College Tour—LA Agurbs®

Natchitoches, one of my top 100 agurbs®, is a treasure! It’s pronounced Nakatish (all soft vowels) if you go to visit. It is the oldest permanent settlement in the Louisiana Purchase, set along the Red River (now Cane River) which runs the length of the downtown main street. The town was the major trading outpost for Eastern and South Texas because of its river location, which started changing course in 1825 leaving the town a bit “high and dry”. At the time Natchitoches was forecast to become the second largest city in the region, second only to New Orleans.

The river changing course and railroads changed everything, but the vibrant downtown buildings remained and stayed virtually the same as they were 150 years ago. And, today Natchitoches has turned those old, historic buildings into a major asset. I was impressed in my brief visit there of the way that Natchitoches has completely redone their downtown with numerous shops, restaurants and other retailing ventures. In the last three years over 150 new businesses have opened their doors in this booming agurb®.

In the last few years there have been redone a number of new condos and apartments that have been developed in the second and third floors, adding a key residential element to an already vibrant downtown.

Hammond, LA is another of my top 100 agurbs®. James and I stopped there for lunch at the Café Street Seafood Station, a new restaurant in the old train station. I’m a sucker for old railroad stations, so we didn’t look any further for a place to eat. Café Street is only one year old and will celebrate their first anniversary celebration during Hammond’s Hot August Nights Celebration on August 19th.

Hammond’s downtown has numerous restaurants and shops but too many vacancies. It has all of the assets to become a great downtown, but needs a bit of TLC.

One impressive observation of my visit to Hammond was their entrance into town along route 51, which runs right along the old Illinois Central RR. Rather than letting the “no-man’s land” along the railroad tracks grow up in weeds like a lot of towns, Hammond has planted flowering trees and grass. It is a wonderful idea that really showcases the town.