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I grew up an LSU fan really. I went to ULL but its not a large university or in a major conference. That plus all my relatives went to LSU and bleed purple and gold to their souls.
ULL's football team may be in the Sun Belt, but ULL is still a relatively large university. The three public "national research institutions" in Louisiana are LSU, LaTech, and ULL. For athletics, the problem with ULL is that it's in the shadow of LSU. Tech is far enough away and in really a different region, with no competition. (ULM is a joke athletically) That's probably why more Tech fans put Tech over LSU than alumni of other Louisiana schools do, and it's why Tech will continue to get better in athletics. We're adding a 90,000 square foot facility to the south side of the football stadium, and lots more is coming as well, though no one wants to hear about it here.
I think we've de-railed sufficiently, so hopefully this doesn't kill the thread or lock it. I still say BR people don't support the Saints except in bandwagon fashion, and the same goes for Shreveport. Shreveport has a LOT of Cowboys fans, but Dallas is also a lot closer to Shreve than New Orleans is, so why not...
I think Baton Rouge has always been a "wanna-be" big city and has been jealous of Nola. You can't compare the entertainment or music to Nola. Baton Rouge also is somewhat of a commercial city, there is not much original flavor, just a bunch of chains. Also I wont forget when the Saints were displaced to BR, and the people there wouldnt support them, the stadium was largely empty except for their beloved LSU Tiger games, then it was packed. During Saints season this past year, a large proportion of LSU only fans started supporting the team bandwagon style, otherwise years past they wouldnt care. Lastly the traffic in BR is a lot worse then Nola right now. I dread having to go to BR for anything.
Here we go again , " Baton Rouge is jelous of New Orleans " .
Not on your life , sport .
Another clueless New Orleans resident sharing their nonsense .
I know this is kind of an old thread but this is a topic I talk about a lot as I am a native New Orleanian, but I'm a student at LSU. I think the problem is that people from each city like totally different types of places. Baton Rouge people like small town feel, national chains, cars, country atmosphere while New Orleanians prefer city life, sidewalks, unique culture, etc. By the way, this isn't a stab at Baton Rouge. They are all very nice people. It's just that they like a totally different thing. I once was lamenting the fact that there were no sidewalks on a 5 minute walk to a bar near LSU's campus. And I had a friend from Baton Rouge tell me that this isn't New Orleans and they just don't have sidewalks. I couldn't understand how a neighborhood almost touching LSU's campus didn't have a single sidewalk down the street to the bar (they had a walk signal at the light but when you cross you have to literally walk into the highway).
And, I think the reason New Orleans people get angry with BR people is that BR claims to be so much more business oriented, safer, cleaner, blah blah blah. Yet, New Orleans has more businesses than BR. BR is also on the top 10 most dangerous cities in America. The problem is that its just a totally different culture. It's the same reason people from NOLA hate Houston. They like culture and can't stand national chains, strip malls, highways.
BR can't stand that NOLA is and always will be the face of the state. Yes, BR is growing fast. I applaud it. I want nothing but the best for BR. But the fact of the matter is that BR will NEVER be the bread winner of the state. NEVER.
The problem with Baton Rouge is that most of its residents have never experienced what living in a city is like. They are oblivious to the fact that they live in a huge suburb. They say how horrible New Orleans is because its so ghetto and all. But, they have never even been outside of the French Quarter.
Frankly, I don't understand how ANYONE could actually enjoy living in Baton Rouge.
I only lived in BR for a short while but I have to agree. Br isn't a place I would want to live now. ULL is nothing close to LSU campus but outside of that, I find Lafayette to be a much more interesting city.
Baton Rouge isn't a bad place to raise a family. The good areas are very comfortable and safe. The problem with the city is that it is pretty mug just an average city. It doesn't have any real culture outside of LSU and with all the creole and Cajun culture in adjacent cities it feels very different. It just feels "normal" and out of place in lower Louisiana even though it is one of the oldest cities in the state. I guess because it is the Capitol and it had to have a more professional and dignfied image. BI guess what I'm saying is it's not a playful town. It is all about business and politics.
