NYTimes: Braves Move Raises Questions of How to Define “Atlanta”
Decatur Metro | November 18, 2013 | 11:49 amFrom the front page of the Sunday Times’ National Section and website…
…as the team makes plans to head a dozen miles northwest to a new $672 million baseball stadium in Cobb County, a regional civic conversation has begun: Is the move a blow to a city beginning to enjoy a post-recession urban renaissance, or is it a signal of a new era in which traditional assumptions about the divide between city and suburb no long apply?
…“We’ve got to make a decision — either we’re going to be a region or we’re not,” [Mayor Kasim Reed] said at a packed news briefing the day after the Braves’ announcement. “It bothers me that we have not come far enough as a community that people feel that a team moving 12 miles is a loss to the city of Atlanta.”
The Jets and Giants play their home games in New Jersey. Just sayin’
Reed doesn’t want to be known as the mayor who lost two major sports franchises. All he is doing now is CYA.
He should rush to re-negotiate the Falcons deal now that they are so bad they should have to pay the fans to suffer through every 60 minutes of indifferent effort and poor execution. With the leftover money, we keep the Braves downtown. Make it happen!
You couldnt be more correct. What a joke CYA move from Reed and an even more irresponsible article. Do some real research on the area before writing about it.
The only way I think I am proven wrong is that this is some back-room deal by the ‘new’ Cobb power base to get rapid transit out there and maybe strong-arm city/county officials with some offer to privatize MARTA. I will eat my hat if that happens…
Kim Severson has lived here long enough to know that the historic friction between ITP and OTP has only grown over the years. I was rather surprised at the theme of this piece…
I also believe the ITP/OTP friction mirrors the political/cultural rift of the nation as a whole.
The future vision of each region will play out differently, e.g. Beltline-inspired walkable, urban living versus Braves mega-asphalt themepark.
What becomes of the TED? Love the idea of Georgia State appropriating the whole area.
Silver Comet Trail-inspired Beltline, LOL.
Chris Leinberger needs to explain how a cloverleaf interchange is more walkable than downtown Atlanta. What a joke.
Leinberger would laugh at the idea of an interchange as walkable!….
.unless you’re in Lagos Nigeria.
How far from the actual city is considered Atlanta? Will Athens become part of regional Atlanta someday? Feel sad when I pass the Ted. It feels like soon the Olympic park will be a parking lot. I ride MARTA and always have a sense of excitement at all the sports and music fans who ride the train to their events.
One problem is the un-eveness (nice word, huh?) of our sprawl. The Braves map of red dots showed their fans in north Fulton and Cobb so that’s where they went. Meanwhile moving the stadium out there puts the action even farther from Lithonia, Peachtree City, etc than it was before. The more jobs, stadiums, opera halls, etc move to the northern suburbs the more the heart of the Region moves in that direction. Meanwhile we have all this infrastructure investment inside the perimeter that we need less and less. Not good from an efficiency point of view.
Yeah that is depressing. I think we need more density downtown to be honest. Businesses go where the money is.
Everything I’ve heard and read from the “executives” sounds like they are trying to convince themselves that this is a good move. It’s not. It’s terrible.
It will create more traffic than there currently is at Turner Field. And there is no public transportation option.
Not to mention the fact that Cobb County thinks it is more important to have a stadium than HIRE TEACHERS.
I agree with Bo. What a joke.
America is killing its youth.
“Ghost Rider”
-Rollins Band
those lyrics should actually be attributed to the band suicide…
Right.
You’re bloody well right.
“Bloody Well Right”
-Supertramp
Euler angles on the same plane.
Though there are some interesting points in that NYTimes article, it glosses over the fact that the new location is near some of the worst traffic in the region.
As for that area becoming a walkable destination with numerous places to dine, etc., I saw a piece on the Creative Loafing site that had a list of what the Braves wanted from Atlanta. The list included tight restrictions on the number and type of bars and restaurants near the stadium, among other development restrictions. I wonder how much of that Cobb agreed to?
Everything, it would seem. According to the MDJ the Braves will have free reign over mixed-use development at the site, so don’t go expecting a Jock n’ Jills right across the street. It’s a Braves new world!
Well, there is already a Jock’s and Jill’s at Galleria.
One of my co-workers drove from there to the new stadium, and it’s right at 1 mile. Very doable after work at J&J’s then 15 min walk to the game.
From an informal survey, Galleria workers are pretty psyched about this plan…at least until we see what the traffic situation is around quitting time.
Figures I’d pick a bar that was already there!
I think you mean THAT is Braves Country.
Here’s a link to the article abut the Brave’s wish list to Atlanta. I wouldn’t have given in to these demands if I were mayor. In fact the list plays into accusations that the Braves have worked to suppress development in the stadium area so that the only food around is inside the gates.
http://clatl.com/freshloaf/archives/2013/11/15/braves-wishlist-for-proposed-turner-field-development-included-limits-on-nearby-restaurants-8600-car-parking-deck
The whole “Atlanta Area” thing misses the point that there are political dividing lines between in-town and all the little county fiefdoms that surround it. Without that separate taxing authority there would not have been a $300 million offer at all.
