I don't think that it's hideous but I do think it was poorly planned. From my understanding from what my Great Grandmother who's nearly 80 says is that Lafayette wasn't supposed to be a big city and that I just kinda happened. Which is how most cities work but I think what she means is that it would grow and then people didn't expect it to grow more then it would grow and so on till we get to today where it feels like Lafayette is swallowing its surrounding smaller cities. But all the while this is happening the reasons it's growing changes so no one central area stays.... relevant? You got the oil center which blew up during the oil boom and that was the middle town and then UL then the Mall and now the southern strip of Ambassador. I'm not sure my train of thought makes sense but what I think your calling hideous is just poor planning and the focus of town having shifted so many times that it's left a lot of stuff half nice half done and half old worn down or empty.
I never understood why people assumed lafayette WOULDNT grow. It’s literally an intersection of one of the biggest east-west interstates and a north-south interstate.
We are still working on getting the north-south interstate up to snuff in lafayette proper, but once it’s done, of course lafayette will keep growing. Not as much raw growth as an already larger snowball of a city like houston, but compared to where we are, likely a proportionally larger margin. Functional Infrastructure is a key factor in growth and economic activity.
Things were set long before I-10 East was completed and much longer before I-49 was a thing. It was a railroad town before that, and things centered around that for the most part.
It may not be hideous and is ABSOLUTELY NOT a big city. The closest IKEA is in Houston and I can't even get an x-ray with my in-network health coverage in Lafayette. A big city takes about an hour to pass through on the freeway system (PHX, ATL, HOU). Lafayette takes 5 minutes going 75 mph on the I-10.
When I moved here 7 years ago, downtown was dead. It's actually kind of cool now and most of the empty store fronts are poppin now. Its not perfect, but Ive seen it get better in my short time here
American development and building practices are garbage and mostly profit capital holders at the expense of buyers and the built environment overall.
Edit: also, if you think Lafayette is hideous I suggest spending time in Lake Charles. That will adjust your perspective.
I am suggesting that the system we live and work in is largely incentivized against providing quality, long-lasting, and culturally relevant architecture to the benefit of capital return. I don't know what you are waffling about the Soviet Union but I am guessing you got triggered when I used the term "capital holders".
I’m trying to help you make your point by directing attention to situations, like the Soviet Union, where there were no capital holders and the resulting cities were beautiful, quality, long-long sting and culturally relevant.
For everyone and anyone who agrees or wants to speak and hear what our city leaders are doing here is the link for the Lafayette city council website they have the meeting scheduled posted towards the bottom of the page. Maybe it's time we start showing up and speaking up. I hope to see y'all there
https://lafayettela.gov/council/lafayette-city-council/default
This. They may ignore you but people need to speak up. Good ideas can gain energy if they get out there to counter all the bad ones that definitely know where to find a hearing.
Of course, but it’s not like I’m the first person ever bold enough to show up at a council meeting and state what is totally obvious. This is a Lafayette problem. Not enough public funding for public works that raise quality of life for all.
I agree the completely random and unplanned nature of past growth mentioned in many of these comments is on point. I don’t think there was ever a thought given to master planning or urban planning. Individual rights over everything. Master planning is viewed as communism or something. The best we got is River Ranch, which is sort of the rich person’s playground with almost no public amenities because they don’t want an invasion. But at least it’s not locked up behind gates LoL.
The worst is the ridiculous infrastructure and no plans to fix it.
The (lack of) internet in many areas. I still can’t believe Cox is better than what a lot of people of means can get (maybe one of the few things where having money doesn’t seem to matter).
The road network is absurd (can’t imagine what it would be like without the Camellia bridge!). Ambassador in rush hour, 90 pretty much all the time. It’s truly a hazard if there’s an emergency. The stoplights are all set so that traffic has to stop and idle at every one but despite that none of the turn signals let more than three or four cars turn at a time (and the line is usually double to triple that). As bad as all that it could be worse (trying to drive south into Youngsville anytime after 3:30 pm until rush hour is over)! All that development on single lane roads. You have to be crazy (or retired and not wanting or needing to go anywhere) to live down there.
Little to no public transit.
No walking or biking networks.
The drainage. Why are they allowed to build all over but can’t even think about where the water needs to drain to? It’s LA. Not like they shouldn’t have to even consider that (though they may finally have overreacted to that issue in this parish though that doesn’t mean there is a good plan - take for example the Guillory boondoggle the govt was cited for and will pay way more to fix than it was supposed to be in total).
