Woo boy. A lot. (Sorry CajunGal)
1. NOTHING to do. I couldn't figure out what all these people in this reasonably large town did for fun at first. Then I realized they all hang out with family. Family this, family that. If you're not from here, there's nothing to do. There are like 5 last names in this town, and they're like exclusive little clubs. Sure, there's Mardi Gras and the Cajun culture stuff, but you burn through that fairly quickly. I had a friend here from Scotland who eventually quit his job and moved back. He described Lafayette as "one giant suburb". An excellent description, leading to...
2. NO NATURE. I'm an outdoorsy kind of guy. Due to the small amount of livable land in south louisiana, you can get pretty far out of town, and the houses are still close together. They have these weird narrow lots that have some decent amount of land to them, but because there's one major road through an area, they're long and thin lots. YOu could own 2 acres, but still be butted up on both sides, with a really long backyard.
3. OCEAN TEASE. The ocean is technically only about 22 miles away. I know this because I've measured it on a map. You can't drive there though, because it's all delta mud (see number 2). No, to get to the ocean, you have to drive at least an hour away. To get to a decent beach, expect to drive 3-4 hours.
4. NO PRIDE IN WORK. This is actually an epidemic in this country as a whole. But this city must be patient zero. They have it bad. At first, I thought I was just getting bad people, but it's gone beyond coincidence. Store clerks, waiters, nurses...they all can't be bothered to do their jobs. If you push them, you get an audible sigh, and then they move like they're encased in cold maple syrup.
5. CRAPPY CITY PLANNING (NO ZONING, NO ROADWORK). I have never seen a place so poorly zoned. There are HOUSES in the middle of Girard Park--a big park near this campus. At first I thought they were maintenance buildings, but no--they're houses. There are houses intermingled on the main business corridor. The roads, even the ones in the fancy neighborhoods, haven't been paved in years. When we asked visiting congressmen about it, they gave some well-rehearsed speech about the geology of the are to me--a geology professor. While partly true, it's also clear the roads haven't been resurfaced in many areas since they were built. Oh and about the fancy neighborhoods:
6. UNCOMFORTABLE DICHOTOMY OF WEALTH. Despite all of this, there are a LOT of rich people living here. There are neighborhoods full of mansions. Why? This is the heart of gulf oil country. Unfortunately, there are also a lot of poor people living here. But thanks to the top heaviness, everything costs a lot here. Real estate is almost as much as it was in Boston. But then I get paid according to state rates, which are averaged over the whole state.
Anyway, that's a short list of what I don't like about this town.
