
How Lafayette cleaned up its act — and the Vermilion River, too
Nearly 40 years into an effort to clean up America’s most polluted river, Lafayette is rebuilding its relationship with Bayou Vermilion.
Nearly 40 years into an effort to clean up America’s most polluted river, Lafayette is rebuilding its relationship with Bayou Vermilion.
Greater access to naloxone appears to be having an impact. At the current rate, the number of overdose deaths projected for this year would decline 30%. Hurdles remain in the supply chain. Those fighting the opioid crisis hope to overcome them.
Lafayette is on the verge of investing millions in urban core neighborhoods set to be traversed by the I-49 Connector.
A local food desert initiative is developing a fund to put grocery stores back on Northside neighborhood blocks.
Grocery stores big and small have vacated Lafayette’s urban core. Local organizations are stepping in to fill gaps in the food supply chain and address the central challenge: access at the neighborhood level.
With sufficient funding and commitment, the 50-mile network of trails and paths could remake how Lafayette gets around.
Moving at a breakneck pace, LCG has dozens of drainage projects in the works. It’s an immense capital program by local government standards, racking up a bill worth well over $100 million. We mapped them.
Vacant and abandoned properties have metastasized in Lafayette. A robust redevelopment authority ought to be part of the solution, experts say.
Lafayette’s pace of moving hundreds of orphaned and blighted properties back into commerce has some convinced LCG isn’t really trying.
Bit by bit, LCG is tackling a frustrating and costly problem that has festered for decades. With well over 1,000 adjudicated properties on the rolls at any one time, there’s a long way to go. And for those who live next to the properties, resolution can’t come fast enough.
The numbers are grim. Lafayette has sustained two consecutive years of rising homicides and gun violence. There aren’t any easy answers, but here’s a quick roundup of approaches
Compared with other rural communities, St. Landry Parish mounted a better pandemic response and has rivaled wealthier, urban peers. It has the second highest vaccination rate in Acadiana, sneaking up just behind Lafayette Parish.
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