Coverage of a Jefferson Parish Council meeting about zoning changes to the Fat City neighborhood to make it a mixed-use community equate New Urbanism with earlier closing times for local bars.
The introductory sentence sets up the confusion:
"The Jefferson Parish Council today unanimously passed the massive ordinance overhauling Fat City, including the much-debated earlier closing times for bars, introducing the popular national movement of New Urbanism for the first time in the parish."
Admittedly, the conflict is understandable: a strip of bars and clubs that have traditionally been a nightlife area are concerned that moving residents in will create unwanted tensions. But a surprising number of people in this article fixate on the closing times and equate that with the planning department's strategies:
"The plan envisions a gradual transformation of Fat City from a languishing former nightlife district into a pedestrian-friendly destination for shoppers, diners, families and condominium residents, modeled on classic, Main Street city designs."
Read the full story: Jefferson Parish Council passes massive, controversial overhaul of Fat City
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