Our Views: Garden District gets big honor

We’re delighted that the American Planning Association has named Baton Rouge’s Garden District as one of its “10 Great Neighborhoods” for 2012, an honor that places the Garden District in the company of only nine other neighborhoods across the country.

The distinction continues a tradition of recognition for Louisiana neighborhoods by the APA.

In 2007, the association recognized St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans as a Great Street. In 2009, the group honored the Crescent City’s Faubourg Marigny district as a Great Neighborhood. Jackson Square has also been recognized by the APA as a Great Public Space.

In designating Baton Rouge’s Garden District for an honor, the APA noted the neighborhood’s historic residential architecture, live oak trees and community involvement, among other attributes.

The American Planning Association is a national nonprofit that promotes the preservation of development of successful communities. Its recognition of several Louisiana landmarks is a reminder of this state’s civic treasures — and the need to protect those treasures for future generations.

Comments

1) Comment by DMJ - 05/10/2012

Partly why the Garden District is such a great neighborhood is because it was built on a grid and not in some absurd, convoluted subdivision-type pattern with one way in and one way out. There's no excessive traffic because it's diffused throughout the neighborhood. Also, it's one of the rare areas of town where rich and poor and everyone in between are actually neighbors. We should all be proud of this award.