Downtown - Out to Lunch - It's Baton Rouge

One thing you hear a lot from people who come to Baton Rouge after
having been a way for awhile is how different it is. How much the
city has grown, improved, and special mention is most often made
about the rebirth of downtown and revitalization in other up and
coming neighborhoods. All this redevelopment didn t happen by
accident. There has been a lot of planning over the past 25 years
to bring not only downtown, but areas like Mid City, the Perkins
Road overpass area, and Old Goodwood back to life. Stephanie s
guests on Out to Lunch have been at the forefront of this effort.
Davis Rhorer is the executive director of the Downtown Development
District, a post he has held since the organization was founded in
1987. Davis has overseen the implementation of two major land use
plans for downtown, Plan Baton Rouge and Plan Baton Rouge II. Davis
has been a tireless advocate for the city s historic center during
the development of signature projects like the Shaw Center for the
Arts and the IBM complex, the Third Street Entertainment Corridor
and the redevelopment of dozens of old office buildings into chic
new apartment complexes. Boo Thomas is a key figure in the planning
and development of not only of downtown but of the entire region.
Boo is the executive director of CPEX the Center for Planning
Excellence. CPEX is a nonprofit organization that coordinates
urban, rural and regional planning efforts in Louisiana by
providing best practice planning models, innovative policy ideas,
and technical assistance to individual communities. Since its
founding in 2006, CPEX has been involved with the planning efforts
of more than 20 Louisiana cities, towns and parishes. Dustin Sutton
and he is the founder of Geaux Downtown BR, which promotes downtown
culture, nightlife, festivals and events and social media
platforms. Dustin is a Baton Rouge native, who graduated from LSU
in 2009. After traveling the world, he came back to his hometown
and started taking pictures of the happening stuff he found
downtown, and his pro Geaux movement snowballed. Yes, Baton Rouge
has changed, and is changing. These three folks are part of the
reason for the change and emblematic of the city s exciting though
not unplanned future direction. Photos at Mansurs on the Boulevard
by Ken Stewart.

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