There's a lot of good things that come to mind when you think about Lafayette. We obviously have the best people in the whole world. We're generous with our time and our resources, especially when it comes to natural disasters. We help our neighbors out without having to be asked to do so. We have an enormous amount of delicious food in the Acadiana area, which we love to eat and share. We have the most unique cultural festivals of just about any place in the state of Louisiana. And of course, we've been honored to say that we have officially been recognized as the Happiest City in America!

We live in a pretty great place, for sure. But a quick check on YouTube to see what some of the most viewed videos about our city are has us kind of....surprised. Check out some of the top contenders below with their views (so far) and a couple of my own personal faves.

"Live PD" in Lafayette - 11,826,673 views

"Live PD" was a show on the A&E Network that ran from 2016-2020, and for the last year of it's run featured police from Lafayette. It caused quite the sensation around here, and was actually way more humorous than it probably was intended to be. My favorite episode happened on Mardi Gras, and you can see highlights of the Lafayette segments in the video above.

 Lafayette, The Hub City - The Documentary - 48,738 views

This cool documentary from Motu Pictures has garnered some pretty impressive credentials. Awards include Best Ethnographic Documentary 2018 - Alive Documentary Film Festival - Los Angeles, Best Documentary Short Film 2018 - South Film and Arts Academy Festival - Rancagua, Chile, Official Selection 2019 - Cinema On The Bayou Film Festival - Lafayette, and Official Selection 2019 - Clean Shorts Film Festival - Oklahoma City. Definitely worth watching, y'all.

 

Lafayette Louisiana Hoods - 48,803 views

 
 I found this video quite fascinating, and apparently I wasn't the only one. It was uploaded by Charliebo313 in June, 2021, and it gives us a pretty cool tour of nothing but Lafayette neighborhoods. No commentary, just car views of parts of our beautiful city. And it got a ton of views. Who knew??

 

WWE asks: What was up with the Lafayette, Louisiana crowd? -155,856 views

Pat McAfee from the WWE really touched a nerve when he suggested that folks in Lafayette's Cajundome were 'Not part of the WWE Universe" back at a Monday Night Raw event in February 2019. He implied that the crowd was "subdued", but suggested that perhaps Lafayette would step up to the plate if WWE would ever come back for a return show in cajun country. But was the audience the only ones to blame? Lots of people said no, that the wrestling entertainment was possibly getting a little "stale".

 

Warrant Live at the Cajundome, 1991-192,118 views

The rock band Warrant made a stop at the Cajundome on their 1991 "Blood, Sweat and Beers" tour, and it was a really, really fun show. Trixter and Firehouse also performed on the September 14th concert. I love seeing the back stage area of the Cajundome in the video, but there is some NSFW language, so beware. This is especially poignant for Warrant fans who were at the show, since lead singer Janie Lane passed away in 2011 of alcohol poisoning.

 

Plane Crash kills five in Lafayette in 2019 - 71,773 views

We all remember the horrible day when a twin-engine plane crashed near the US Post Office on Verot School Rd in December 2019. Five people were killed, there was one survivor, and one person on the ground who was severely injured. Our hearts were broken. And some of us knew folks who lost their lives that day while on their way to a Louisiana State University football playoff game in Atlanta. CBS correspondent and Lafayette native David Begnaud reported on the story for CBS News.

 

Time lapse of home flooding in the 2016 Lafayette flood - 549,747 views

This footage is courtesy of the Acadiana Flood Message Board. Higher Ground is the largest flood survivor organization in the U.S.and is an initiative of the nonprofit, Anthropocene Alliance. Just watching the anxiety of the cat inside the house gives me such uneasiness. And even though this is not as visual as some of those gushing water videos we see every year during hurricane season, it is still upsetting to see the slow damage to someone's home right here in Lafayette.

 

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