton Rouge is like that.   I've never said that all of north Baton Rouge was like that.  Most of it can and will respond well to careful, focused redevelopment.

 

 

Did you seriously equate me to an abusive husband because I pointed out obvious facts on the transient nature of America's worst neighborhoods?  What is wrong with you?   Why bring out insults to address people with whom you have a disagreement?

No, I'm referring to the relationship between NBR and trusting government to help them. As in the case of Tara Wicker and Delgado. The abusive husband is a metaphor for government, the wife would be NBR. Sorry for the misunderstanding. 

[richyb83]

Maybe...Hopefully the rendering in the above April 1st post will really happen one day soon? Multi-story/High-density zoning should be a no-brainer at this prime location near the new Children's hospital

Dantin Bruce acquires 15 acres in Baton Rouge Health District, plans mixed-use development

The 15-acre property is located between Interstate 10 and Picardy Avenue and is adjacent to property owned by Baton Rouge General Hospital. Part of the property is also adjacent to Our Lady of the Lake’s planned 350,000-square-foot Children’s Hospital, which is currently under construction and scheduled to be completed in the fall of 2018.

“These are two great pieces of land in the heart of the Baton Rouge Health District,” says Brian Dantin. “We felt with all the infrastructure going in and the new roads—and obviously the new hospital—that this was a good piece of real estate.”

The city-parish has plans to develop three key roadways through the area, which will increase access to the Dantin Bruce property and improve connectivity throughout the medical corridor. Dijon Drive will be extended from Essen Lane to Bluebonnet Boulevard, traversing the Dantin Bruce property. A new Midway Road will be constructed, running from an intersection with Dijon south, crossing Summa Avenue and continuing to Picardy Avenue. Mancuso Lane will also be extended from Summa to Dijon.

Dantin says plans for the property have not been finalized but several potential site plans for mixed-use buildings are in the works. None of the construction will be speculative. Rather, Dantin Bruce will build to suit.

“We are going to do multiple different layouts and site plans and see what comes to us,” Dantin says. “There are many uses that work with this property. This health district area is going to be a hot spot for all our potential uses, so we will do a couple of different site plans and see which one will be the best fit.”

https://www.businessreport.com/article/dantin-bruce-acquires-15-acres-baton-rouge-health-district-plans-mixed-use-development

 

 

[dan326]

Hopefully they don't put any building any garden offices like on Bluebonnet. Otherwise this'll definitely be neat to see.

[dan326]

Upscale hotel, multifamily developments planned in Baton Rouge Health District

SAM KARLIN

MARCH 6, 2017

  

Plans for a new upscale hotel in the burgeoning Baton Rouge Health District are underway, with a group of longtime hotel developers buying two acres of land along Summa Avenue last week.

Ash Patel, whose family business owns and manages four hotels, says construction on the new hotel will begin by the end of the year and be completed by early 2019 if all goes well. 

Ash Patel says he envisions a hotel with 140-150 rooms, costing $180 per night. Ash Patel declined to say how much the group purchased the land for and says he cannot yet disclose which flag the hotel will fly. The sale was recorded as $100 “and other good and valuable consideration,” according to sale documents.

He adds that designs are underway and should be finished in the next four months.

https://www.businessreport.com/article/upscale-hotel-multifamily-developments-planned-baton-rouge-health-district

I guess this will go by Copeland's by where Summa Tower was supposed to go. Hmm, what upscale hotel don't we have yet? Westin pops into my mind.

[richyb83]

Things should really begin to take off prime vacant/undeveloped section fronting I-10 btwn Essen & Bluebonnet with the new Children's Hospital going up...

Need to see rendering of the multi-family housing w retail on bottom floor...& wonder if the hotel will be Hilton Garden Inn that was supposed to go in Perkins Rowe?

Upscale hotel, multifamily developments planned in Baton Rouge Health District

https://www.businessreport.com/article/upscale-hotel-multifamily-developments-planned-baton-rouge-health-district

While they are at it......Wish they could re-visit the Summa Office Tower

Ha ha ha Dan!!    We posted this at same time...would have beat you by 5-10 minutes  but took too long to locate Summa Tower rendering!    Great minds think alike!!  Like the Westin idea!   When does the hotel market become over-saturated?

Edited March 6, 2017 by richyb83

[cajun]

Quote

Golden Corral, In-N-Out Burger to open new Health District locations

Franchise owners say that chocolate fountains and french fries are natural for any health district in Louisiana; local cardiologists expect record year

Edited April 1, 2017 by cajun

[dan326]

On 4/1/2017 at 2:26 PM, cajun said:

 

Lol! I've endearing named Golden Corral "The Eating House". Yeah, considering our population I'm supposed there's only one location in town but my mom said it was expensive so maybe that's why.

[richyb83]

The ever growing "Health District"...guessing there will be a new bridge over Ward's Creek? Another "one-way in & out" development?

Ochsner building new clinic at The Grove, vacating Baton Rouge General facility

Ochsner Health System is continuing to expand its footprint in the Capital Region with plans for a new, 210,000-square-foot clinic that will front Interstate 10 on a 16-acre tract in The Grove, Richard Carmouche’s mixed-use development behind the Mall of Louisiana.

The new clinic will replace Ochsner’s existing clinic on Summa Avenue at Baton Rouge General Medical Center’s Bluebonnet Boulevard campus. Ochsner officials say they have outgrown the 146,000-square-foot building on Summa Avenue, which opened in 1996, and have been looking to expand.

But in a statement, Ochsner Health System President and CEO Warner Thomas also notes that Baton Rouge General “will end our lease at that location in 2019.”

https://www.businessreport.com/article/ochsner-building-new-clinic-grove-vacating-baton-rouge-general-facility