Residents in Baton Rouge neighborhood feel community has been abandoned

BATON ROUGE - Residents in a south Baton Rouge neighborhood want the city to take a stronger stance against abandoned properties.

The Old South Baton Rouge neighborhood lies south of the I-10 but north of LSU.

Buckled pavement, an abandoned school, overgrown homes and traffic signs covered with grass and wild weeds reaching onto I-10 have left residents frustrated.

"Everybody wants to act like this is normal, like it's okay, but it’s not okay," resident Charles Jones said. "Somebody needs to say something."

For both Jones and Judy Bethly, the neighborhood they grew up in is no longer the same.

"You had children outside playing, and the streets weren’t torn up like this," Bethly said. "The high grass and overgrowth of trees, you know, it’s chaotic back here now."

Jones said his mother