Prologue: Skip back to the turn of the 20th century when Lafayette as we know it was in its infancy. Back then, ӰרdowntownӰר meant dusty roads, a few streetlights and a railroad station. That railroad represented a conduit to the outside world and the townӰרs shift from agriculturalism to industrialism. It fueled a growing middle class and helped land a deal that would change the trajectory of the city forever Ӱר establishing Lafayette as the permanent home of Southwestern Louisiana Industrial Institute. Thanks to the railroad and Institute, LafayetteӰרs population doubled in the first decade of the 1900s.
Reviving the Core
If you ask Mayor-President Monique Blanco Boulet, what Lafayette needs now is a heavy dose of chutzpah. SheӰרs not using those words exactly. But sitting in a red power suit in her office in the Lafayette Consolidated Government building on West Ӱר Avenue, Boulet is emphatic.
ӰרLafayette is special,Ӱר she said. ӰרPeople who live here know it, but we donӰרt always carry it with us. ItӰרs time for us to own it.Ӱר
Lafayette recently earned distinctions as the best place to live in Louisiana by U.S. News & World Report, as one of FortuneӰרs 50 best places to live for families and as one of MoveBuddhaӰרs top millennial move-to destinations. But despite the accolades, the region is grappling with outdated infrastructure and its ability to retain current residents while attracting new ones. Lafayette, whose growth once hinged on its reputation as the epicenter of the offshore oil industry, is poised for its next act.
Leaders, including Boulet, are betting big on a revival of the regionӰרs urban core. After all, whatӰרs the Hub City without the hub? That translates to investing in the oldest part of Lafayette, spanning City Park to Moncus Park and the Oil Center to the Saint Streets. UL LafayetteӰרs campus sits right on the bullseye. Although Lafayette has shied away from calling itself a college town, embracing this identity could be the key to its future success.
ӰרItӰרs just intertwined with who we are as a people,Ӱר said Boulet. ӰרWeӰרre not Lafayette without the Ӱר, and the Ӱר is not UL without Lafayette. We feed into each other in so many different ways, but thereӰרs so much more potential to take it to another level.Ӱר
BouletӰרs administration has launched a series of initiatives she describes as part branding campaign and part kitchen renovation. For those wondering, the primary ӰרkitchenӰר in question is Johnston Street, one of LafayetteӰרs busiest thoroughfares that skirts the main campus. BouletӰרs desire to reimagine Johnston was buoyed this spring when the Louisiana Legislature approved $3.5 million in funding for infrastructure upgrades, with an additional $15 million set aside for future work. The funds will enable physical improvements at street level and flood-control measures below. ӰרI see it as weӰרre renovating our old house and growing at the same time,Ӱר said Boulet. ӰרI want our story to be that we have gone through this period of growth, and weӰרve put the right things in place.Ӱר
Johnston Street is key to one of BouletӰרs goals Ӱר strengthening the physical connection between downtown Lafayette and the ӰרӰרs campus. At her 2025 State of the Parish address, Boulet outlined the Ӱר District project, including improved pedestrian access, signage and art installations along Ӱר Avenue. Boulet has ambitions to extend the Louisiana Avenue moniker all the way to South College Drive. This would be a symbolic Ӱר but pivotal Ӱר move, Ӱרso that the Ӱר can sit on the corner of Ӱר and Louisiana,Ӱר she said.
A pilot project on Bertrand Drive, adjacent to the RaginӰר Cajuns Athletic Complex and the new Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium, has garnered support from the community and the Lafayette City Council. In June, council members unanimously approved a key piece of BouletӰרs plan Ӱר a land swap with the state, trading almost 4 miles of Ambassador Caffery Parkway for the critical stretch of Bertrand Drive that connects Cajun Field to Moncus Park. The agreement cleared the way for the city to implement more substantial improvements, such as plans for a 12-foot, tree-lined walking path that will mark the beginnings of an urban trail system. The ultimate goal: to expand the Bertrand Drive connection to UL LafayetteӰרs main campus and downtown Lafayette. Boulet envisions a path safe enough to accommodate all pedestrian traffic, from baby strollers to bicycles.
Building Bridges
This type of quality-of-life investment is critical, said Kevin Blanchard, CEO of Downtown Lafayette Inc., which advocates on behalf of the downtown Lafayette cultural district. ItӰרs a response to what he and Boulet agree is one of biggest questions theyӰרre facing as leaders Ӱר and as parents. Will the children raised in Lafayette choose to grow their own families here?
