Quote:
Originally Posted by GlassCity
Fair enough, I thought you were ignoring costs. Relative to how much they cost, yeah, watching at home on the TV has never looked better.
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When I read your first comment about this it's immediately the logistics of attending a game that jumped out at me.
You talked about someone from the Fraser Valley coming into town for a weeknight game. Imagine if you live in the Fraser Valley and work in Burnaby or Richmond, and you have to go back home before the game. Sure the easy solution is to stay in town after work but not everybody has that luxury. Especially people who have young kids. And what if you want to take your kids to the game? What a concept.
That's where it really becomes clear how our transportation networks have not kept pace. I know our cities have grown but it was far easier for people to get around our cities and metros even 20 years ago, and that's because transportation infrastructure has not kept pace at all with population growth. Not even close.
I don't think there is any city in Canada where it's gotten easier to come downtown (in off-peak periods) for any type of event (sports, culture, entertainment, etc.) Everywhere in the country it's become a big pain in the ass.
Downtown in most large Canadian cities is still vibrant and a "place to play". In some cases more than ever. But that's because of the strong growth of downtown residential markets.
But my sense is that the average suburbanite or exurbanite comes downtown less than before, likely due to logistical challenges, and of course increased offerings outside of city cores.
If we want our cities to reach the next level of vibrancy, we are going to need to make it easier for people from the burbs and exurbs to come there to have fun.