Building a new baseball stadium

[RoughRiders9]

Hey, I'm just wondering, what are your opinions on where to build a new stadium? I'm going to list two choices, and you pick which one you think is the best and why.

In The City

PROS: Easy access, Skylines in the background, More Fun, Wacky Dimensions

CONS: Limited space, Not a lot of parking,

Out in the Country (more of suburbs)

PROS: More space, more parking, Boring dimensions

CONS: Long way to get to the stadium, boring background

What do you think?

[TBGKon]

Hey, I'm just wondering, what are your opinions on where to build a new stadium? I'm going to list two choices, and you pick which one you think is the best and why.

In The City

PROS: Easy access, Skylines in the background, More Fun, Wacky Dimensions

CONS: Limited space, Not a lot of parking,

Out in the Country (more of suburbs)

PROS: More space, more parking, Boring dimensions

CONS: Long way to get to the stadium, boring background

What do you think?

Personally I think it depends on the location itself. If the city has a signature location to focus on, a downtown one is great, otherwise the burbs is probably a good call. And just because it's in the burbs, doesnt mean it can't have quirky dimensions, look at Citizens Bank Park in Philly, its in a sports complex, but has an asymmetrical design.

[BBTV]

Hey, I'm just wondering, what are your opinions on where to build a new stadium? I'm going to list two choices, and you pick which one you think is the best and why.

In The City

PROS: Easy access, Skylines in the background, More Fun, Wacky Dimensions

CONS: Limited space, Not a lot of parking,

Out in the Country (more of suburbs)

PROS: More space, more parking, Boring dimensions

CONS: Long way to get to the stadium, boring background

What do you think?

Personally I think it depends on the location itself. If the city has a signature location to focus on, a downtown one is great, otherwise the burbs is probably a good call. And just because it's in the burbs, doesnt mean it can't have quirky dimensions, look at Citizens Bank Park in Philly, its in a sports complex, but has an asymmetrical design.

The fact that it is in the Sports Complex makes that asymmetrical design too contrived for my tastes. The other reason why I would pick "In the City" is because you're within walking distance to more places to go and things to do, and if you work in the city, you can easily go to a game after work. The Sports Complex in Phila. sucks, because it might as well be on another planet from Center City.

Now all of this is different for football, where it is more of a day-long event centered around tailgating and partying. I'd vote "Country" for that (with the caveat that a sports complex counts as suburbs even though it is technically in the city.)

[BrySmalls]

hockey/baseball/basketball - in the city; skylines aside, having easy access transportation to and from the game as well as giving fans the option to go to bars/restaurants/home/etc afterwards cant be beat.

football/soccer - away from the city; more room and space to tailgate. lets face it, fans come prepared to spend hours outside mingling and having a good time before the game.

[Breakwood]

Always in the city. The easiest access for the largest number of people. I'm assuming most cities with a major pro sports teams would have some sort of public transportation that would make it easy to reach the stadium.

[crashcarson15]

I say in the city unless you're in a bad part of town. Yes I'm talking about RFK. Of course, the people with the money live in the suburbs. But the issue with that is let's say someone lives south of the city and the suburbs they build the stadium in is on the north side of the city. That's an issue unless your suburbs are all on one side of the city. Then it could work.

[crashcarson15]

Always in the city. The easiest access for the largest number of people. I'm assuming most cities with a major pro sports teams would have some sort of public transportation that would make it easy to reach the stadium.

Of course, we don't have it in Indianapolis (unless you count the buses...)

[GeorgesL]

Hey, I'm just wondering, what are your opinions on where to build a new stadium? I'm going to list two choices, and you pick which one you think is the best and why.

In The City

PROS: Easy access, Skylines in the background, More Fun, Wacky Dimensions

CONS: Limited space, Not a lot of parking,

Out in the Country (more of suburbs)

PROS: More space, more parking, Boring dimensions

CONS: Long way to get to the stadium, boring background

What do you think?

I have become a big fan of the baseball stadiums in the city. They are becoming more and more popular, simply because of the location, easy access, beautiful scenery of the city, like you mentioned.

[winghaz]

It really depends on the city.

The suburbs, for example, have been wonderful for Kansas City. And the Texas Rangers really do belong somewhere between Dallas and Fort Worth, not in one of the cities.

In some cities, a stadium is ideal on a waterfront or river, such as San Francisco, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. I wish the new Twins Stadium was being built along the Mississippi, but oh well.

Like I said, it all depends.

[illwauk]

Always in the city. Nothing significant that's supposed to represent the entire metro area should ever be in the burbs.

The only exception are metro areas that don't have a clear "main" city (Bay Area of Cali, Tidewater area of Virginia, etc.)

[B-Rich]

In the city, without a doubt. And by that, I don't just mean within the city limits, I mean in (or on the edge of) downtown. Downtowns are already designed to handle influx and outflow of daily commuters in much larger numbers than game crowds, while suburban roads, no matter how close they are to "freeways", are not. Downtowns usually take the influx via several different routes (north,south, east, west) and several different ways (freeways, surface streets, transit).