ӰרWe canӰרt pretend like our kids want to live in the 1970s version of Lafayette, but they donӰרt want to live in Houston either,Ӱר said Blanchard. ӰרThey want to live in a 2025 version of Lafayette, and weӰרve just got to wake up to that.Ӱר
Connecting downtown Lafayette and UL LafayetteӰרs campus has been cited in strategic plans for decades, but Blanchard said this moment feels different. Collaborations between Downtown Lafayette, Lafayette Consolidated Government and the Ӱר have converged with a swell of philanthropic support. A new Downtown-Urban Core Redevelopment Fund at the Community Foundation of Acadiana will help drive this initiative, said Blanchard. He sees this as an opportunity to create the type of pedestrian-friendly Ӱרgreater downtown areaӰר that will attract more people, and businesses, to Lafayette.
ӰרGive students that downtown, urban experience, where they can live that type of life that they see in the cities that are going to be recruiting them,Ӱר said Blanchard. ӰרAnd we donӰרt have to do that by moving the UL campus point two miles away from where it is today and dropping it on top of downtown, right? We just need to make those connections better.Ӱר
Dr. Gretchen LaCombe Vanicor, UL LafayetteӰרs chief sustainability officer, cited a 2023 Quality of Life Survey conducted by the Ӱר in partnership with One Acadiana in which students overwhelmingly identified parks and open green spaces as LafayetteӰרs highest-value amenities. The ability to access these spaces? Not so much.
ӰרOne of the top three barriers that they identified was bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, so thatӰרs a huge challenge,Ӱר said Vanicor. ӰרBut thatӰרs the opportunity Ӱר to connect.Ӱר
UL LafayetteӰרs Office of Sustainability & Community Engagement expanded in 2025 with an added emphasis on building strong partnerships around Acadiana. The team has worked closely with Lafayette Consolidated Government and community groups to improve awareness of pedestrian stumbling blocks, especially around campus entry points from Ӱר Avenue to St. Mary Boulevard. TheyӰרve also increased bicycle accessibility throughout campus. The improvements have resulted in some major wins, including a silver award from the League of American Bicyclists and designation as a Bicycle Friendly Ӱר. The Ӱר is the only school in the state to make the list.
Still, the officeӰרs recent pedestrian surveys show thereӰרs plenty of room for improvement. Vanicor said investments in issues such as pedestrian connectivity and safety help attract students to the Ӱר and help keep young people in the Lafayette region after they graduate.
ӰרWhen you go to a city and you feel safe biking or walking, thatӰרs a place you want to go back to and visit over and over again,Ӱר said Vanicor. ӰרWe cannot build mountains. We canӰרt build a beachfront. But we can improve the infrastructure of our city, not just for our students, but for everyone who lives here.Ӱר
Laws of Attraction
Lafayette is currently the stateӰרs fastest growing parish, according to the census data released in 2025. The region is a bright spot in Louisiana, whose rate of population decline tops national rankings. According to a Pew study of the 15 years from 2009 to 2023, the median population growth rate across the United States was 0.47% per year. LouisianaӰרs rate of growth was less than half of that. Dr. Gary Wagner, who holds the Acadiana Business Economist/BORSF Eminent Scholar Endowed Chair in Economics in the B.I. Moody III College of Business Administration, said although Lafayette is attracting more residents from rural parts of the state, the biggest economic impacts come from retaining homegrown talent and drawing in skilled workers from outside Louisiana.
ӰרThe greatest resource we have is people,Ӱר said Wagner. ӰרReal economic impact is coming from people who are attracted to the region, and theyӰרre spending money here that wouldnӰרt otherwise be spent here.Ӱר
Dr. Michael Martin, head of the Department of History, Geography and Philosophy and former director of the Center for Louisiana Studies, said that historically speaking, as the Ӱר grew, it attracted more students and faculty to the area. ӰרThe Institute, and then later the Ӱר, is a magnet thatӰרs bringing people here,Ӱר said Martin. ӰרWhen you get right down to it, itӰרs those individuals working either singularly or together that are going to have that economic impact.Ӱר
At Big Towns, a two-day, annual summit hosted by The Current, a nonprofit newsroom based in Lafayette, representatives from cities such as Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Grand Rapids, Michigan, gathered in Lafayette to discuss what their cities can do to thrive. One lively session defined a regionӰרs cultural identity as people, plus place, over time. As Lafayette marks significant milestones, such as the 50th anniversary of Festivals Acadien et Créole and the upcoming 40th anniversary of Festival International in 2026, it is clear the regionӰרs particular equation has yielded some outsized results.
