Where do I say anything about Bexar county building downtown?
Why are you asking me questions? All I said was the negativity towards the AT&T center is where it was placed. Now you're asking me fore 8 year old answers.And how, if the City of San Antonio couldn't come up with a reasonable funding plan for such a building, could the building be constructed under the City's au ies, which would be necessary to constructing such a building downtown?
The three stupidest things ever to happen in SA were:
1. Tearing down the perfectly good Hemisfair Arena
2. Building the Alamodome without getting a pro football team first (now that UTSA is online maybe that will be ok)
3. Sticking the new Spurs arena out in the slums. Everyone knows it should have been built downtown. Used to love going to that bar at the river level of the (older) Marriott after the games.
Huh? I could run off 20 pro arenas/stadiums off the top of my head that are not in ghetto areas.
Madison Square Garden
Staples Center
Toyota Center
University of Phoenix stadium
Coyote Arena
Us Airways Arena
American Airlines Arena
Coors Field
American Airlines Center
Reliant Stadium
Minute Maid Park
Conseco Fieldhouse
Rose Garden
Arco Arena
Pepsi Center
EnergySolutions Arena
Q Loan Center
Philips Arena
Raymond James Stadium
Charlotte Bobcats Arena
Lambeau Field
The Hemisfair wasn't "perfectly good."
That seems to hold true across most major sports cities
If the Verizon Center is the former MCI Center, which was formerly the old Capital Centre, then I would argue how upscale the area really is. Unless they've made significant improvements within the recent years, I distinctly remember this building being located just a few short blocks away from the inner-city, D.C. ghetto. If the city has indeed upgraded the area, then Kudos. It surely needed it.
Couldn't agree more.
Immediate access to numerous hotels, the Riverwalk with its various restaurants and nightlife made a downtown location simply the best and logical choice site for a new arena. , the could've possible built the new arena on the site of the old Hemisfair grounds. How cool would that have been?
To this day, I don't understand why the county/city couldn't come to terms on that. When I heard the plans about building up the area around the Coliseum area, I suspected it was a "sales job". So far, that's all it was.
As a side note, I'd be curious to know if opposing teams stay downtown and are bused to the new arena.
The Spurs are truly one of the best-run organizations in sports. However, it's obvious that S.A. city management and leadership are still very much junior-league.
I've lived in SA and a few other places. 2 of my most recent moves was Minneapolis and Indianapolis...both of which have their arenas and stadiums right downtown.
I lived downtown Minneapolis, and I had the Metrodrome on one side, and the Target center on the other.
In Indy, we have Conseco and the RCA Dome right downtown...and the new Lucas Oil Stadium is being built right down the street from both of those.
Restaurants and a mall surround those places in both cities.
When it comes to decisions by SA government officials generally ultimately look to the money that goes under the table, the contracts, the land sale, etc.. That's what the decision revloves around, not public interest.
Don't know about some of those, but LOL at Ray Jay. I live in Tampa...Ray Jay is in the ing 'hood.
Dude, the Verizon Center is in downtown DC in an upscale business district, and the Capital Centre/US Airways Arena used to be in Landover, MD on Central Ave. Landover was and still is a ing 'hood!
I'm no D.C. expert (paging Shoog), but when I was there about a year-and-a-half ago, I was walking through D.C. with a few friends and we stumbled upon the Verizon Center. I don't remember feeling apprehensive about the area much.
I don't remember it being the best place (probably because there was nothing going on -- it was during the 2006 WCSF), but I felt about the same as I do walking downtown here.
If we win another le in a couple years... we are getting a new arena anyways .... from what I have learned, SBC center is already out of date... and well. It's ugly as crap on the inside to me anyways.
Take it down, rebuild closer to downtown and not in the ghetto that seems to control most of SA.
There's so much fail in that statement, it's not even funny.
"The ghetto that seems to control most of SA"?
"A new arena"?
VC or the Alamodome parking lot would have been fine locations -- the city dropped the ball, plain and simple.
The only way the AT&T center is going to really improve is to get rid of the industiral guantlet that now has to be run to get to it from I-35, but no plan I've seen even tries to take that into consideration.