I used to be sad that Atlanta lost the Braves to Cobb, but now I’m only sad that I’ll be lucky to get to the new stadium once or twice per year. Just too far and too much hassle with traffic. Maybe a Sunday game.
Overall I think this is great for Atlanta. That parking lot was a huge impediment to growth of that neighborhood IMO. I think this will help Grant Park overall assuming they tear it down.
I, too, was a little sad about the move to Cobb. But after the initial shock wore off, it really feels kind of invigorating. I’d long ago quit paying attention to, much less being a ‘fan’ of the Hawks and Falcons (and the NBA and NFL, in general). Maybe this move will finally help me sever the pro baseball bonds that I’ve clung to, mostly out of nostalgia, for the past few years. All sorts of good possibilities in my future — that do NOT include driving to see the Braves in Cobb County.
“Maybe this move will finally help me sever the pro baseball bonds that I’ve clung to, mostly out of nostalgia, ”
I feel much the same way about sports, though I wonder if it isn’t, for me, mere habit as much as nostalgia. Whatever it is, it’s one thing to ask me to pay exorbitant prices to attend games, asking me to also deal with horrendous traffic is more than I’m willing to do.
Anyone else wish they’d build the new stadium on the site of the soon-to-be-demolished Georgia Dome? Where it would be served by at least two MARTA stations? Where there’s loads of space ripe for redevelopment?
YES, YES AND YES
Perhaps you haven’t been following the latest developments, but the Falcons new stadium will be built (roughly) on top of the existing GA Dome site. The holdout churches agreed on terms a few months ago. So the Braves won’t be there, but at least another major venue will take advantage of (and contribute to the upgrade of) mass transit in that area.
The AJC compiled a nice comparison of the Braves’ and Falcons’ stadium deals. Both are expected to open in 2017.
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/comparing-braves-falcons-stadium-deals/nbsX6/
I thought the new Falcons stadium was going in just south of the GA Dome, on the corner of Northside and MLK. Not sure what is supposed to happen to old Dome when new stadium ready, but if indeed it is tailgaiting area, seems like that could also be combined w/ baseball stadium (w/ tailgaiting area). So short sighted not to put both of these stadiums in the same complex.
The new stadium is indeed going just south of the Dome where the parking lot is now. The Dome will be demolished when the new stadium is ready.
After all, where would the Falcons play while the built the new stadium?
What is the GA Dome going to become after the Falcons get their new stadium built, operational, and open for NFL season?
Perhaps you guys haven’t been following the latest developments, but the Falcons new stadium will be built (roughly) on top of the existing GA Dome site. The holdout churches agreed on terms a few months ago. So the Braves won’t be there, John, but at least another major venue will take advantage of (and contribute to the upgrade of) mass transit in that area.
The AJC compiled a nice comparison of the Braves’ and Falcons’ stadium deals. Both are expected to open in 2017. Tried to link to it but it’s stuck in moderation.
Falcons tailgate party lot
Take me out to the enhanced fan experience, take me OTP, buy me a latte (half caf double decaf low fat no foam) and sushi, I don’t care if I ever get back ITP. Root root root for the home team, if they don’t win so what? For it’s one three strikes we’re outa’ here at the old money game.
The comments against Mayor Reed doing “his part” to retain the Braves are missing the fact that it was likely the BRAVES who approached Cobb. The Braves will control their brand new stadium, and the entire proposed mixed use development around it, which is a win in their eyes. THEY don’t want to be in town, which is just fine by me. On the up side, I think it will open the door to a much more inclusive redevelopment of Summerhill and Peoplestown, two neighborhoods literally (and figuratively) in the shadows of the Ted.
Not sure if this is an appropriate comment for the topic (I think this is called highjacking a post) but Decatur could learn something from this. For years, the Braves and Turner Field were a cash cow for the City of Atlanta. Politicians demanded all sorts of freebees and assumed that the benefits of a professional sports team in a neglected part of town would last forever. Then suddenly, it’s over. Businesses,like professional sports organizations, not only follow the money but also the path of least resistance to making money. The bars and restaurants that Decatur has staked its future on may find somewhere else to make even more money. And if they leave, will so many of the rich newbees follow? I hope our government bureaucrats take note that excessive business rules and regulations are just as damaging to a positive business environment as the neglect the Braves have witnessed over the past eighteen years.
I think you’re creating a false equivalency, Mr. B. Unlike plopping a stadium down and blithely expecting a community to magically spring up around it, Decatur’s leaders didn’t somehow lure in a bunch of great restaurants and then bank on those to drive growth in the rest of the community. It was precisely the opposite: they took the long view, put a civic development plan in place, carved out an exceptional school system, and generally fostered a great place to live, work, and raise kids. It’s that environment that has proven to be a fertile breeding ground for restaurants. If those underpinnings fail (and I see no reason why they should), the waxing of our restaurant scene will be the least of our problems.
Here’s what we can learn from this: Sports venues don’t necessarily lead to positive outcomes for the nearby communities. So listen up Decatur leaders: Don’t even think about asking for public money for a professional lacrosse stadium.