The second set of community forums for the Lafayette Comprehensive Plan will take place this week at locations across the parish as residents help shape the growth of Lafayette over the next couple of decades.
Dubbed “Imagining Alternative Futures,” the forums will work to refine the work done in the first round of community get-togethers last spring.
The forums will take place at the following locations/times:
Wednesday, Nov. 14, noon, at the Acadiana Center for the Arts
Wednesday, Nov. 14, 6 p.m., at Acadian Middle School
Thursday, Nov. 15, noon, at South Regional Library
Thursday, Nov. 15, 6 p.m., at East Bayou Baptist Church
Saturday, Nov. 17, 9 a.m., at Holy Rosary Institute
The second round of meetings are designed to give residents a glimpse of what Lafayette might look like in two decades if we remain on our current course of growth, and to imaging and propose alternatives based on the vision statement that grew out of the first round of forums.
Here’s that vision statement:
In 2035, Lafayette is one of the nation’s most exceptional communities, renowned for its rich Cajun and Creole heritage, its creative scene and culture of innovation, and its authentic joie de vivre. Fueled by its desirable quality of life, its highly educated workforce and the community’s entrepreneurial spirit, Lafayette has attracted substantial investment and growth. This growth has been managed and absorbed in a manner that allowed Lafayette to retain its small town neighborliness and unique way of life.
The Lafayette Comprehensive Plan has galvanized the community and has guided our political leadership in their decision making, keeping us on track and making steady progress toward realizing our Vision. Through a bold collaboration and an ongoing conversation among our engaged citizenry and our local government and institutional partners, we have realized our Vision by leveraging our assets, correcting shortcomings and balancing our priorities for what makes our community outstanding.
We remain a caring community of families, friends and neighbors who bring a can?do attitude toward bettering the community through volunteer and faithbased initiatives.
We are a national model for community-supported investments in information technology, health innovation and green infrastructure.
We have a vibrant cultural scene that celebrates and treasures its local artists and performers, its many venues (museums, Cajundome, Parc International, Acadiana Center for the Arts), and our many festivals and celebrations.
We are a healthy, family-friendly community who sees our youth as our most valuable asset: one worthy of investment in quality education and school facilities, recreation, healthcare, opportunities for civic engagement and a diverse array of challenging local employment choices.
Our retirees make up an important and valued share of the population as natives remain in the community, drawn –as are non-natives– by the rich culture, and opportunities for an active and engaged senior lifestyle.
Mobility has been enhanced with improved road network efficiency and connectivity, expanded transit choices and bicycle and pedestrian friendly streets.
We have raised the bar of expectations for community aesthetics and development quality, applied through innovative development standards and incentives, and revitalization and beautification initiatives.
We have updated and streamlined our codes and regulatory approval processes to become more transparent, predictable and user-friendly.
We have managed growth and development in a manner that conserves land and natural resources, is fiscally sound, and respectful of private property rights.
We are a community of safe neighborhoods that provide expanded housing and lifestyle choices among diverse urban, suburban and rural settings.
Downtown Lafayette is activated with new development of housing, retail and entertainment, supporting day and night-time activity and a true urban lifestyle — one with a distinct flavor of Acadiana.
Our expanded network of open spaces, parks and greenways and trails provide quality recreational opportunities, enhancing both quality of life and property values, while promoting healthful outdoor activity.
We recognize the value of our precious natural resources through initiatives to protect and promote public enjoyment of the Horse Farm, the Vermilion River and our bayou ecosystems.
We have increased the effectiveness of local governance through improved operational efficiencies and bold initiatives that address Parish-wide issues and challenges, while ensuring that each municipality has an appropriate level of control over strictly local matters.
We are home to major corporate employers, attracted by our highly educated and motivated workforce, our information technology infrastructure and our unique quality of life.
We are home to locally grown entrepreneurs and small businesses that proudly retain a progressive adaptation of the “wildcatter” attitude of independence and drive to succeed through determination, creativity and innovation.
We have leveraged the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and our medical institutions to become a leading center for R&D, technology and health innovation.
We have mobilized as a community in taking proactive measures to address pockets of poverty and crime by expanding opportunities for all to engage in civic affairs and to share in Lafayette’s prosperity.
We have improved our workforce readiness with partnerships to link educational curricula among our high schools, University of Louisiana at
Lafayette and our technical and community colleges, to the skills needed by local businesses.
We are business-friendly with fair and transparent codes and regulations, and incentives and capital improvement initiatives designed to attract and guide desired private investment and development.
We have reversed blight and obsolescence with targeted initiatives to restore, revitalize and rebuild along older highway corridors, nodes and interstate gateways into the community.
JUNE 17 If anyone ever wonders why Saints fans hate Atlanta with a capital H, here's a good indication. Radio "professionals" at an Atlanta station created an entire segment around making fun of former Saints player Steve Gleason, who is now paralyzed by ALS. Listen, nobody's ever accused DJs of being rocket scientists. But how could someone think it is amusing to pretend to ask a man with a degenerative, fatal disease if he will be alive next week? The DJs have been fired, and are now whining about how gutless their former bosses are. Wow.
JUNE 18 Here's the latest from the Advocate on the fatal hit-and-run accident allegedly involving the president of the Livingston Parish School Board. He's accused by police of hitting a 21-year-old man on a highway early Sunday and driving away. The man died at a hospital later. On Monday, police seized the president's truck and towed it away. But he's available for board meetings: apparently a $500 bond is sufficient for this type of thing over in St. Helena Parish.
JUNE 18 Former broadcast journalist Griffin Scott has posted this plea on his blog for financial assistance from his readers. Scott, who says he was fired after he wrote something fairly innocuous (for Facebook) on his wall, is suing a media giant for his job back. He's framed himself as David going after a bloated media giant, and he's probably not far off.
JUNE 18 Here's a fairly absurd column posted on DIG Magazine about the completely absurd practice of naming killer storms. Tornadoes don't have names. Blizzards don't have names. But hurricanes do, and there's a big process to bestow them, Jacques Cormery writes. He's right about the crazy assemblage of names -- this year, there's everything from Tanya to Humberto -- and his idea that we don't waste good names on killer storms is a good one.
JUNE 17 Political columnist John Maginnis has some advice for Louisiana Republicans: grow up. After the schism that occurred in this past session - fiscal hawks teaming up with Democrats to spank the Republican "majority" and hand Gov. Jindal his, er, aspirations for continued solon control -- they need to figure out how to get along with each other, Maginnis writes.
JUNE 17 Here's the Picayune's obit story for Dorothy 'Miss Dot' Domilise, the lady who made poboys at the uptown restaurant that bears her name. Miss Dot moved to New Orleans during World War II, where she met and married her husband Sam. When she passed away Friday she was 90, and had spent more than 60 of those years working at the restaurant on Annunciation Street.
JUNE 17 This editorial in the Advocate speaks in favor of the consent decrees that have federal judges overseeing police operations and the sheriff's parish prison in New Orleans. Mayor Landrieu and Sheriff Gusman can't get along, so outside forces, like the Inspector General and the judges, are needed to make sure things run right, the editorial opines.
JUNE 18 Here's a post from Manny Schewitz on Forward Progressives that is good for a chuckle. Manny had an epiphany back in November, and is sharing it with us today: he believes that Fox "News" is killing the GOP by pandering to right wing nuts. Now, don't get it twisted: Manny's not broke up about it. He says he enjoys watching the downward spiral with a shot of whiskey and "a schadenfreude chaser."
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