The general issues of Louisiana 51st and politicians that are proud of that are also a major factor. No solutions for poverty other than pretending it doesn’t exist while doing their best to create more of it…
Urban renewal is definitely needed but what will happen is more flight and segregation. A small area of downtown does seem to be trying to gain some critical mass but that seems to all rest on private initiative. Moving out of everywhere that starts to decline into gated communities in suburbs without accessible road networks and letting the rest completely go is not a good answer.
A few nice parks but not nearly as much as there should be. A real city would invest in a linear park network along the Teche that connects larger parks and turns that into something for people to use. Probably too late though.
Trying to destroy libraries, schools and the better parts of the culture (which are maybe a consequence of the state voting for people going full on 51st rather than a strictly local issue, though the schools part is a consequence of individual choices for flight to private/charters).
All that said there are some charms. The festivals, the traditions, friendliness, some tolerance for individuality/not a complete cultural desert considering where we are (center of a very red area in a very red state). I’ve seen a lot better and a lot worse.
Work to make it better. Expect and demand better of leadership. Become a leader if you don’t see anyone saying what needs to be said and doing what needs to be done. It won’t change overnight but the arc of history is long and collectively we influence its general direction.
There appears to be zero civic effort to beautify this city except for the four or five square blocks of downtown that are cute. I regularly walk my neighborhood and pick up trash. That’s all I got. Where’s all that old family oil money? The visitor center on the Evangeline Expressway is a cruel joke. It should be removed and just replaced with landscaping.
I don't disagree with you and it's one of the reasons I've been considering starting to attend local town hall meetings ect. Id encourage you to do the same maybe if we all want and work towards making Lafayette better we can. This place holds a special place in my heart I'd love to see it evolve.
I like the area around W Bayou Parkway, downtown, Bendel, and the saint streets, but yeah. Lafayette is just a poorly planned hellscape of strip malls and corporate restaurants.
But this is exactly the problem. Some prior version of ButtockMcBackside convinced the city to raise money to beautify the city and the visitor center was the result. Same thing with Vermillionville. Government is astoundingly incompetent at the sort of tasks you are asking it to do. Now look at River Ranch. Privately developed and checks a lot of urban planning boxes. Dense, walkable, shops and services. And the object of derision by liberals.
First off, I feel like a lot of people here don't remember the absolute shitshow that was the Camellia Blvd extension and the imminent domain invoked by the city. I don't have the number at hand, but there were homes lining Camellia from Johnston to the river. Dozens? They're gone now. The road runs across the foundations, more or less. Lot of bad blood.
Ehhh I know Reddit is a liberal echo chamber and this is no endorsement of Jeff Landry but regardless of political party in office they have all been failures. As awful as she was and RIP I will say Kathleen Blanco seemed to be the only one who seemed to care.
Yes, I’ve never seen or heard that word before /s
I’m talking about the word irretrievably. It’s one of those words people use to make themselves sound better and to make everyone else feel dumb.
We moved here from Washington DC, via four years in the Virgin Islands. My number one complaint is lack of sidewalks; going for a walk is a challenge. Number two complaint is bad driving and abuse of turn lanes. Other than that? The cost of living is 60% of DC, great food, friendly people, great music.
basically yeah. People need to understand Lafayette was never built for the population it has. Theres no space for a loop or other infrastructure improvements but as a place with amenities and family friendly, this is a great little city! Furthermore, Im right now posting from Montgomery County Maryland in the DC suburbs and you couldnt pay me enough to live here. Aside from Silver Fountain and some great asian supermarkets, this area is just way overpriced for marginal hillside views and way too much traffic! Southern Maryland along the peninsula is way more pleasant and luckily my Uncle has a place right on the river there!
im excited about the new dumpling restaurant that opened the day we left on vacation but we are definitely going to try it when we get back!
My uncle retired and lives in Leisure World near Olney. Its an entire city unto itself!He maintains a summer home on the Potomac and Wicomico river and this area is heavily Catholic like Lafayette and has a lot of amish folks. Its my favorite place in Maryland
Because everyone wants to keep their own money, not pay taxes to improve the city. Then on top of that, they tend to vote for corruption a la guillory who use the money to line their pockets, not fix things. It’s a red tale as old as time.
LOL, tell me you don’t pay a lot of taxes without telling me. Did you know that 10 percent of the population pays well over 50 percent of taxes? We have one of the most progressive tax codes in the world. If you want the city to be more beautiful, why don’t you also suggest that the city cut back on current services so they can pay for it from the tax base they already have? Complaining about taxes might raise suspicions that you are more concerned with wealth distribution than actual civic improvement.