Give it some time. Cities don't change overnight. It's been 4-5 years since the opening of the SBC Center. I applaud the location. Why build up an area of town, that's already built up. San Antonio is a city which is spread out. I think the reason it wasn't built on the southern side of downtown was the emergence of the Toyota Plant. I think, 10 years from now (If the Spurs are still in the SBC) the enviroment around the SBC will be entirely different. I wonder if this writer also assumed Iraq would be a thriving democracy after 7 years? Point is, there are many factors which are not taken into consideration. I believe the article does make a valid arguement, but I disagree with the pessemistic at ude. Where has the patience in society gone to? Everything is "I want it now." You know what happens when you do that. You get the Alamodome.
University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale is a ghetto?
That would be news to alot of people in Phoenix as the area has absolutely be redeveloped, new homes, businesses.
Across the street from the stadium and hockey arena are a BUNCH of new businesses along with a cabelas.
Glendale isn't ghetto what so ever.
Why doesn't the county just offer tax incentive plans to some businesses to build down there?
I know it would be awesome to have a huge sports bar right there ALA Phoenix across from Chase Field.
Now THATS fun.
Wasn't the rodeo in the same spot as the AT&T center? If those drunk rednecks leaving the rodeo didn't get a tattoo or spend any money on the east side why would any drunk redneck spur fans? You can talk negative about San Antonio all you want but at the end, all your going to do is Piss off Buddy Holly! and he may show up at a ST gtg with an AK47
I just noticed Arco Arena also on there
Arco Arena is like out in the middle of a damn cow pasture.
its way out on I 5 away from downtown.
Way worse than ATT.
Man, I don't know whether to laugh at half the posters in this thread or to cry because of how much people fail.
FWDT lays out WHY the arena wasn't built downtown and a few posters later we have people saying they don't understand why the arena wasn't built downtown. Try reading?
Then we have posters saying if we win another championship that they will build the Spurs a new arena. W T F? Ever heard of a lease? I'm not voting for a new arena for a very long time, regardless of championships.
What development is supposed to occur in a residential neighborhood? There's no reason to invest money there.
My father and I almost got mugged at the Alamodome once. Boat show, not a Spurs game though.
I loved going downtown to hang out before and after Spurs games. That's probably one reason I like the Toros so much -- I get to recreate that experience on a smaller scale. Thank goodness they don't play out in the Travis County Expo Center or some such rot. That's probably the biggest reason I've never seen an Ice Bats game -- I just noticed they are moving to a skating center in north Austin just off I-35.
The American Airlines Center isn't in the ghetto anymore. I remember when it first opened there was an old factory that was a huge eye sore, but now there are very nice looking hotels and condos going up. The West End is also within walking distance since most of the parking is over that direction anyways
I was there spring in 06 and I don't remember it being ghetto, there was nothing really do to though. ESPN zone was the only resteraunt and it was an hour wait, it was all just normal business nothing to do pregame. That arena sucks to, there are no signs or people to help you find your way around. We sat on the 200 level and there is 1 staircase going up to it and we walked about the arena twice before we found it.
They are actually asking for more money to upgrade it. There's no plans for a new arena anytime in the near future (with or without more championships).
What does that mean? (I'm not being sarcastic, I want to know what you meant.)Take it down, rebuild closer to downtown and not in the ghetto that seems to control most of SA.
Maybe he meant it not in the sense that the majority of San Antonio is ghetto, but what we present to outsiders is ghetto.
For instance, when the Saints were here didn't they hold practice a few times at SAISD Football Fields located on the campus of Burbank High School?
Come on now, that is amature to the max.
One of the largest and growing cities in America and the NFL comes here and we put them to practice on the campus of an inncer city, underachieving school?
Just seems bad.
But back to basketball and the ATT center, sure, there is neighborhoods around it and no room to grow. Didnt we know going into this deal that either
A- Neighborhoods stay next to the arena like it is now and nothing happens or develops there.
or
B- city/developers must buy out the neighborhoods, tear them down, then build restuants, shops, etc to develop the area around ATT center.
There was a major lawsuit to stop the demolition of Victoria Courts against the City of San Antonio, The San Antonio Housing Authority and The Department of Housing and Urban Development, which led to the continuation of the Hope VI program (residential units) there onsite instead of an arena or hotels, etc. This was all going on during that time. There was more to it than just Howard Peak having a bad plan, honestly.
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