Are the rest of you as bummed as me about the arena debate being revived with a downtown arena front and center in the plans? I think there are a lot of outlandish fantasies involving people taking public transportation if it ends up in the railyards. I really liked Cosmo's recent column, in which he spoke to one of the original developers of Arco Arena, Frank McCormack, here's an excerpt:
But he’s tracked the arena follies of the past decade or so, and McCormack isn’t impressed with plans to shoehorn an arena into the old rail yards, or into Cal Expo or Downtown Plaza. He doesn’t understand why the parties don’t just agree to build a new basketball arena next to Arco, on the land that McCormack and friends originally intended for a baseball stadium.
“The city’s got 100 acres there they got from us,” McCormack explained. “All this other stuff, it’s too grandiose.”
Bummed? Bummed?!? How about totally fucking bored out of my mind about the whole thing. (Not with you Beckler, you're a delightful person, btw I do have one of your swimsuits, remember how I keep telling you I do and then not being able to find it and telling you I don't. I really do)
ReplyDeleteAlso I want to know when the Z Gallerie is going in on K St. Yes I do.
jamattack!
I want that swimsuit. I think I know which one it is and I like it. You also have a bunch of my dishes. I think you're just going to have to invite me over soon. That's the only possibility. Or maybe I'll try to have another poker party soon.
ReplyDeleteI think Z Gallerie went out of business. Now there's going to be frozen yogurt mall. Every shop will be a different kind of froyo. Last night riding around town I must have passed at least 4 forlorn and empty frozen yogurt shops.
I think a downtown stadium would be great. I've had a great time in Boston, Denver, San diego etc where they have stadiums in urban areas. Plus taking lightrail to the game is way better (even with a crowd) than paying $10+ for parking.
ReplyDeleteAs long as I can get as many varieties of froyo imginable from the vendors I'm ok with an arena downtown.
ReplyDeletea. Is Fuzio out of business? Closed at lunch on a Thursday.
ReplyDeleteb. Why did Rick's Uptown market lose their lease?
c. If they put the arena downtown, there better be some well thought out traffic solutions because games are going to effect several freeways.
gbomb
Is Rick's Uptown closed?? If so, we should just build the Arena there.
ReplyDelete-miller
They aren't closed yet, but they have signs up that everything is 25% off including beer and liquor. You should get over there, I know how much you like beer.
ReplyDeleteg
Mike R Mike's gonna have to find a new Chinese food spot.
ReplyDelete-miller
I'll miss the smell of broasting and their awesome organic produce selection.
ReplyDeleteLadies night!!
ReplyDeleteAll I know is the new S st. Wallgreens BETTER be open by my next visit.
ReplyDeletePatrone
someone did a big study recently on the neighborhood economic effect of stadiums (stadia?) and found that there really isn't one. a few jobs get created, which is good. but the taxpayers have to pay insane money to get those jobs. and surrounding businesses see almost no increase in traffic, because stadiums are so self-contained with food, drink, schwag, etc. plus, the concessionnaires in the stadium are usually chains that serve stadiums all over the country. so the next time you hear the pro-stadium economic argument, ignore it. the main positive effect of stadiums is just to increase the visibility of a city on the national stage.
ReplyDeleteSupposedly this will only create around 250 long-term jobs. The high job numbers being thrown around (4,000 plus) are mainly construction jobs for building the place. I hope W Burg doesn't mind me quoting him here but he posted this on Sac Press & it made me laugh:
ReplyDelete"An arena would mean hundreds of millions of dollars for local construction firms, which is, I'm sure, a major reason why the Metro Chamber likes it so much. In terms of long-term jobs, we might be better off picking a random 250 Sacramentans and paying them $100,000 a year for the rest of their lives."
-miller
While I think an arena downtown is not a wise idea, the 4,000 construction jobs it supplies will still mean 4,000 people getting a paycheck. Naturally th emoney could be spent more productivly to create more jobs. But 4,000 people working, even for a few months, is still someone getting a paycheck. (Warning ad-hominem argument to follow)The temporary job argument has been used by conservatives for years to fight construction/stimulus projects.
ReplyDeleteIt's blue and pink. It is a nice suit. Let's have a poker party at my house. For those of us who don't have one of those sweet arena jobs lined up.
ReplyDeletejamattack!
Not saying that's a bad thing at all - but when job creation is one of the main arguments for building a new arena, I think it's valid to point out that most of the jobs are temporary.
ReplyDeleteA cheap shot about how it's a "conservative" argument doesn't change the fact that I'm not going to just support whatever half-baked construction project gets suggested simply because it will create construction jobs. Why don't we show Dubai a thing or two & build the new World's Tallest Bulding on K Street? Thousands of jobs!
-miller
We should build the tallest building in the world out of material that disintegrates in the rain, then the job will never stop! Endless construction. How many jobs would be created by filling in Ground Zero West over on I st?
ReplyDeleteRecession over!
ReplyDelete-miller
Anyone accusing me of being a conservative will be ruthlessly whipped with my NRA membership card!
ReplyDelete--mister conservative
PS: I'm generally all for public works projects, but there are ones that result in a lot more return on investment. Public transit infrastructure, for starters, which would also drive density and reduce vehicle trips.