I know this is kind of an old thread but this is a topic I talk about a lot as I am a native New Orleanian, but I'm a student at LSU. I think the problem is that people from each city like totally different types of places. Baton Rouge people like small town feel, national chains, cars, country atmosphere while New Orleanians prefer city life, sidewalks, unique culture, etc. By the way, this isn't a stab at Baton Rouge. They are all very nice people. It's just that they like a totally different thing. I once was lamenting the fact that there were no sidewalks on a 5 minute walk to a bar near LSU's campus. And I had a friend from Baton Rouge tell me that this isn't New Orleans and they just don't have sidewalks. I couldn't understand how a neighborhood almost touching LSU's campus didn't have a single sidewalk down the street to the bar (they had a walk signal at the light but when you cross you have to literally walk into the highway).
And, I think the reason New Orleans people get angry with BR people is that BR claims to be so much more business oriented, safer, cleaner, blah blah blah. Yet, New Orleans has more businesses than BR. BR is also on the top 10 most dangerous cities in America. The problem is that its just a totally different culture. It's the same reason people from NOLA hate Houston. They like culture and can't stand national chains, strip malls, highways.
BR can't stand that NOLA is and always will be the face of the state. Yes, BR is growing fast. I applaud it. I want nothing but the best for BR. But the fact of the matter is that BR will NEVER be the bread winner of the state. NEVER.
The problem with Baton Rouge is that most of its residents have never experienced what living in a city is like. They are oblivious to the fact that they live in a huge suburb. They say how horrible New Orleans is because its so ghetto and all. But, they have never even been outside of the French Quarter.
Frankly, I don't understand how ANYONE could actually enjoy living in Baton Rouge.
You assume way too much . How did you get to be such an authority on how " Baton Rouge " thinks ? How many of the hundreds of thousands of residents have you interviewed ? Another college kid that has it all figured out .
Listen yall, this is just gonna keep going, so... I think we can both agree that New Orleans and Baton Rouge are fine places with their share of pros and cons. And what keeps the argument so intense is that both cities have pretty glaring cons. That keeps people opposed to either city pretty fired up about the argument. You know I wouldn't move to Baton Rouge but that's me, one of my good friends lives in Pollard Subdivision and is into all the same things that I am. I like his neighborhood, it's nice. When he visits me in Uptown New Orleans he has a ball all the same, and loves that you can walk so many places. And we both went to school in Lafayette anyway so no need to be upset.
I think animosity reared its head during the whole Katrina aftermath. New Orleans people realized why they never wanted to live in Baton Rouge, and to boot, some people there were ugly to them through one of the most traumatic times in their lives. Baton Rouge felt like it was invaded, and that 1% riff raff sure did act like double digits. Everything that was already tight for BR (traffic, schools, infrastructure) got a lot worse.. this type of exchange is going to build animosity, folks. I remember every news anchor in Baton Rouge "bragging" and continuing to bring up the fact that as of September 1st they were the largest city in the state.. whatever, it's by total default! And now you have "big city" problems. Careful what you wish for.
You assume way too much . How did you get to be such an authority on how " Baton Rouge " thinks ? How many of the hundreds of thousands of residents have you interviewed ? Another college kid that has it all figured out .
I can tell by population trends, growth trends, types of restaurants, the way the city is continuing to be built, etc. etc. You can tell a lot about a city by reading the news every day and watching what type of construction projects happen and the types of ballots the city votes for. For instance, in the Perkins Road Overpass area, the city is trying to build up more bars and cool restaurants, which I think is fantastic. There was an article, I'll try to find it, but it had quotes from residents bitching about how all the drunk people will be driving through their precious neighborhoods to beat traffic and all. The problem with these idiots is that they don't realize that they live on a city street. They don't live in a subdivision. Drivers are allowed to drive through their neighborhood whenever they want. This is to show you a small example of how Baton Rouge people feel. And these are the people that technically live "in the city core". Do you kind of understand what I'm talking about now?
As far as BR vs NO, New Orleanians are totally ignorant of anything in Louisiana outside of their immediate area, but don't seem to necessarily hate on their fellow statesmen, as folks in New Orleans (the non-gangsters) are very nice in general. Baton Rouge isn't quite as ignorant about their state, but they VERY MUCH look down their noses at people from elsewhere, in my experience.
And it couldnt be said any better. Thats the attitude of any Northern Louisiana native. I just think both cities put themselves above the whole state of Louisiana.
