The Beauregard Town district is bordered by the freeway to the south and east, and North Ave to the north. This district goes all the way to the Mississippi River south of Government. North of here the western border is St. Louis St.
Beauregard Town is the second-oldest neighborhood in Baton Rouge and was designed during the Spanish period. With a unique street configuration, tree-lined boulevards at its borders, and open plazas throughout, it was envisioned as a new administrative center for the growing city as well as an elite new residential area. The neighborhood still contains important historic landmarks such as the Old State Capitol, the Old Governor’s Mansion, and other significant city and parish government buildings. The neighborhood’s plan was supposed to center on a cathedral square, from which four diagonally radiating streets led to open spaces and public buildings,. The street grid was realized but many lots remained empty until the late nineteenth century, when a building boom replaced open spaces set aside for public plazas. The neighborhood contains a diverse array of housing built throughout the 19th century as Baton Rouge’s growth was slow throughout much of the century.
From an urban perspective Beauregard Town benefits from its walkable proximity to Dwtn moderately priced historic homes, safety, and cultural amenities. But because growth was slow auto centric development and parking lots have scared much of the neighborhood’s fabric creating an often semi-urban environment. The district needs more density and retail options, better public transit, more walkable schools, and a complete rehaul to the auto centric Government Street corridor.
Click here to view my Beuregard Town Album on Flickr
URBAN STRENGTHS:
* Great access to Dwtn being adjacent to it.
* Great street grid including diagonal streets running to the center of the neighborhood.
* Good bike share coverage in Baton Rouge. Also a bike sharing lane runs down North Ave.
* Nice mix of affordable and moderately priced homes. A few 1-beds homes sell here for btwn 150K- the low 200Ks, 2-beds sell btwn 150L-350. 3 & 4 beds sell btwn 225K-450
* Generally a pretty safe area.
* Attractive late 19th century architecture with good variety of styles.
* Solid tree canopy.
* Good cultural amenities including a several restaurants, bars, a couple museums & casinos, a couple live music venues & night clubs, a couple breweries, the historic governor’s house, and convenient access to lots of cultural amenities Dwtn.
URBAN WEAKNESSES:
* Very low density for an urban area.
* ADA compliant curbs are generally along North Ave, Eastern Ave and Government St. Missing at most residential intersections.
* Decent but not great public transit access. Pretty limited for an inner city urban district.
* Not great demographic data on the neighborhood but appears to not have great racial and economic diversity.
* A couple good schools Dwtn and other small ones with mixed ratings.
* Rental options are moderately priced in Beauregard Town but pretty limited.
* In fill is a mixed bag. Good residential SF and MF buildings. Some crummy auto centric commercial bldgs esp. along Government St.
* Pedestrian activity is a pretty limited other than North Blvd.
* Retail amenities limited to a couple banks, gyms,. salons, several churches, and the main Dwtn library. Decent amount of dwtn retail amenities within 0.5-1.5 miles of the district.
* The main biz district Government St is pretty auto centric. So so urban massing through the rest of Beauregard Town but a good amount of surface parking.
* Parks are a bit limited in Beauregard Town but there is a nice recreational trail along the river, a pedestrian promenade within North Blvd. and several attractive plazas next to the public library and old Capitol Bldg.
Evaluating our Urban Communities [with a focus on America] 