DELORES HURST, Reveille Radio News Reporter:
The Baton Rouge housing market has been booming in the last five years. In the last two years, new apartments have been developing to fit the growth of the city and student population. LSU seniors Kiara Thomas and Paige Chandler have also seen this growth.
PAIGE CHANDLER (University senior): Since I’ve been to LSU, I’ve seen more and more students move off campus, especially since LSU has limited space on campus.
HURST: And another student said,
KIARA THOMAS (University senior): I live in between North and South Baton Rouge and from what I’ve seen; there are more apartments around LSU.
HURST: Students are not the only ones seeing trends in how people are renting and buying. Local real estate agent Susan Langlois noticed it as well. Langlois said based on her experience in sale, north and south Baton Rouge has rentals, but the south more because of LSU. She said it is probably due to student short term need, but she said both areas are growing.
LSU student Christy Murphy has also noticed this trend.
CHRISTY MURPHY (University student): I have classes at Southern and when I drive through Baton Rouge, there are more houses in area like Mid-City and Sherwood Forest than area like Siegen Lane. I think the trend has everything to do with schools.
HURST: According to BatonRougeRealEstate.com Baton Rouge is one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the United States. Growth of the housing market will lead to growth in businesses and work toward the new FutureBR program that is being implemented. The campaign will be taking suggestions and surveys from community members starting Oct. 5th. With that information the parish government will implement new policies to target growth for the next 30 years.
I’m Delores Hurst with your Reveille Radio news.