When my father reminisces about his time at LSU way back in the ‘80s, he describes a campus which seems totally foreign to modern students. During his undergrad years, LSU was in the middle of nowhere. The only development around campus was Tigerland and El Cid. Along the Burbank corridor between El Cid and Gardere, one could find nothing but forest.
In the last couple of decades, the areas surrounding campus have seen major development. In the eight years that I’ve lived near campus alone, the area has become almost unrecognizable. The Main Campus has become boxed in by all sorts of commercial enterprises designed to make money off the ever-growing student population.
The businesses investing in the local neighborhoods understand that they have a sort of captive audience. While students may graduate and leave Baton Rouge, there will always be a new class of freshmen for them to make money off of. As LSU admits more and more students each year to cover costs, these businesses see an opportunity to make even more profit.
No consideration has been given to whether or not the area even needs some of these projects. Off of Burbank, 7Brew is located less than 1,500 feet from CC’s Coffeehouse, which itself is a mere 250 feet from the newly opened Dutch Bros Coffee. This is in addition to rumoredreported plans to potentially open a Dunkin’ and Starbucks practically next door. The drive to open new businesses is creating redundancies that are likely to hurt individual stores in the long run.
The problem extends to housing as well. Low-cost student apartments are a staple of the area and are generally seen as a blessing by broke students. The complexes, however, are notorious for often being of rather poor quality. I’ve heard horror stories from friends and colleagues of mold, leaky roofs and roach infestations.
Even now, more apartments are being built along Burbank by companies which promise to “promote academic excellence” through their quality of living.
This is a common promise. In practice, corporate landlords buy up land, develop low-quality housing, and take advantage of their tenants. The fact that so many of these landlords are corporations gives them a degree of separation from their tenants, which makes it easier for them to commit such abuses.
While the city government has been happy to approve new commercial enterprises and reap the taxes such endeavors generate, it has completely neglected the things which actually make a city function.
Walkability is practically nonexistent due to a lack of sidewalks or crosswalks. While the Burbank area enjoys public transit, bus stops are left completely uncovered and oftentimes have no seating at all. There are no parks or other public recreation areas, and massive potholes litter every road.
The Metro Council needs to remember that this area is made up of more than just students who will leave in a few years. There are whole families here trying to carve out a life for themselves. Even those who don’t plan to stay long-term should have access to quality infrastructure and essential services.
For example, the Burbank corridor is lined with wooded areas which would be prime real estate for new parks. Everyone should be able to enjoy the serenity of nature through BREC. With so much undeveloped land, the city-parish government has the opportunity to create a truly special urban environment near campus.
To do so, the Planning Commission and Metro Council must change their priorities. Projects need to be approved which actually improve residents’ quality of life. As it stands, they are too busy carrying out the whims of private business lobbying groups.
Groups like the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry pour millions of dollars into politicians up and down the state. They do so in order to sway public policy away from the needs of the citizenry and towards the whims of private business. Their ability to capture our officials through donations is what leads to poorly developed areas like the Burbank corridor.
As long as corporations are allowed to dictate public policy, the situation won’t improve. We’ll continue to get new ways to spend our money and little else. Corporate influence must be rooted out of government if it is ever to work for the people it is meant to represent.
Miriam Evelyn Reeson is a 27-year-old political theory student from Baton Rouge, La.