Because it’s a mid-sized American city too small to have amenities like viable public transit and a walkable, self-sustaining urban core without heaps of parking infrastructure or endless suburban roads with chain stores, but also too big to maintain a small town vibe with abundant small businesses and a functioning sense of community. Virtually all neighborhoods since the 1960s have been built in a finished state and they lack soul and dynamism of healthy urban communities. Even River Ranch has to simulate this, but it feels stale because it’s not authentic.
Name a city whose main growth occurred post WWII that you find beautiful for reasons that are not related to geography. Most cities are poorly planned with sprawl, strip malls, bland architecture. Lafayette is no exception. There’s a lot to enjoy about Lafayette and its surroundings.
Do you disagree with the statement that most people with wealth don’t want to contribute to the beautification of the city because it would uplift the whole community? I’m thankful for the outliers.
How much has California spent on high-speed rail? How great is that high-speed rail service in CA? Oh, right. It doesn’t exist. Yeah, that’s why people, wealthy or not, don’t want to pay more for ‘beauty’.
its just a typical city and every bit as nice as some more celebrated places, but with no scenery to "make up" for its deficiencies. If life sucks in Denver "oh well the mountains are really pretty!"
The mountains, lakes, and beaches left when the oil boom ended.
I don't think that it's hideous but I do think it was poorly planned. From my understanding from what my Great Grandmother who's nearly 80 says is that Lafayette wasn't supposed to be a big city and that I just kinda happened. Which is how most cities work but I think what she means is that it would grow and then people didn't expect it to grow more then it would grow and so on till we get to today where it feels like Lafayette is swallowing its surrounding smaller cities. But all the while this is happening the reasons it's growing changes so no one central area stays.... relevant? You got the oil center which blew up during the oil boom and that was the middle town and then UL then the Mall and now the southern strip of Ambassador. I'm not sure my train of thought makes sense but what I think your calling hideous is just poor planning and the focus of town having shifted so many times that it's left a lot of stuff half nice half done and half old worn down or empty.
I never understood why people assumed lafayette WOULDNT grow. It’s literally an intersection of one of the biggest east-west interstates and a north-south interstate. We are still working on getting the north-south interstate up to snuff in lafayette proper, but once it’s done, of course lafayette will keep growing. Not as much raw growth as an already larger snowball of a city like houston, but compared to where we are, likely a proportionally larger margin. Functional Infrastructure is a key factor in growth and economic activity.
Things were set long before I-10 East was completed and much longer before I-49 was a thing. It was a railroad town before that, and things centered around that for the most part.
It exploded after Katrina and the infrastructure still can't handle it. But it was kinda hideous before then.
What do you mean exploded? Katrina’s impact was not “explosive”. Check your facts. Look at historical population growth rates decade over decade.
I didn't even take Katrina into consideration but yeah this too
Katrina definitely played a part but it is also continuously on maps because of food, atmosphere, and location. Hub City baby.
I actually like this way of putting it.
I actually like this way of putting it.
It may not be hideous and is ABSOLUTELY NOT a big city. The closest IKEA is in Houston and I can't even get an x-ray with my in-network health coverage in Lafayette. A big city takes about an hour to pass through on the freeway system (PHX, ATL, HOU). Lafayette takes 5 minutes going 75 mph on the I-10.
It’s not, your cup is just half empty.
When I moved here 7 years ago, downtown was dead. It's actually kind of cool now and most of the empty store fronts are poppin now. Its not perfect, but Ive seen it get better in my short time here
American development and building practices are garbage and mostly profit capital holders at the expense of buyers and the built environment overall. Edit: also, if you think Lafayette is hideous I suggest spending time in Lake Charles. That will adjust your perspective.
Exactly! This is why the Soviet Union was well known for its beautiful cities.
No one said anything about the Soviets?
I did. Are you suggesting that the Soviets, unhindered by capitalism, didn’t build beautiful cities?
I am suggesting that the system we live and work in is largely incentivized against providing quality, long-lasting, and culturally relevant architecture to the benefit of capital return. I don't know what you are waffling about the Soviet Union but I am guessing you got triggered when I used the term "capital holders".
I’m trying to help you make your point by directing attention to situations, like the Soviet Union, where there were no capital holders and the resulting cities were beautiful, quality, long-long sting and culturally relevant.
That isn't the point I am making and is a non-sequitur to my statement.
Ok. Sorry.
