Computer Science Building

[USLJim]

_ Nice! Is this on the fast track, track and field track, or heaven forbid the hotel track? _

NO it is operational and in full teaching mode

[Cajun Power]

_ About 20 years ago I thought about this idea---Jesuit in NO had bought a city square block that upset some folkes but really helped the school to reach it's schools---I would have called it Cajun town and consisted of big housing areas with fun bars, restuarants,coffee shops, ice cream parlors, etc around a centered area---Well why not????? _

A lot of this could be achieved through private development.

The block bordered by Johnston, University, General Gardener and General Mouton could be redeveloped completely. More "luxury student apartments" which seem to be the trend, along with Coffee Shops, a sports bar, a UL store and a host of other possibilities would be cool. Get people living around campus, and hanging out around campus after school. If people don't live across town, whether at home or in an apartment, they are more likely to be involved in extracurricular activities.

Also, another area that has the potential to be redeveloped is the strip. The bars there are trash. They can't compete at all with downtown, even though downtown is more expensive and doesn't cater exclusively to the college crowd. The new apartment complex behind Lafayette Motors will add more foot traffic through that area, but I would suggest building more mixed-use stuff there. You can still keep the bars, but there is a lot of vacant property that could be developed/redeveloped to make way for student condos and apartments, and then you could have restaurants and stores. It would be more of a community feel, than just a strip of dive bars that are open on Wednesday and Friday. If I had the kind of captial to invest in something like this I would. As a UL student and someone who lived there I know the kind of potential it has.

I think waiting for the university to develop something on this scale would mean a long wait. They need to add on campus housing and upgrade what they have, but there is a lot of potential for redevelopment in the area around campus. This is mentioned in the Lafayette smart growth plan.