Downtown Breakdown - Plan Baton Rouge III Public meeting #1
Mark your calendars for the community kick-off of the Plan Baton Rouge III planning process - a particularly special event happening Wednesday, April 30th at LASM! Many Baton Rougeans understand the significance of this event and some may be wondering – Is this just another public meeting?
Downtown master plans
For the latter group, this blog is for you. Time to get excited and really dream about what Baton Rouge can be for not just ourselves but for future generations, for those dreams can come true. We have seen many successful projects implemented as part of Plan Baton Rouge I and II – you can read all about them in my previous blog post here.
The real question is “Why were the previous Plan Baton Rouge masterplans so successful?” It absolutely has to do with the amount of public engagement and participation. A plan is only as successful as the amount of public input it receives.
The community understood the importance of revitalizing the heart of our city – downtown. They dreamt big and moved in unison to create and implement these community-driven master plans. Don’t just take my word for it, we asked John Spain, Vice-President of BRAF during these planning processes about what they learned from it.
John Spain, Former Vice President of BRAF; Source: Baton Rouge Business Report
“People love this city and they are proud of it. But they are keenly aware of what needs to be improved, they are frustrated at times when things don’t get done. The public input process allowed everyone from all parts of the parish to be involved and give fresh ideas. The planners engaged with them and encouraged them to share their ideas, allowing the peoples’ dreams to become part of the plan.”
We asked another dynamic leader during these master planning initiatives what she thought drove their ultimate success. Elizabeth ‘Boo’ Thomas, Founder and President Emerita of the Center for Planning Excellence (CPEX). Boo notes, "As the lead consultant for the first Plan Baton Rouge, Andres Duany, repeatedly stated - every idea is a good one until it is replaced with a better one. Throughout the week-long charrette process, there were public meetings each day where citizens could attend and respond to the planning team’s ideas and proposals. Citizens even dropped by the planning studio to offer ideas each day (and complain and debate). Each evening meeting grew in size and enthusiasm.”
Boo Thomas, former CEO of CPEX and lead planner of Plan Baton Rouge I; Source: 225 Magazine
Ultimately, the success of Plan Baton Rouge I and II can be attributed to one key factor: they were community-driven master plans. I may not have been part of the original planning processes, but I was fortunate to have learned much from John Spain, as well as served under Boo Thomas at the Center for Planning Excellence early in my career and at the DDD under Davis Rhorer for most of my career. Davis was adamant that every time we mentioned the plans “community-driven” was part of the sentence. We are truly standing on the shoulders of giants – both giant leaders and giant master plans.
Davis Rhorer, former DDD Executive Director; Source: Baton Rouge Business Report
What else did they learn? According to Mr. Spain - “We learned not to focus on the existing infrastructure or be limited by a lack of new funding or old ideas. Instead, to focus on exciting new ideas to create a place where people will want to live and companies want to locate.”
Downtown Baton Rouge
It’s been over 15 years since Plan Baton Rouge; it’s time to look at what we’ve accomplished in that time, reflect on the new physical and cultural landscape of 2025 and dream again. A city is never finished developing and adapting to the changing world around it.
We know now that public engagement and input is a critical component to the creation of a great master plan, but I’m often asked why we need one. Having a master plan outlines the community’s vision into implementable objectives and tasks to help our leader’s focus their efforts on the community’s priorities. For the Downtown Development District – it’s our operations manual – we package the recommendations into implementable projects, working with our community leaders to make them a reality. There’s nothing better than checking a project off a list and watching our community enjoy the fruits of our labor.
I hope that you have taken away these key items from this blog 1) public input is absolutely critical to the success of a plan 2) We need a plan to focus our efforts on the community’s priorities and 3) While we have accomplished much on the shoulders of giants, we have so many more exciting things to accomplish.
Plan Baton Rouge III first public meeting on Wednesday, April 30, 2025 at LASM.
We absolutely want you to be a part of this magic – the creation of our next great master plan and the beginning of our journey towards an exciting future. Tell us what you think that future should look like.
Date: Wednesday, April 30, 2025
Time: 5:00 - 7:30 pm
Location: Louisiana Arts and Science Museum, 100 S River Rd.
Registration is requested but not required. To register, click here.
For more information about Plan Baton Rouge III, click here.