Martin said one significant variable has been the critical role the ӰרӰרs faculty, alumni and students played in strengthening LafayetteӰרs cultural identity and exporting it to the world. ӰרPart of diversification around here meant championing local culture,Ӱר said Martin. ӰרThe Ӱר is probably one of the earliest in the nation to fully realize how they could capitalize upon the local culture.Ӱר
And recent figures show that long-term investment, both by the city and the Ӱר, has paid off. The Lafayette Economic Development Authority announced the results of a new study at the State of the Arts Symposium in June that showed the regionӰרs cultural economy is consistently punching above its weight. It revealed an impact increase of nearly 75% since 2016, from $1.49 billion to $2.6 billion. That represents the driving force of everything from visual arts to music festivals and culinary arts.
Boulet said she has been in conversations with cultural leaders, like UL Lafayette Professor Emeritus Dr. Barry Ancelet and Chef Patrick Mould, Lafayette arts and culture advocate, to ensure the strides made generations ago continue to exponentially grow to serve LafayetteӰרs future. She points to the documentary, Roots of Fire, featuring young Cajun and Creole musicians, many of whom studied at UL Lafayette and were educated through the regionӰרs French immersion programs, as an indicator of how cultural investments continue to bear fruit.
ӰרOur cultural arts are really booming,Ӱר said Boulet. ӰרIf we sat down and put that great business plan together for our community, and we had to identify what makes us different from anybody else, it is that culture.Ӱר
New Business
Boulet likes to tell a story about SchoolMint, the software company that moved from Silicon Valley to Lafayette. In 2023, the company completed a renovation of its headquarters on Monroe Street to house 80 Lafayette employees. When she asked the companyӰרs founders why they chose Lafayette, Blanco expected them to say it was because of LFT Fiber, the stateӰרs first fiber network that Lafayette pioneered 20 years ago. (High-speed fiber networks are essential for tech companies that rely on the ability to send and receive large amounts of data very quickly.) SchoolMint responded that they wouldnӰרt have entertained the idea of coming to Lafayette without its fiber network, but Lafayette rose to the top of their list because they, Ӱרreally wanted a fun city.Ӱר
UL Lafayette President Emeritus Dr. Joseph Savoie said the Ӱר is constantly innovating within its academic and research programs to ensure when new businesses arrive on LafayetteӰרs doorstep, no matter the reason, there are skilled professionals ready to join their ranks. Public-private partnerships with companies such as CGI Ӱר which in 2024 celebrated a decade in Lafayette and more than 750 employees Ӱר have resulted in robust mentorship programs and employment opportunities for Ӱר graduates.
ӰרWeӰרre very engaged in efforts to attract and keep businesses here and to customize our offerings so that students are prepared. CGI is a perfect example,Ӱר said Savoie. ӰרTheyӰרll tell you that the deciding factor was the Ӱר being here. It was very similar with First Solar,Ӱר the largest solar panel manufacturer in the Western Hemisphere that announced two years ago that it was building its fifth U.S. manufacturing plant in New Iberia. At $1.1 billion, itӰרs one of the largest, if not the largest, single capital investments in the areaӰרs history. The company will create more than 700 jobs with a total annual payroll of at least $40 million.
In addition to workforce and economic development, First Solar will collaborate with Ӱר researchers in a range of areas, including technology and development; will provide internship opportunities for students; and will utilize Ӱר facilities for testing and training. Savoie added that the ӰרӰרs Health Sciences Campus on West St. Mary Boulevard has the potential to create a similar pipeline in health care, one of the regionӰרs top employment sectors. The 5-acre complex includes two office buildings and parking garages. It also offers 20 acres of vacant land.
Savoie noted that empty expanse is exactly the same size as the original farmland Lafayette set aside for the campus in the late 1800s. He sees that space surrounding the Health Sciences Campus as the next generation of growth for the Ӱר. And just like the original acorns planted by founding President Dr. Edwin Lewis Stephens that grew into the campusӰר iconic oak trees, these investments are all about the long game.
ӰרItӰרs going to take decades for them to grow and become anything, but it was important to get them planted,Ӱר said Savoie.
Afterword: On a warm September evening, a sea of red descends on Parc Sans Souci pavilion in downtown Lafayette. Crowds of students buzz with unmistakable, back-to-school energy. The Pride of AcadianaӰרs horns belt Chappel Roan melodies as the RaginӰר Cajuns Feature Twirlers toss flaming batons into the air beneath a canopy of string lights. Young professionals juggle toddlers on the nearby playground with to-go orders from food trucks and a natural wine shop across the street. RaginӰר Cajuns Downtown Alive! has become more than an annual pep rally or outdoor concert. It is a tangible reminder of the modern-day magic that can happen when the Ӱר and Lafayette come together.
Photo caption: (top) Ragin' Cajuns Downtown Alive! will celebrate its third anniversary on September 5, 2025. Photo credit: Paul Kieu / Ӱר
