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Ask The Mayor: Lafayette's Tony Roswarski

Lafayette Mayor's Office

Some questions for Mayor Roswarski:

We did a story the other day on the Fowler mansion and it got me to thinking about how downtown Lafayette must have looked 100 years ago. And the only conclusion I could draw was that it was a more bustling place then than it is now, with more shops thriving, more pedestrian traffic, etc. What’s the long-term plan for getting downtown back to that sort of prosperity?

It’s obvious to look at the architecture that there used to be businesses north of Main Street that thrived, but they’re relatively sparse these days. How do you encourage prospective business owners to relocate there?

If you were to get more businesses in the area immediately north of downtown, it could also help build up the north end, where the housing stock really struggles these days, right?

Could it work the other way? Could the city try to get some of this money the state is doling out to rehab blighted properties, use it to fix up some of the homes – and whole neighborhoods, in some cases – that are in bad shape, in hopes of drawing investment to that area of town because it’s seen once more as a place people are clamoring to live?

Speaking of the Fowler House, is it a property the city has considered buying and using?

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