Downtown Lafayette is still trying to shake off the perception that the nightlife in out of control.
Kevin Blanchard, CEO of the Downtown Development Authority, said that while the bars’ presence has diminished and a residential component has grown since 2016, there remains a chaotic atmosphere after 10 p.m. as many ages 21 and under head downtown for the nightlife scene.
Blanchard, who spoke with Jan Swift of the Discover Lafayette podcast, would like to see an ordinance that targets underage drinking. In Baton Rouge, bar owners in Tigerland near LSU now self-regulate on monitoring the drinking age following the death of Madison Brooks.
You can listen to their conversation here.
“We need to get to this point as a community,” he said. “Residents don’t want to live around the chaos.”
Blanchard, who spoke along with Downtown Lafayette Unlimited director Jessica Hauerwas, noted how in 2016 downtown’s bars had a capacity of 5,400. After Lafayette Consolidated Government put in the conditional use permit process in 2017, it put the capacity now at 3,000.
The number of restaurants downtown, meanwhile, went from 19 from about that time to 29 today, he said.
“I am so optimistic about where we are in downtown Lafayette,” Blanchard said.