That goes for all venues for me... and when people start talking about NFL football stadiums being better in the 'burbs, with more room for "tailgating all day", I just don't get it. I'm a collegiate tailgater (LSU) who like many others gets to a tailgate site on a beautiful wooded campus in the morning sometime before noon, eats and parties all afternoon, then goes to the game for usually 6:30 or 7:00. Unless you have the rare 3:00 NFL kickoff, I don't see how you are "tailgating all day" for a noon (1 PM eastern) kickoff. Maybe you start drinking at 6 or 7 AM (again, something I don't get, particularly on a Sunday morning), eat brats, ribs or burgers for breakfast in the open concrete wasteland of a parking lot, go see a game, then come back out for more. I just don't get that scene....

Maybe it's growing up with the Superdome, but to me PRO football is a more urban experience, like going to a MLB baseball game or NBA game-- go downtown, park on-street or maybe even take transit (streetcar, light rail), stop at a few downtown bar-type spots along the way-- many with outdoor activities such as a D.J. or outdoor beer/burger sales and run into people you know, etc.

I'll end with just a brief comparison of some of my location experiences nationwide:

MLB games in Angel Stadium, Dodger Stadium, Tropicana Field, Astrodome, old Candlestick-- Horrible day of game experience. Big facilities surrounded by a big parking lot. Drive there in massive traffic jam, park, go to game, drive out in massive traffic jam.

compare with:

MLB games in Petco, Safeco, Chase Field-- Neat experiences. Walked from hotel, or parked downtown on street or in garage; little traffic. Walk a block or two to game seeing people, sights, etc. Stop at bar for a beer, or at a shop (Ebbets Field in Seattle). Street vendors. Great views from stadia as well.

Enron (now Minute Maid) in 2000-- Pretends to be like above three, but downtown Houston had NOTHING but bums and suspicious characters after dark.... what a waste.

Ravens game in old Memorial Stadium-- actually one of the best "suburban" experiences I had. The Stadium and its parking was more or less in a beautiful park-like environment, and arriving by chartered school bus we didn't have to get there too early... tailgated from about 11 to 1, but of course were caught in traffic mess leaving....

NFL games in RFK Stadium, Georgia Dome: Take rail transit to games, with direct stop at stadium. Spend all your money there (owners like that option)

NBA, NHL games in Omni (Atlanta), Reunion Arena (Dallas), HemisFair Arena and Alamodome (San Antonio), and New Orleans Arena. Head downtown after work, or already downtown after work... often remaining suit-and-tied-- stop at bars or restaurants along the way for happy hour pre-game beers and bar food... go to game, go to clubs/bars downtown afterwards... great fun.

compare with:

Capitals game in the old Capital Centre-- a suburban ARENA on the freeway loop.... ugggh.

[The_Admiral]

What about an urban park with symmetrical dimensions? That's what I wish the new DC park would've used: nice soft rolling curves instead of haphazard jagged outfield walls. In spite of all the acclaimed neo-retros, Kauffman Stadium is becoming one of my favorite parks. It's unique.

[maz]

In the city. Example of a good one?

/homerism

..........just be prepaired to be wierded out by the akward deadness downtown Pittsburgh has late at night during the summer.

[The_Admiral]

Pittsburgh is such an architecturally unique city. I want to visit this summer if I have the wherewithal.

[illwauk]

Does it still qualify as homerism when the park in question really does have the best skyline view?

As a fan of the team that plays in what consistently gets ranked the best of the neo-retro parks, I'm envious of PNC (and whatever the Giants park is called this week for that matter).

[MadmanLA]

Count me in as one of the people who prefer an urban location for stadiums (and arenas). Of course, like some of you guys stated, it depends on the particular city. In a few cities (Cleveland and Baltimore being examples), new stadiums have revitalized downtown areas, and moreover...the cities themselves. Since I use public transportation, I prefer a stadium or arenas that's plenty convenient to get to. Being here in Los Angeles, most every venue in town has bus and rail connections throughout (except maybe Dodger Stadium). Staples Center (and the brand-new L.A. Live entertainment complex surrounding it) is serviced by buses, a light rail line a block east and a subway line about five blocks north. The Coliseum-USC area will be served by a light rail line set to be in operation by summer 2010, which will go from downtown Los Angeles traveling west to Culver City (and eventually further west to Santa Monica by '13). Anybody who knows about L.A. traffic, especially in the western side of town, knows big of a relief this could be.

Obviously, the biggest factor in having a successful venue is convenience and accessibility.

[OnWis97]

No question...City.

The only advantage, aside from cheap land, that the remote location offers is perception (and maybe Milwaukee tailgating). People that are timid about going to the City, unsure of how to use a park-and-ride / transit perceive the access for an off-ramp stadium as better. But it's not. Having been to many a metrodome event by car, I can tell you that a four block walk to a ramp will get you away MUCH faster than a parking lot at a place like Miller Park. Those parking lots take forever to get out of. Add the life that the ballpark can add to the downtown, the aforementioned scenery, the transit options and it's really no contest.

[fkaKrock5cent]

I'm currently doing a research paper on this topic (Basicly a report on a brief history of baseball stadiums but its not very lengthy, 4 pages) and in looking up alot of ball-parks I think the ones in the city become the best and heres why.

Theres numerous ways to get to the park

Especialy will baseball the skylines are down right beautiful

I think the ones that spawned from the Cameden Yards design will end up turly standing the test of time because of their location. When you build something as big as a baseball stadium it ends up becoming a part of the city. Woudn't any city be differnt if a part of the skyline its self were removed?

[winters in buffalo]

City, without a doubt.