Baton Rouge became the largest city in Louisiana overnight when evacuees fleeing Hurricane Katrina ballooned the area’s population from roughly 400,000 to 800,000, according to Walter Monsour, the city’s chief administrative officer. Becoming a first-tier city in a single day with no urban planning and no upgrading of infrastructure has resulted in commune-style living, depleted grocery store shelves, and overburdened phone lines and traffic lanes. The only things that seem to be quick in the bursting-at-the-seams populace are tempers.
Officials are still trying to get a handle on urban planning, infrastructure, and housing issues. Monsour is coordinating a committee of business leaders and elected officials to identify the city’s future needs, including planning new zones for development an building a bigger airport, a northern and southern loop around the city, and an enhanced transit system.
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