For everyone and anyone who agrees or wants to speak and hear what our city leaders are doing here is the link for the Lafayette city council website they have the meeting scheduled posted towards the bottom of the page. Maybe it's time we start showing up and speaking up. I hope to see y'all there https://lafayettela.gov/council/lafayette-city-council/default
This. They may ignore you but people need to speak up. Good ideas can gain energy if they get out there to counter all the bad ones that definitely know where to find a hearing.
Of course, but it’s not like I’m the first person ever bold enough to show up at a council meeting and state what is totally obvious. This is a Lafayette problem. Not enough public funding for public works that raise quality of life for all.
Thank you I will.
I agree the completely random and unplanned nature of past growth mentioned in many of these comments is on point. I don’t think there was ever a thought given to master planning or urban planning. Individual rights over everything. Master planning is viewed as communism or something. The best we got is River Ranch, which is sort of the rich person’s playground with almost no public amenities because they don’t want an invasion. But at least it’s not locked up behind gates LoL. The worst is the ridiculous infrastructure and no plans to fix it. The (lack of) internet in many areas. I still can’t believe Cox is better than what a lot of people of means can get (maybe one of the few things where having money doesn’t seem to matter). The road network is absurd (can’t imagine what it would be like without the Camellia bridge!). Ambassador in rush hour, 90 pretty much all the time. It’s truly a hazard if there’s an emergency. The stoplights are all set so that traffic has to stop and idle at every one but despite that none of the turn signals let more than three or four cars turn at a time (and the line is usually double to triple that). As bad as all that it could be worse (trying to drive south into Youngsville anytime after 3:30 pm until rush hour is over)! All that development on single lane roads. You have to be crazy (or retired and not wanting or needing to go anywhere) to live down there. Little to no public transit. No walking or biking networks. The drainage. Why are they allowed to build all over but can’t even think about where the water needs to drain to? It’s LA. Not like they shouldn’t have to even consider that (though they may finally have overreacted to that issue in this parish though that doesn’t mean there is a good plan - take for example the Guillory boondoggle the govt was cited for and will pay way more to fix than it was supposed to be in total). The general issues of Louisiana 51st and politicians that are proud of that are also a major factor. No solutions for poverty other than pretending it doesn’t exist while doing their best to create more of it… Urban renewal is definitely needed but what will happen is more flight and segregation. A small area of downtown does seem to be trying to gain some critical mass but that seems to all rest on private initiative. Moving out of everywhere that starts to decline into gated communities in suburbs without accessible road networks and letting the rest completely go is not a good answer. A few nice parks but not nearly as much as there should be. A real city would invest in a linear park network along the Teche that connects larger parks and turns that into something for people to use. Probably too late though. Trying to destroy libraries, schools and the better parts of the culture (which are maybe a consequence of the state voting for people going full on 51st rather than a strictly local issue, though the schools part is a consequence of individual choices for flight to private/charters). All that said there are some charms. The festivals, the traditions, friendliness, some tolerance for individuality/not a complete cultural desert considering where we are (center of a very red area in a very red state). I’ve seen a lot better and a lot worse. Work to make it better. Expect and demand better of leadership. Become a leader if you don’t see anyone saying what needs to be said and doing what needs to be done. It won’t change overnight but the arc of history is long and collectively we influence its general direction.
Thank you for this.
There appears to be zero civic effort to beautify this city except for the four or five square blocks of downtown that are cute. I regularly walk my neighborhood and pick up trash. That’s all I got. Where’s all that old family oil money? The visitor center on the Evangeline Expressway is a cruel joke. It should be removed and just replaced with landscaping.
I don't disagree with you and it's one of the reasons I've been considering starting to attend local town hall meetings ect. Id encourage you to do the same maybe if we all want and work towards making Lafayette better we can. This place holds a special place in my heart I'd love to see it evolve.
I like the area around W Bayou Parkway, downtown, Bendel, and the saint streets, but yeah. Lafayette is just a poorly planned hellscape of strip malls and corporate restaurants.
But this is exactly the problem. Some prior version of ButtockMcBackside convinced the city to raise money to beautify the city and the visitor center was the result. Same thing with Vermillionville. Government is astoundingly incompetent at the sort of tasks you are asking it to do. Now look at River Ranch. Privately developed and checks a lot of urban planning boxes. Dense, walkable, shops and services. And the object of derision by liberals.
Urban sprawl. Way too much wasted space.
The Camellia bridge over the Vermillion was built in what, 2004?
First off, I feel like a lot of people here don't remember the absolute shitshow that was the Camellia Blvd extension and the imminent domain invoked by the city. I don't have the number at hand, but there were homes lining Camellia from Johnston to the river. Dozens? They're gone now. The road runs across the foundations, more or less. Lot of bad blood.
