Lafayette #9 in US

[LFTCajun]

I find it so funny that when i was in high school at Abbeville everybody gave then Gov. Edwards such a hard time about building too many hospitals in Lafayette with illegal contracts and the overabundance of hospitals ended up being responsible for a huge economic boom in the area after the oil business slacked off.

Yeah, I remember when a moratorium was placed on new hospital construction back then. If I recall, it targeted a massive planned development called Lafayette Centre, which included a hospital, and right about where the new Lourdes medical center is currently being built. There's some irony for you. Joseph Canizaro was the developer if memory serves.

Anyway, I think its remarkable how well Lafayette has done and continues to do when faced with the recent downturn in the oil industry. Even when it was thriving only a couple of years ago, it was surpassed locally by the medical industry in terms of direct employment numbers. I read somewhere that Lafayette's medical employment was nearly double that of Shreveport! Something to the tune of 17,000 here vs 8 or 9 grand up I-49.

[beaux66]

now if the city could just bulldoze johnson St and its two thousand billboards, Lafayette might actually be more pleasing to the eye. God that street has been out of control for years

[LFTCajun]

_ now if the city could just bulldoze johnson St and its two thousand billboards, Lafayette might actually be more pleasing to the eye. God that street has been out of control for years _

Well, there's a plan.

http://www.improvejohnston.org/current_plan.html

[beaux66]

really that is fantastic. Remember the 70's and the 80's when billboards and mass commercialism was the thing in Lafayette. I thought Johnson street was going to continue all the way to Abbeville.

[beaux66]

Just read the plan and its good except for the part about keeping the existing billboards. It will take years to get rid of that clutter. The ordinance should require all businesses to take them down now.

[Boomer]

_ really that is fantastic. Remember the 70's and the 80's when billboards and mass commercialism was the thing in Lafayette. I thought Johnson street was going to continue all the way to Abbeville. _

I live in Aville and it is getting close---lot of activity past Maurice!!!! The rush AM and PM traffic on 167 you would not beleive!!

[LFTCajun]

If you look at one of the pages on the site, it morphs the current billboards with monument style signage. Nice to visualize Johnston St. that way with the buried utilities.

Back on subject, I think the arrival of Pixel Magic to the LITE Center is huge! And I dare say that the LUS Fiber initiative will, and already has in many respects, foster growth in the high-tech sector where super-computing and massive bandwidth is a must. We are ahead in that game folks! Other cities have been watching if Lafayette, LA can pull this off.

We have.

So in addition to the oil and medical industries thriving here, we officially have a third one that I predict will grow beyond what we could have envisioned ten years ago.

[LFTCajun]

Oh yeah, I can't resist saying:

Enter the GEEK!

To a neighborhood near you.

[CajunSaint]

_ There's a reason Austin is #1. I lived there. There is no place in Louisiana that compares to it, not even Lafayette. But, that is a subjective opinion. _

i agree totally with you; it is a subjective opinion. lol!

[beaux66]

Sorry but have to give the nod to Austin on this one. that is a beautiful city. Too bad its in Texas.

[CajunFun]

_ well my friends are in the medical field and they said that River Ranch was built around the booming medical industry there but that alot of the industry is starting to go belly up. She said alot of homes in River Ranch are foreclosing. My step sister can't sell hers. It is very nice though just wonder if it might have been overreaching at a bad time. I was quite impressed with it. Put East Bayou Parkway to shame. _

Actually, there has always been a LOT of money in Lafayette. But before River Ranch, nobody flashed it. You couldn't tell who had it.

There are a lot of misconceptions about the Lafayette economy. One is that we are an oil town. But look at the census numbers:
http://ultoday.com/node/329
Lafayette was hurt by the oil bust as reflected in the 1990 census. But we kept growing nevertheless.

But look at the oil BOOM, the decade before. That isn't even one of our largest growth spurts. The oil boom-- and bust-- had less impact on the Lafayette economy than most people imagine.

Lafayette has grown consistently for over 180 years (only exception: when they cut Vermilion Parish from Lafayette Parish, our population "shrank"). Remember, we become the Hub City in 1836. Since then, through the Civil War, two World Wars, several depressions including the Great Depression, hurricanes, the Flood of '27, the oil bust, it doesn't matter. Lafayette always grows. And that is independent of how the leading industries are doing.

Medicine is a large part of our economy, but it does not explain our growth. The fact is, Lafayette is a highly diverse economy that is recession resistant. We are growing right now, and real estate prices are higher here-- as they have been for a couple of decades-- than in Houston.

Elliot Stonecipher says as much. All growth in Louisiana has been along the Interstates. Except for Bossier & Lafayette, all of it is white flight.

Bossier's growth is Barksdale.

According to Stonecipher, the only city that has done it right, by diversifying, is Lafayette.

And Stonecipher is from Shreveport...

[1stTake]

dude i hope your being sarcastic......if your not i guess you don't get around much. I have family that owns both a huge construction company and realty company also in Lafayette.

Do they keep their entertainmnt dollar in Lafayette or send it to Baton Rouge?