The city of Abbeville looks like no other place in south Louisiana. The small city on one hand looks like the quintessential all-American-made-for-Hallmark sleepy town with redbrick storefronts beneath rusted and hand-painted signage.
On the other, the French-European influence stemming from the city’s founding is on full display in its architecture, especially in its French village town square centered around an imposing Catholic cathedral set against the backdrop of the coastal plains of Louisiana.
But the familiar sights of live oaks, crepe myrtles, azaleas and Robert Dafford murals remind visitors they are indeed in Cajun country.
Like Lafayette, Abbeville wants to rethink its downtown and main street, spur economic development, and convince residents to move back into city centers. At least, that is what Abbeville Mayor Roslyn White wants to see.
Bike lanes, improved walkability, and road diets might seem like aspirations for a medium to large-sized city but White, Abbeville's first woman mayor, says it is possible to have big-city conveniences in a small town.
It is all part of Abbeville's first master plan to reinvest in the city’s downtown and surroundings. The 20-year plan, being developed in collaboration with the Center for Planning Excellence, is only in its conceptual phase. While White has her ideas for Abbeville, she is also taking citizen input to create a city that better fits their needs.
Her vision for Abbeville came to White when she returned to Vermilion Parish in 2004 after graduating from LSU. Since then, she has witnessed the city lose population in recent years to nearby towns such as Maurice, Youngsville and Broussard.
“At first, I struggled on whether to move here. I thought it felt too small for me. I felt the city was not living up to its potential and I got very frustrated with not seeing any progress and watching the decline of the city over the last eight years,” White said.
In 2018, White said seeing a city with a once stagnant and now declining population, increases in crime, and little in the way of future planning convinced her to run for city council. Four years later, she would be elected mayor of Abbeville.
The master plan will help the city organize issues and needed improvements and help to prioritize them, White said. The city had an opportunity to implement a master plan 20 years ago with federal assistance after Hurricane Rita, but that idea was never embraced. Since then, issues have been addressed as they arise, something White views as inefficient and ineffective.
She knows some residents are not in favor of her ideas. Online arguments have centered around the city needing to focus on crime and upgrading utilities before creating protected bike lanes or parklets.
Abbeville has 7.75 violent crimes per 1,000 residents, slightly higher than Lafayette but far lower than similarly sized cities like Opelousas, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Crime Data Explorer. Abbeville has 21.3 property crimes per 1,000 residents but that number has dropped significantly since 2015 when property crimes were 37% higher.
“I have lots of ideas and a vision for the community. I’ll share that vision with anyone that wants to hear it but what goes into that plan is what the communities’ priorities are,” White said.
Road wrangle
One of the first big moves White made as mayor was to take control of state roads that ran through Abbeville.
Roads such as Louisiana Highway 14 that bisects the city and the heart of downtown. Not only was it a headache to convince the state to make improvements or close roads to repair the city-owned utilities underneath — the roadway was too fast, too big, and unwelcoming, White said. The roadway has also been the site of several pedestrian and cyclist deaths over the years.
“People said [road transfer] was too much of a risk. I think it is a bigger risk not to do it,” White said.
The city officially took over the roads in November but over 12 miles of road over the next 10 years will be transferred to the city. Construction on once state-controlled roads around the courthouse is expected to begin within the next month, White said.
Our community is not dead
The main selling point of improving downtown is to support local small businesses, White said. Right now, unless an event is happening, downtown Abbeville is empty after residents get off work. The businesses that do exist downtown are too far from one another for leisurely shopping on foot. She sees improved walkability as a way of keeping residents and their wallets downtown longer while promoting tourism to their unique city.
“It’s very quiet, which locals love, but it isn’t good for business,” White said, “I’m trying to use the concepts that I know work in other communities that have been pivotal in revitalizing downtowns.”
Along with downtown improvements, the city is working on several projects such as upgrading its water plant and creating a GIS map for the city’s infrastructure and utilities — most of which only exist on old paper maps.
The city also recently completed improvements to Lafitte Park and a recent $500,000 grant will help clear blighted properties, which White said contributes to crime and creates an unwelcoming atmosphere.
She hopes these projects will convince families to move to Abbeville and attract businesses to the region.
“If you want people to come here. If we want businesses to come to our community. We have to sell ourselves. Our statistics aren’t ideal but the reason we have businesses here is because they can feel how special this place is. We’re getting an Amazon; we’re getting a Starbucks. That tells me our community is not dead,” White said.
White eventually would like to host more events downtown, create an incubator system for local businesses, and perform housing assessments to understand what housing gaps exist in the city, she said. She also wants to find ways to better retain police officers and introduce technology to assist police’s ability to combat crime in the city.
In July, White hopes to take all suggestions from residents to present a more tailored master plan and begin the process of writing up an official plan
White said the continued growth of South Lafayette and the anticipated growth of Iberia Parish will place Abbeville squarely in the middle of business competition that requires creative planning to make them stand out.
“We’re a sleeping little secret in South Louisiana.” White said. “In 20 years, I hope that secret is out.”