Letter: Reader wants old Baton Rouge back

I had a disheartening experience when traveling from my residence in the Tahoe Basin (Jacks Valley) in Nevada, to my hometown and residence in Baton Rouge to vote.

While in the Phoenix airport, I heard an elderly couple speaking about Baton Rouge and why they wished their kids did not live here. They made valid points on the high crime rates, drug-infested, low-income housing and terrible roads and traffic.

I did not vote for Kip Holden because of some of the aforementioned subjects. I hope our great city and its leaders get in our mayor’s back pocket and stay there to help him along in cleaning up our city and our image.

Growing up on Hoo Shoo Too Road, I remember a cleaner, slower-paced Baton Rouge that people wanted to move to and raise their families, I want that Baton Rouge back.

Richard Beemer

North American major account manager

Baton Rouge

Comments

1) Comment by InPVille - 16/11/2012

@da_411: I don't think the people in Nevada are laughing very hard right now. If they are, it is just the preferable choice to crying. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics figures for September of this year, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in Nevada is 11.8%, the highest in the nation. Louisiana's unemployment rate at the same time is 7% which has the state above the median(tied for 21st with Ohio) for the 51 entities listed(the list includes DC). http://www.bls.gov/web/laus/laumstrk.htm

2) Comment by DA_411 - 14/11/2012

"Nevada voted for Harry Reid and Obama. I think we are better off living here then there." That's funny, @BeingStupid... That's what the rest of the world thinks about Louisiana!!! #laughing stock

3) Comment by Tea_Slayer - 14/11/2012

Attila, consider yourself chastised. It's actually mores. And the reason the Republicans lost ground in the Senate and got trounced in the residential election is because they pandered to the likes of you. See your previous post of r a pretty accurate list of their losing platform.

4) Comment by Attila - 13/11/2012

....and before I get chastised I know that it is moor's, not moore's. I happen to have a friend by that name....so sorry...

5) Comment by Attila - 13/11/2012

DMJ you are right. The past is the past...but what in hell does that have to do with this fact that many of today's moores are better than the old ones. "if it feels good do it, abortion on demand, to hell with traditional marriage let the gays get married, dumbing down the curriculum of our schools so that those who cannot compete on a level playing field won't "feel" left out and have a lower self esteem, redistribute the fruits of a persons labor to those who "have not won life's lottery" ( a quote from Dick Gephart (D) former member of the House of Representatives and Presidential candidate from MO), and the folly of class warfare and class envy...hate those who have succeeded, create jobs, and, horror of horrors, have more than the poor derelict who lives under the interstate. I will take the past any day given today's morals and character.

6) Comment by DMJ - 13/11/2012

I kindof agree with you, tradewinns. I think sentences for certain crimes are too lenient. The problem is...there's overcrowding in prisons due to nonviolent drug offenses, not to mention all the violent crime that is the result of the failed war on drugs. Something's gotta give. That being said... those who commit violent crimes and steal tend to not think about the consequences of being caught. A hypothetical and uncertain future sentence is not a deterrent. Think about it... what's the difference between 15 and 20 years if you don't think you'll get caught? Still...I'm with you on longer sentences...I just don't think that (alone) will solve much.

7) Comment by tradewinns - 13/11/2012

crime, of all types, will continue to grow until the perceived value of the crime is exceeded by the "value" (harshness) of the punishment when caught. as an example, if shoplifting was a crime punishable by an automatic 25 years at hard labor (truly making small rocks out of big ones manually, 7 days a week 52 weeks a year) with no early release, how many would shoplift? believe it or not a few would, but the vast majority would find another form of "entertainment".

8) Comment by DMJ - 13/11/2012

Sorry Richard. The past is the past. That's why they call it 'past.' Even if the idea of the 'good ole days' was real (I have my doubts), those days are gone for good....because that was then, and this is now. But, if you find that time machine you're looking for, please let me know. I've got some exams I need to re-take and some lottery tickets to buy.

9) Comment by Being_Stupid - 13/11/2012

Nevada voted for Harry Reid and Obama. I think we are better off living here then there.

10) Comment by Tea_Slayer - 13/11/2012

My question is: if his "residence" is in Nevada, why is he voting in Baton Rouge?

11) Comment by spqr - 13/11/2012

I do not think the writer wants the 1950s back. That is an attempt at being a critic. What he wants is civility. Bouncer is right. The city can grow, but does not have to be unsafe and dirty. But Baton Rouge is third-rate and there is no denying it, unless one never travels to compare.

12) Comment by Bouncer - 13/11/2012

Hoo Shoo Too is still a "cleaner, slower-paced" part of Baton Rouge. Still there are areas in town that aren't corroded by urban blight or riddled with crime. They're just getting fewer and more far between. The sad thing is that growth does not have to of necessity equal more crime, more ramshackle areas of town, worse roads, and so on. Baton Rouge (and Louisiana) is the way it is because of the people who live here.

13) Comment by dday198 - 13/11/2012

and he voted for mike walker surprise surprise

14) Comment by gary - 13/11/2012

Wow, another person who wants to go back to the 50's.