What you see here is how it is
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5/26/2007
I'm from Baton Rouge, born here, and moved hither and yon, only to end up back here for the last 5 years.
If you've had a look at any of the other posts on Baton Rouge, you get a good idea of the range of people you deal with. Illiteracy is a real problem here, as I'm sure you can tell from reading some of the posts. Crime is ridiculous, partly because cops are invisible. Don't bother calling the police for anything but violent crime that you actually witness with your own two eyes. If you hear shots, don't call, they'll just be rude to you. If you hear noise that alarms you (screaming, thumping, etc.), don't call, they'll just ignore you. If you see someone driving drunk or abusing a child, don't call, they won't respond in time to do any good. I've tried.
People throw trash on the ground, dogs run loose, even in the "nice" parts of town, traffic is really bad for a city this size--there really isn't much nice to say about Baton Rouge unless you are very, very wealthy and pay for your own policing by private security. Notice help wanted ads in Baton Rouge's newspaper The Advocate are packed full of people hiring for security.
Baton Rouge has a huge portion of its population that are under-educated, poor blacks who are in fact exploited in their jobs, frequent vicitms of crime, and habitually discriminated against, but they have no chance to get better jobs because the social systems (such as education, but not just government based programs) have completely broken down. You can see multimillion dollar estates in some parts of town, and they will have a good old-fashioned household staff of yas'm and nawsuh like you see in movies, and those jobs are the good ones!
If you are raising kids and can't either get into magnet schools or afford private schools, move outside of town rather than put your kids in the regular pub schools in BR. They're dangerous and ineffective, and you don't want your kids coming home with the language and attitude they'll pick up at a Baton Rouge public school.
There is a real problem with basic etiquette, so if you're used to being treated like a fellow human being, don't bother coming here. The people in Baton Rouge will do whatever serves them best at the moment they stand. It's a town full of slack-jaws and bullies, and I'm glad I'm leaving this year.
Hannah | ,