In Miami, David Beckham Has Wrought America’s Best Stadium Deal

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by NorthernDancer

Do cities in Florida not have laws against parking on your lawn? That's the kind of thing you expect to see in a small rural town somewhere. Not in a major metro area.

I assume with the Orange Bowl, the parking situation was a tradition dating back to a time before cities got so damn nosey. The Orange Bowl site was (relatively) tight and Little Havana is pretty tightly packed with homes and businesses, no room to expand.

Anyway, you see this kind of thing all the time in college towns. The university can't possibly provide parking for the tens (or hundreds) of thousands of fans who converge on the campus for games, and the stadiums tend be located on historic campuses or in residential neighborhoods, so townspeople often rent out driveway or yard space for parking. Wrigley Field is a similar situation.

The only reason you don't see it more is because almost every professional stadium is either A) in a suburb with wide roads and massive parking lots, or B) is downtown and close to transit lines and big parking garages. Not many stadiums end up in mid-city, neighborhood type locations on tight sites.

I don't see too many families making that walk.

It seems like an interesting neighborhood, with luxury condo buildings side by side with rundown homes. Redevelopment along 7th Ave NW between the Metro station and the stadium doesn't seem impossible.

[NorthernDancer]

There's nothing "nosey" about outlawing parking on lawns to ensure the neighbourhood doesn't end up looking like some trashy glorified trailer park.

[KeanWaterBottle]

Breaking news, but he is Beckham.

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by mhays

It's easier in a bigger and richer city. Land prices and construction costs will generally be higher, but naming rights, luxury box sales, season ticket sales, broadcast deals, shirt sales, etc., tend to be much better. Depending on the league and local arrangments, a large percentage of that can flow to the team directly.

Seattle's potential rebuild of Key Arena is also privately financed. But they'd start with the existing Key Arena roof and land...saving the roof probably costs way more than it saves, but I'd guesstimate the land would be worth in the low six figures. The mayor appears to prefer this over a proposal to use private land but require public financial help and a street vacation, with a location by the stadiums south of Downtown.

Golden State Warriors fans . . . are plunking down as much as $2.25 million for high-end suites at the team's under-construction Chase Center arena.

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfranci...844&j=78390091

[McBane]

I applaud Mr. Beckham but the problem is that FL is not the right market for such a transit oriented development.

Everyone thinks that building a downtown stadium can instantly create a Fenway Park or Wrigley Field type experience. The difference is that taking the train to the stadium in Boston, Chicago, and the Bronx too is well ingrained in the local culture. To quote those Geico commercials, "it's what you do."

Really, in America with very few exceptions, those with a car tend to only opt for transit when commuting to work. In Philadelphia, we have a convention center right in the heart of center city and connected to a major train station - that doesn't stop the masses from driving.

I'm skeptical.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by McBane

Really, in America with very few exceptions, those with a car tend to only opt for transit when commuting to work. In Philadelphia, we have a convention center right in the heart of center city and connected to a major train station - that doesn't stop the masses from driving.

I'm skeptical.

I stay at the Philly Marriott four times a year for seasonal conferences, which is directly connected to Septa train lines, the subway, and the airport line. Nonetheless, fellow conference participants look at me like I have two heads if I suggest taking the train to our destination. It's Uber or nothing.

Granted, maybe business travel is different because time matters and no one is actually paying, but I still feel that PT is almost viewed as some alien thing to average Americans.

Also, God forbid walking. A colleague and I walked one pleasant evening from the Marriott to Pats/Genos and people were audibly shocked. I don't even think it was a two mile walk.

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by Crawford

fellow conference participants look at me like I have two heads if I suggest taking the train to our destination. It's Uber or nothing.

Lyft and Uber drivers generate 20 percent of miles driven on SF streets
BY ADAM BRINKLOW JUN 13, 2017, 9:30AM PDT

- Rideshares are 15 percent of all trips taken on an average weekday: They average about 170,000 pickups.

