Royals

[Sparko]

Alright!!

[jfish26]

We gonna talk about the Royals finally naming a site? I think it ends up being…what it was always going to be. Now let’s get some shovels in some dirt and crack on with it.

[pdub]

[pdub]

So, I haven't done the 'research' but:

A. That's just wiping out 670 ( and Firestone Auto! ) in the process.
That's gonna take a lot of rerouting.
Good luck with the traffic for a couple years.

B. Rendering looks fun - love the fountains - but that'd be a big whiff if there wasn't a crown integrated into the backdrop ( why not the scoreboard again ).

[jfish26]

So, I haven't done the 'research' but:

A. That's just wiping out 670 ( and Firestone Auto! ) in the process.
That's gonna take a lot of rerouting.
Good luck with the traffic for a couple years.

B. Rendering looks fun - love the fountains - but that'd be a big whiff if there wasn't a crown integrated into the backdrop ( why not the scoreboard again ).

Agree 100% on B.

On A - there's actually not a wiping-out or rerouting here. The plan is to cap 670 with that greenspace (such that 670 will run right under things, where it sits).

[pdub]

Oh shit.
Like the Highline in NYC.
I will still stand by the good luck with the traffic statement though.

[jfish26]

Oh shit.
Like the Highline in NYC.
I will still stand by the good luck with the traffic statement though.

Oh for sure - but this is the sort of big swing I've long criticized Kansas City for NOT taking. So you won't hear ME complaining about the (mostly temporary) inconvenience of getting from here to there.

[pdub]

BUT I CanT juST dRiVe UP tO ThE aiRPorT tO pICk uP GRANdmA oN THe CuRB anYMORe!!!

[RainbowsandUnicorns]

[Sparko]

The Royals location isn't terrific for out of town patrons. I still say you need some high capacity trains downtown for it to work. Old Memorial was not great for the KC Athletics or Chiefs, which is why they moved to the present location. Just weird that there is this move to bankrupt cities to put stadiums in downtowns that went bankrupt. Can we see the basic flawed logic? It will be too much of a chore for me to get there as I age, which is too bad. I might be one of the few on this board who have followed the Royals since 1969.

[Back2Lawrence]

The current location sucks. The stadium does not. This is better. Kansas Citians, as a whole (on social media, which whatever), seem to think it's a 'waste'. Fuck them. They are dumb.

[pdub]

Hosmer retires.
Thanks for the clutch home runs and the game tying run for home.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hYry9F2QRM&t=1s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7-ZKWhY5og&t=1s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fx2EPASyBgU&t=5s

[Sparko]

Love Hos. Not a huge fan of downtown baseball. Maybe we could build at the stockyards again?

[pdub]

I don't see what the issue with a downtown park is ( besides the money it'll take to build it ).
If the streetcar ramps up service there are plenty of spots you could park and ride to catch a game.
Could be cheaper parking than a Royals game out at Truman.

You have far more choices to get something to eat/drink before and after a game.
You have better lodging choices if you wanted to make a trip out of it.
With a downtown park I could hypothetically fly in MCI, not rent a car, catch an uber to my airbnb/hotel downtown, spend a couple days in the area using the streetcar if needed and catch a game or two, then uber back to the airport.

( they really need to extend the street car down to the plaza though )

[pdub]

Oh shit they are.
See you in 2025!

Now build a speed rail* to take you from MCI to the riverfront to connect to the streetcar and BOOM!

*they might:
https://www.reddit.com/r/urbanplanning/ ... peed_rail/

[Sparko]

If speed rail is part of this, sign me up.

[japhy]

This is going to be an interesting debate and vote. I have a friend whoo owns a building at 17th and Oak. She and her business partner went t the Crossroads Neighborhood Association meeting on Wednesday where the Royal came to speak. Said it was a a shitshow of anger and venting.

In a lot of ways the location makes for good planning. The stadium will share a light rail stop with the Kauffman. It willl be the catalyst that gets the park over I-70 to get off dead center. It will connect the Power and Light to the Crossroads. There is a lot to like. The rerouting of Oak will be aa big issue. That is aa busy street at the end of the Heart of America Bridge. A lot of commuters from North of the River (myself included) use that road. All you have to do is look at what has happened around Coors Field in Denver to see the potential of this development.

Vote "NO" and it will likely end up in Wyandotte County next to the NASCAR track. Be prepared for the Chiefs to follow them if that happens.

Annie is adamantly opposed. Why should we pay for something to help billionaires? Well, the County owns the structure and gets paid rent from the teams and they rent it out for other purposes as well. Not to mention the increased tax revenue from the bars and restaurants.

Is it a net revenue win? Hard to say. Ask people from St Louis if they would like to have the Rams back. Maybe the teams don't leave the metro, but they can. Oklahoma City would welcome either franchise with a big basket of goodies.

[jfish26]

This is going to be an interesting debate and vote. I have a friend whoo owns a building at 17th and Oak. She and her business partner went t the Crossroads Neighborhood Association meeting on Wednesday where the Royal came to speak. Said it was a a shitshow of anger and venting.

In a lot of ways the location makes for good planning. The stadium will share a light rail stop with the Kauffman. It willl be the catalyst that gets the park over I-70 to get off dead center. It will connect the Power and Light to the Crossroads. There is a lot to like. The rerouting of Oak will be aa big issue. That is aa busy street at the end of the Heart of America Bridge. A lot of commuters from North of the River (myself included) use that road. All you have to do is look at what has happened around Coors Field in Denver to see the potential of this development.

Vote "NO" and it will likely end up in Wyandotte County next to the NASCAR track. Be prepared for the Chiefs to follow them if that happens.

Annie is adamantly opposed. Why should we pay for something to help billionaires? Well, the County owns the structure and gets paid rent from the teams and they rent it out for other purposes as well. Not to mention the increased tax revenue from the bars and restaurants.

Is it a net revenue win? Hard to say. Ask people from St Louis if they would like to have the Rams back. Maybe the teams don't leave the metro, but they can. Oklahoma City would welcome either franchise with a big basket of goodies.

I am a call-a-spade-a-spade guy.

Just ask the direct question: Are you willing to send taxpayer money to a billionaire in order to maintain the privilege of having a Major League Baseball team?

"Yes" is a perfectly reasonable answer!

But kindly miss me with the economic magic-beans arguments that have been made, and debunked, dozens and dozens of times.

[pdub]

Not that I'm trying to defend billionaires bc fuck them but would a downtown ballpark not increase revenue for bars and restaurants and shops nearby?

[jfish26]

Not that I'm trying to defend billionaires bc fuck them but would a downtown ballpark not increase revenue for bars and restaurants and shops nearby?

It would, of course.

But, when you narrow the field down to empirical, peer-reviewed retrospective studies (read: analyses that are not commissioned by interested parties in service of potential new projects), the result is ALWAYS that there is very little new spending (and, instead, a whole lot of reallocated spending).

Which isn't necessarily a bad or undesirable thing!

But this is the call-a-spade-a-spade part: just say, out loud, that what you're (not YOU, dub) asking voters to do is choose to spend on a civic luxury that is not, actually, some sort of economic magic.