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Lafayette, Louisiana
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Lafayette is a city in and the parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the Vermilion River. The population was 110,257 at the 2000 census; a 2007 census estimate put the metropolitan area's population at 256,494. It is the fourth largest city in the state. It is the larger principal city of the Lafayette-Acadiana, LA Combined Statistical Area, which, in 2007, had an estimated total population of 538,470.
The city was founded as Vermilionville in 1821 by a French-speaking Acadian named Jean Mouton.
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Encyclopedia
Lafayette is a city in and the parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the Vermilion River. The population was 110,257 at the 2000 census; a 2007 census estimate put the metropolitan area's population at 256,494. It is the fourth largest city in the state. It is the larger principal city of the Lafayette-Acadiana, LA Combined Statistical Area, which, in 2007, had an estimated total population of 538,470.
The city was founded as Vermilionville in 1821 by a French-speaking Acadian named Jean Mouton. In 1884, it was renamed for General Lafayette, a French military hero who fought with and significantly aided the American Army during the American Revolutionary War. The city's economy was primarily based on agriculture until the 1940s, when the petroleum and natural gas industry became dominant.
Lafayette has a strong tourism industry, attracted by the Cajun and Creole cultures of the surrounding region. Because of the Cajun culture's affinity for good food, it has one of the highest numbers of restaurants per capita of any U.S. city.
Geography
Lafayette is located at (30.213901, -92.029363) and has an elevation of .
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 47.7 square miles (123.5 kmē), of which, 47.6 square miles (123.3 kmē) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.2 kmē) of it (0.19%) is water.
The Vermilion River runs through the center of Lafayette. Other significant waterways in the city are Isaac Verot Coulee, Coulee Mine, Coulee des Poches and Coulee Ile des Cannes, which are natural drainage canals that lead to the Vermilion River.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 110,257 people, 43,506 households, and 27,104 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,316.7 people per square mile (894.5/kmē). There were 46,865 housing units at an average density of 984.7/sq mi (380.2/kmē). The racial makeup of the city was 68.23% White, 28.51% African American, 0.25% Native American, 1.44% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.58% from other races, and 0.97% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.88% of the population.
There were 43,506 households out of which 31.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.9% were married couples living together, 14.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.7% were non-families. Nearly 29.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 3.07.
In the city the population was spread out with 25.1% under the age of 18, 13.3% from 18 to 24, 29.5% from 25 to 44, 20.9% from 45 to 64, and 11.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 93.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.9 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $35,996, and the median income for a family was $47,783. Males had a median income of $37,729 versus $23,606 for females. The per capita income for the city was $21,031. About 11.6% of families and 16.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.3% of those under age 18 and 14.5% of those age 65 or over.
Also, the population of the Lafayette area has increased in recent years since Hurricane Katrina. Many refugees from the Greater New Orleans either have permanently relocated to Lafayette or have stayed there for a prolonged period of time.
Education
Public Schools
Private Schools
- Westminster Christian Academy
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- Academy of the Sacred Heart (not in Lafayette Parish but most students are Lafayette residents)
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- St. Thomas More School
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- Episcopal School of Acadiana
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- Holy Family Catholic School
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University and colleges
Public Library System
Health and medicine
Lafayette is served by the following hospitals.
- - 1214 Coolidge Street
- - 1000 West Pinhook Road
- - 1101 Kaliste Saloom Road
- - 2390 West Congress Street
- - 4600 Ambassador Caffery Parkway
- - 2810 Ambassador Caffery Parkway
- - 611 Saint Landry Street
Lafayette is also the Home Office of (a nation-wide home health, hospice, and long-term acute care provider with over 230 locations in 16 states) - 420 West Pinhook Road.
Sports
Lafayette is home to the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns, the athletic teams of The University of Louisiana at Lafayette. It is also home to the semi-pro football program which started in 2003. It is home to the Louisiana Hurricanes, a semi-pro football team that plays at STM stadium. Check them out at www.lafayettehurricanes.com Between the years of 1995 and 2005, Lafayette was home to the Louisiana IceGators ECHL hockey team. In 2009 it will be home to the Acadiana Mudbugs of the Southern Indoor Football League. Lafayette is home to three large sports venues: the Cajundome, Cajun Field and Blackham Coliseum.