- That’s about nine percent of all “person trips”: Although nobody counted the passengers and this is an estimate based on typical taxi behavior.

- Nobody is really sure how many Uber and Lyft drivers the city has: But the city estimates that it’s around 45,000, about 12.6 percent of whom are active most days: Some 5,700 of those drivers are on San Francisco streets during the busiest hours.

- These drivers account for 20 percent of miles driven on SF streets: Some 570,000 miles on an average weekday . . . .

https://sf.curbed.com/2017/6/13/1579...port-uber-lyft

The thing is, Uber and Lyft are inexpensive (compared to taxis anyway) and convenient. PT is too often hyper-crowded (so somebody's using it) and unpleasant (unless you enjoy sitting next to a homeless person who hasn't bathed in weeks or refereeing a gang fight). I actually do use PT a lot but people often ask me why and it's getting harder to answer.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by Pedestrian

https://sf.curbed.com/2017/6/13/1579...port-uber-lyft

The thing is, Uber and Lyft are inexpensive (compared to taxis anyway) and convenient. PT is too often hyper-crowded (so somebody's using it) and unpleasant (unless you enjoy sitting next to a homeless person who hasn't bathed in weeks or refereeing a gang fight).

I use Uber a lot too, but I've had plenty of bad rideshare experiences. Stinky drivers, cigarette smell infecting your clothes, unsafe driving.

At least with PT I can leave an annoyance like a stinky homeless dude. And, in Manhattan at least, PT is faster during daytime.

[bobdreamz]

Originally Posted by NorthernDancer

Do cities in Florida not have laws against parking on your lawn? That's the kind of thing you expect to see in a small rural town somewhere. Not in a major metro area.



I don't see too many families making that walk.

Parking on lawns was when the Orange Bowl existed. Now that it has been razed & replaced with the Marlins baseball park with new garages on site that is no longer a issue.

As for making that walk from the nearest Metrorail station to the proposed soccer stadium it will only be 3/4 of a mile trek and there probably will be shuttle trolley & buses as well on game days.

[bobdreamz]

Originally Posted by McBane

I applaud Mr. Beckham but the problem is that FL is not the right market for such a transit oriented development.

Everyone thinks that building a downtown stadium can instantly create a Fenway Park or Wrigley Field type experience. The difference is that taking the train to the stadium in Boston, Chicago, and the Bronx too is well ingrained in the local culture. To quote those Geico commercials, "it's what you do."

Really, in America with very few exceptions, those with a car tend to only opt for transit when commuting to work. In Philadelphia, we have a convention center right in the heart of center city and connected to a major train station - that doesn't stop the masses from driving.

I'm skeptical.

As I stated above people have walked from the Metrorail station (opened in 1985) to the Orange Bowl for games which was more than a mile away then so why wouldn't it work now?
Besides there are parking garages downtown & near the Marlins ballpark that are connected to Metrorail and by then there will be the Brightline / Tri-Rail Miami Central station that fans can just ride the train to the soccer station in minutes.

[picard]

Originally Posted by Crawford

I an annoyance like a stinky homeless dude.

Nice liberal sensibilities you got there. The world can be a strange place, a place where republican voters spend nights working in soup kitchens and night shelters. And card carrying liberal democrat voters, carefully stepping over the undesirable homeless riff raff, trying not to spill their skinny latte all over their copy of the guardian. I hope the poor vagrant didnt smell too bad and ruin your leisurely stroll through the park, wistfully listenting to the birds tweat as the leaves flutter in the wind

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by picard

Nice liberal sensibilities you got there.

What does a guy stinking have to do with whether or not I'm "liberal"?

Absolutely bizarre. My baby just did a big gross poop this afternoon. Did my gagging while cleaning him make me "liberal" or "conservative"?

[mhays]

Based on studies, one of the traits of liberals is willingness or enthusiasm for living around different kinds of people. With conservatives the trait is the opposite. It's a pretty bizarre claim.