STORM2K

Lafayette, LA is starting to get pretty many new projects.

1. Kohl's is building a new store near our SuperTarget.
2. Academy Sports is buidling a 100,000+ sq. ft. store to replace their old one across the street from the new Kohl's.
3. Our mall, the Mall of Acadiana, just opened many new stores like Chalotte Russe, Man Alive, Kay Jewelers, and Build-A-Bear Workshop, with our Foley's soon turning into Macy's.
4. A Hilton Garden Inn just opened near the Cajundome in mid Lafayette, and we are getting a Residence Inn by Marriott on the southside and a Homewood Suites hotel in downtown.
5. In Youngsville, a few minutes south of Lafayette, they are building a 2,000 home mixed-use subdivision.
6. In River Ranch, an upscale subdivision in Lafayette, they are building a new lifestyle center. The tenants announced so far are: The Fresh Market, Carrabba's Italian Grill, and Bonefish Grill. I have also heard rumors that Ann Taylor Loft and Jos. A. Bank are opening there, but I don't know if that's true.
7. Wal-Mart is building a new supercenter in Broussard, a suburb of Lafayette, the fourth supercenter in the area.

And there are probably many more in the area that I don't know about! Now, the city of Lafayette had 111,000 people last census, but that was before Katrina. Now, there are estimates that the city has anywhere from 120,000 to 150,000 people with the parish having well over 200,000.

So, what new developments are going on in your town?

We have so many, I do not know where to begin. We have two Hyatt Hotels here. One is the Hyatt Regency Golf and Country Club. It has the nicest beach on the island. We have belonged to this club for 15 years. They just sold the hotel and now it will all be time share. So they built a whole new club house for our members. We will still get full access to all the hotels restraunts, casino, beach, etc. Now the Hyatt Dorado Beach next door is also sold. They will make condos and a huge marina there. Both hotels have a total of four golf courses, which will stay and we can use everything. I am excited as we are moving to a condo at the end of the year when we sell our house, and we would love a nice boat to take from island to island, so the marina will be right up our alley. We have a new shopping center and the whole town is building, building, building. Our town is one of the nicest towns on the island. It will be a nice place to retire.

with 12000 people moving into the general area in the next few years (thanks to BRAC), there will be a lot of development around here. Typically though, we can expect that the infrastructure will remain static and unable to support it.

Well, our town is growing rapidly as well. We were at 5,000 just a few years ago. Now we are closing in on 10,000. We just got a Lowe's and we are in the process of getting an Applebee's and an IHOP so I am very excited about that. Those of you city folk... quit your laughing at me!

WE are going from "Have-not" to "Have-got" as the City of Havelock is going to be getting a Wal-mart soon!!! Lowe's shouldn't be far behind, and Applebee's I hope!!!

Being on the planning commission here in Scottsdale, I see almost everything that's either thinking about coming here, has committed to coming here, or is hoping to be here someday. Coming from a small midwestern farm county, it's amazing to be part of so much happening.

One of the most unique is SkySong, a development partnership between the city and the Arizona State University. Check it out!
http://www.skysongcenter.com

We have a new Wal-Mart opening here later this year. Also IHOP and a couple other places planned. There's a Wal-Mart already in town down the street from the new building, but it will be moving into the new building once it is ready.

No more room for new building projects in city limits, so all the apartments are going condo.

Some old farmland started getting developed about 2-3 years ago near the county line. It sports a Hummer dealership (among a few others), a large anchor grocery store with requisite overpriced specialty stores. A paycheck advance store went up overnight (so you can do the down-payment on the Hummer across the street, I suppose), along with a Blockbuster video.

I'm sure there's much more to come as a few hammocks of trees are still standing.

I found out something very disturbing, however. The development I live in was built in the late 1970s over a colored Civil War cemetary. The bodies were never moved; when I asked a man at an old church tucked away by the only farm left in this area what the developers did, he said "They're not 6 feet under anymore. They're 8 feet under." At least now I know for the next time an older person knocks on the door again looking for the cemetary. I can totally relate to Steven Spielberg's "Poltergeist".

The labor force here took a licking ever since Katrina. Grocery stores and restaurants are desperate for help. The Wal-Mart where I work at is at limited hours and it is unknown when it will go back to 24hrs.

The main things going up here are houses. Everywhere you look new houses are going up. They recently built what can only be described as a high end strip mall and re-devolped the biggest mall in town and the second biggest, but it's the houses that win!

This area is essentially at zero population growth. While new things are being built, it's mostly confined to the already-developed areas, or designated growth areas, and it's not at such a frantic pace. There are still vast areas that are the same as they were 50 years ago. In my town of 2,000 the only development that I can think of, is actually redevelopment. An old abandoned car dealership building was demolished and is being replaced with a bank branch.

Zoning is strong here. While it does place some restrictions on growth and development, it helps ensure orderly development, and maintains the character of the area.

I lived outside of Philadelphia for about 10 years. I didn't like the frantic pace of life there. I'm quite happy in a small town in a rural area.