Military
Lafayette is the home of the National Guard headquarters of the 256th Infantry Brigade, a military unit of over 3,000 soldiers that served in Iraq in the years of 2004-2005.
Lafayette is also home to the United States Marine Corps Reserve Unit, D. Co. AT Battalion. This unit has been on several deployments and currently have assets in Iraq.
Government and politics
Since the consolidation of city and parish governments, Lafayette has had a city-parish president as its chief executive, rather than a mayor as it had previously. The current Republican city-parish president is Joey Durel.
See also Notable local politicians
Lafayette is also home to a branch of the AmeriCorps State program (http://www.americorps.org/). UL AmeriCorps is associated with the University of Louisiana and employs about 40 students who perform either 900 or 400 hours of community service in 11 months. (http://americorps.louisiana.edu/)
Media
Print
Television
Lafayette is home to KATC-TV, Channel 3, an (ABC) affiliate, KLFY-TV Channel 10 (CBS), KADN-TV, Channel 15 (Fox), and KLWB, Channel 50 (CW). KPLC-TV, Channel 7 and WVLA, Channel 33, are NBC affiliates, located in nearby Lake Charles and Baton Rouge, respectively, but serve Lafayette as well.
Radio
Points of interest
- Acadian Village is a reconstructed Cajun bayou community (of moved and reassembled authentic buildings) and has a representative collection of Cajun furnishings.
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- Alexandre Mouton House Museum was home to Louisiana's first Democratic governor, Alexandre Mouton, who once lived in this antebellum town house. It is now a museum and contain collection of antiques, historical documents, and old mardi gras costumes.
- Cajundome, home to the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns basketball teams, serves as a convention space.
- Cajun Field also nicknamed "the Swamp" is home to the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns football team.
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- Cypress Lake
- A performing arts center.
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- has 65 shops under one roof, offering everything from fine French antiques to fine art by regional artists.
- is a combination museum and planetarium, which houses over 1,000 paintings, prints and sculpture of Louisiana artists and regularly changing exhibits and planetarium programs.
- is a state-of-the-art resource center encompassing the world's first six-sided, digital virtual reality cube as well as the world's largest digital 3-D auditorium.
- Mall of Acadiana - Contains a Dillards, Sears, JCPenny, Macy's, and over 120 specialty stores and services.
- has a Permanent Collection consisting of more than 2000 works of art, including paintings, prints, drawings, sculpture, and photographs that represent 18th, 19th and 20th century Louisiana, in addition to works from around the world.
- University of Louisiana at Lafayette
- National Wetlands Research Center is a research facility operated by the U.S. Geological Survey that focuses on estuarine, marine, and freshwater wetlands.
- is a reconstruction of a Cajun-Creole settlement from the 1765-to-1890 era
- is located nearby in Broussard.
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Events
Retail and Shopping
Lafayette serves as the retail and shopping hub of the Acadiana area, serving an eight parish area. The seat of this retail is the Mall of Acadiana. The mall features department stores Macy's, Dillards, JC Penney, and Sears. It also includes over 100 specialty stores, such as Express, Abercrombie & Fitch, American Eagle Outfitters, Talbots, Chico's, Nine West, and Coldwater Creek. Other retailers/stores that have recently located in Lafayette include Kohl's, Incredible Pizza Co., and Plato's Closet. Academy Sports and Outdoors recently built a new building for its Lafayette location to become one of the largest stores in the Academy chain.
More specialty boutique shopping can be found in areas such as the Oil Center.
Transportation
Lafayette is also served by U.S. Routes 90 (known as the Evangeline Thruway for part of its route) and 167 (also known as Johnston Street). Ambassador Caffery Parkway, named for Jefferson Caffery, serves as a partially completed loop around Lafayette. Other arterial roads serving Lafayette include Verot School Road (LA 339), Congress Street, Kaliste Saloom Road (LA 3095), Carmel Dr. (LA 94), University Avenue (LA 182), and Pinhook Road (LA 182).
See also
External links
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