Bucking the trend

Given the amount of time we spend reading about walkable communities, sustainable development, bicycle lanes, artist lofts, etc., particularly with regard to post-Katrina planning and rebuilding, one would think that all of South Louisiana was rapidly transforming into a new urbanist paradise where we all walk to our jobs selling each other organic backyard produce and/or live chickens every day.

Turns out the real trend is the exact opposite.

“I really don’t mind it,” Bourgeois said on his cellphone during an afternoon trip home. “That was one of the concerns my wife had when we moved, the long commute. I really don’t mind it. I’ve lived in New Orleans most of my life, and if we lived in Kenner right now and worked in the CBD (Central Business District), it would take me 45 minutes to get to work anyway.

“Right now, I’m coasting at 70, 75 miles an hour and no one’s in front of me. I can relax a little bit instead of being in bumper-to-bumper traffic. … Once I get on the spillway, I just coast the whole way home.”

The number of workers who make similar trips down Interstate 10 exploded between 2006 and 2010. According to the Census Bureau, commuters who live in East Baton Rouge Parish and work in Orleans Parish grew from 597 to 2,350 (294 percent) in that four-year span. The number commuting between EBR and Jefferson Parish increased from 585 to 890 (52.1 percent).

Those going in the opposite direction went up, too. Between 2006 and 2010, commuters to East Baton Rouge from Jefferson Parish increased from 599 to 900 (50.3 percent); from Orleans Parish, 469 to 660 (40.7 percent); from St. Tammany Parish, 433 to 805 (85.9 percent); from Tangipahoa Parish, 2,059 to 2,310 (12.2 percent).

In 2010, more than 26,000 workers commuted from the nine-parish Baton Rouge metro area to the seven-parish New Orleans metro area, while 22,000 workers commuted in the opposite direction, according to the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center.

Given this surprising data,  we might think a high speed commuter rail line between New Orleans and Baton Rouge would make a lot of sense. But the Governor still says we can't have nice things.