In the News

OPINION from the The Advocate, Baton Rouge, LA 7.12.04

Better planning for Baton Rouge

The sprawling suburbia that is most of Baton Rouge today need not be the city's future, according to one of the nation's leading advocates of better urban planning.

But Parris Glendening, the former governor of Maryland who received national praise for his progressive policies in that state, said that a great deal of political will is necessary to make "smart growth" a reality anywhere.

Baton Rouge needs better planning and smart growth more than most places. But because of the long history of development interests generally having it their way in fights over planning and zoning, the political hurdles in the way of meaningful change might be higher than in many other places.

"This is a long-term battle," and "land-use battles are not for the faint of heart," Glendening told an audience at the Old State Capitol.

He encouraged tough policies to push city-parish public investments into older areas of town and promote private investment in inner-city blocks that have been all but abandoned.

Most American cities have spread farther and farther to their outskirts, and taxpayers are burdened by the high costs of extending services -- from roads to sewers to parks and public safety protection -- out to sprawling suburbs.

Glendening said smart growth is popular once people realize that better urban design can lessen the time people spend in cars. But he said that traditional neighborhoods provide intangible benefits, as well, if people live in walkable neighborhoods and are able to talk to each other and watch for each others' children.

Fortunately, Glendening brought more than a good speech about planning. The Smart Growth Institute that he heads sent a team of experts to Baton Rouge to analyze the city-parish Unified Development Code to determine ways that it can be improved by the application of smart-growth principles.

The "audit" of smart-growth issues was conducted using U.S. Environmental Protection Agency funding earmarked to help encourage more efficient cities. Baton Rouge was one of more than 100 communities that applied to be audited, and was among nine selected.

We hope the audit, still in draft form, will be the basis of a new and concerted effort to make Baton Rouge a leader in urban planning. The result will be more effective use of taxpayer dollars and a better quality of life for Baton Rouge residents.