The rest of the state plays a great role in making Louisiana what it is too. I bet the thousands of people who leave this state each yr will leave the area of N.O. and Baton Rouge way quicker than they would anywhere esle in the state. Frankly because a great number of the residents in those areas are not born and raised there. You can make a case that alot of residents outside of the modern day N.O. and B.R., are born and raised here, and plan on being here the rest of our lives.
I love and respect both areas for what they are and what they give to the state, but..............
I find both areas to be two of the most arrogant and self absorbed cities in the whole US!! Seriously....im not joking.
I have never known two places to be stuck on themselves as much as these 2 cites, but maybe thats why we love them.
Last subject, I'll give my personal opinion on both.
Baton Rouge.....I just feel like its a southern version of what we have up here in North Louisiana, just bigger & busier. I just dont feel like the traditional cultures people familarize with south Louisiana are as strong in Baton Rouge compared to its neighbors. Baton Rouge is Louisiana's version of your average All American city....(place the emphasis on Louisiana's version please)
New Orleans....its special of course, but is it too special. Too special to be in Louisiana, would you do better in Mexico, or even France? Those people love to call us country up here but......I bet you anything, once all the partying stops and family becames important, the suburbs start lookin pretty dam good. All of a sudden you like the option of partying while you enjoy your front porch overlooking your nice yard......thus, you have now become country also. New Orleans has become more about partying instead of culture. Culture also includes morale, family customs, religions views, and traditions...............but who comes to N.O. for that?
Safe to say after all of that, Im from North Louisiana, I-20 Louisiana, Shreveport would be my N.O., and Monroe is my Baton Rouge.
I know i come off as negative sometimes on southern Louisiana, but.....why give em postive, they have separate forum links....I dont feel sorry for them.
I can tell by population trends, growth trends, types of restaurants, the way the city is continuing to be built, etc. etc. You can tell a lot about a city by reading the news every day and watching what type of construction projects happen and the types of ballots the city votes for. For instance, in the Perkins Road Overpass area, the city is trying to build up more bars and cool restaurants, which I think is fantastic. There was an article, I'll try to find it, but it had quotes from residents bitching about how all the drunk people will be driving through their precious neighborhoods to beat traffic and all. The problem with these idiots is that they don't realize that they live on a city street. They don't live in a subdivision. Drivers are allowed to drive through their neighborhood whenever they want. This is to show you a small example of how Baton Rouge people feel. And these are the people that technically live "in the city core". Do you kind of understand what I'm talking about now?
None of that had anything to do with your assertions of how " Baton Rouge " feels about New Orleans , or any of your other " insight " into how the hundreds of thousands of residents feel about anything , other than some bar on Perkins Rd.
It has to do with my assertions that Baton Rouge people think differently than New Orleans people. They are more interested in a suburban, country lifestyle which is what I said in my first post. There's nothing wrong with that, it's just the way it is. Because they are more interested in living with their own kind in a gated one entrance subdivision off of the major highway, most of the residents of Baton Rouge despise New Orleans for its "diversity" and how its so dangerous. There are some people who will not park there car in New Orleans because they are scared of it getting stolen. And frankly, these allegations of New Orleans being such a dangerous city are ridiculous. Anyway, I'm just saying that that's why Baton Rouge and New Orleans have such a hatred for each other. They both think differently. In NOLA we don't like Baton Rouge because it has no culture, no sense of place, no liveliness. Just cars, traffic, chains, strip malls, and pastures. Baton Rouge doesnt like NOLA because we have lots of different types of people living all together, we don't have that "safety" that suburbanites so desperately need.
It even goes down to our basic lifestyles, we go to magazine street, Baton Rouge people go to Perkins Rowe, a fake version of a downtown shopping district. We go to the French Quarter to hang out, they go to Towne Center. See what I'm saying? It's just two VERY different places with VERY different lifestyles.
And also, New Orleans is not just a party city. We have morals, family traditions, a VERY strong Catholic tradition, and hundreds of treasured traditions. Obviously, the drunk trashy tourists from podunk towns in Louisiana who come here don't come for that. But, that is why we live here.
Also, mhounit, what makes YOU an authority on Baton Rouge people....
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