Quote:
Originally Posted by Dcbrickley
Do you really think traffic will be that much worse for an arena, than if it is developed as South Shore?.....seems to me, no matter what is developed in this spot, it will bring significant traffic with it.
I say, bring it on......just do it well.
|
Yes, because right now in all of downtown, the residential population is only about 10,000 or so. Any new arena would have seating somewhere on the order of 20,000 to 25,000 people. 10,000 people living downtown come and go at all hours of the day, but an arena would be a one two punch of 20,000 to 25,000 arriving and leaving at once.
I'm rarely around the DKR Stadium to know what the traffic is like there, let alone when games are happening, but the stadium has the added benefit of not really being in a neighborhood. It also has I-35 pretty close by to help with the traffic flow and "escape routes". South Congress on the other hand is nothing like I-35. Even with a bridge across the river, you'd still be funneling traffic onto Cesar Chavez and then onto I-35.
I also cringe a little about sports venues since they're expensive and become quickly outdated and never seem to be planned very well. They're almost always built on a bet that you'll see any sort of return on them. They really are a "build it and they will come" type of development. Plus, sports franchises hold cities hostage for a ransom on funding their next stadium or upgrade to their existing one. I suppose they're a necessary evil, but I've never been a fan (literally).