growing up and living as i have my entire life in the inner city of baton rouge, i remember a time when baton rouge was a real community, not just a random collection of people seemingly without much in common. it was a place where neighbors knew one another and were involved in each other’s lives.
my parents never locked our doors when we were away, because our neighbors might need to get in to borrow something! parents were involved in the neighborhood schools, and store owners knew the names of their customers. kids rode the bus downtown by themselves, and any grown up on the street would take charge of 