It’s not just Lafayette. It’s the entirety of Louisiana.
Last place baby. If there were a 51st place I bet we could take it, especially after Jeff Landry's admin.
Ehhh I know Reddit is a liberal echo chamber and this is no endorsement of Jeff Landry but regardless of political party in office they have all been failures. As awful as she was and RIP I will say Kathleen Blanco seemed to be the only one who seemed to care.
It’s the rats nets of electrical lines covering every road. Aside from that it’s fine.
Using that $5 word, sounds like you can afford to move somewhere else.
Are you saying that “hideous” is a difficult word?
Yes, I’ve never seen or heard that word before /s I’m talking about the word irretrievably. It’s one of those words people use to make themselves sound better and to make everyone else feel dumb.
I apologize if I made you feel dumb.
We moved here from Washington DC, via four years in the Virgin Islands. My number one complaint is lack of sidewalks; going for a walk is a challenge. Number two complaint is bad driving and abuse of turn lanes. Other than that? The cost of living is 60% of DC, great food, friendly people, great music.
basically yeah. People need to understand Lafayette was never built for the population it has. Theres no space for a loop or other infrastructure improvements but as a place with amenities and family friendly, this is a great little city! Furthermore, Im right now posting from Montgomery County Maryland in the DC suburbs and you couldnt pay me enough to live here. Aside from Silver Fountain and some great asian supermarkets, this area is just way overpriced for marginal hillside views and way too much traffic! Southern Maryland along the peninsula is way more pleasant and luckily my Uncle has a place right on the river there!
Aye, so true. Vietnamese, Korean, Chinese, Japanese cuisine is lacking here. But, the Cajun food is pretty awesome.
im excited about the new dumpling restaurant that opened the day we left on vacation but we are definitely going to try it when we get back! My uncle retired and lives in Leisure World near Olney. Its an entire city unto itself!He maintains a summer home on the Potomac and Wicomico river and this area is heavily Catholic like Lafayette and has a lot of amish folks. Its my favorite place in Maryland
Because everyone wants to keep their own money, not pay taxes to improve the city. Then on top of that, they tend to vote for corruption a la guillory who use the money to line their pockets, not fix things. It’s a red tale as old as time.
And how much in taxes did you pay last year?
My fair share, unlike corporations and the top 10%
LOL, tell me you don’t pay a lot of taxes without telling me. Did you know that 10 percent of the population pays well over 50 percent of taxes? We have one of the most progressive tax codes in the world. If you want the city to be more beautiful, why don’t you also suggest that the city cut back on current services so they can pay for it from the tax base they already have? Complaining about taxes might raise suspicions that you are more concerned with wealth distribution than actual civic improvement.
I paid over $40k in taxes last year but sure buddy. Probably more than you make a year
Kudos to you for being a taxpayer. Thank you for your service.
This is the reason—100%.
We don’t plant flowers.
We elect idiots, and then of course, there are people delusional about what Lafayette really is.
An explanation as to why OP feels it’s hideous would have been helpful
Because it’s a mid-sized American city too small to have amenities like viable public transit and a walkable, self-sustaining urban core without heaps of parking infrastructure or endless suburban roads with chain stores, but also too big to maintain a small town vibe with abundant small businesses and a functioning sense of community. Virtually all neighborhoods since the 1960s have been built in a finished state and they lack soul and dynamism of healthy urban communities. Even River Ranch has to simulate this, but it feels stale because it’s not authentic.
Name a city whose main growth occurred post WWII that you find beautiful for reasons that are not related to geography. Most cities are poorly planned with sprawl, strip malls, bland architecture. Lafayette is no exception. There’s a lot to enjoy about Lafayette and its surroundings.
Do you disagree with the statement that most people with wealth don’t want to contribute to the beautification of the city because it would uplift the whole community? I’m thankful for the outliers.
How much has California spent on high-speed rail? How great is that high-speed rail service in CA? Oh, right. It doesn’t exist. Yeah, that’s why people, wealthy or not, don’t want to pay more for ‘beauty’.
Please leave town asap.
I do, regularly. But this town needs me because nobody else in my neighborhood picks up the garbage.
Because of people like you
The people are the best part of this city.
Can you explain what you mean by this?
Please elaborate
Cause your grandparents porked
its just a typical city and every bit as nice as some more celebrated places, but with no scenery to "make up" for its deficiencies. If life sucks in Denver "oh well the mountains are really pretty!"