Braves planning new suburban stadium in 2017

[shawnw]

Braves planning new suburban stadium in 2017 | News OK

Am I the only one that finds this ridiculous? In this age of growing downtowns and transit options the Braves go and leave the city (moving 10 miles away) and its transit options ("despite the lack of any rapid-transit in Cobb County and the stadium site being located next to one of the city's most congested interchanges"), requiring fans to be car dependent to enjoy games (even though the MARTA stop is a mile away from the Ted, I know a lot of people would ride it to games). Don't get me wrong, I do think the city is a good degree at fault for not using the last 17 years to develop the surrounding area, but this just seems like the wrong way to go by the team. In 20-30 years will they be looking for a new site back downtown?

[Just the facts]

This would be the biggest Fail of all time. With the Falcons getting a new downtown stadium I think this has to be a ploy for Fulton County taxpayers fund another stadium (even though team ownership says it isn't). The current Turner Field is in a crappy area so I can understand them wanting a new location but this location would rule out attendance at any game starting before 8PM. I can't stress enough how bad the traffic is in this area. A much better use of taxpayer money would be to improve the existing area around Turner Field because the last thing that area needs is another vacant structure or giant open field.

[Pete]

Their existing stadium is only 17 years old!!

The throw-away culture in this country can be extremely appalling at times.

[adaniel]

As someone who lived a short time in Atlanta, this is not surprising. Only in Atlanta is something that is 17 years old considered "outdated." FWIW they are scrapping the barely 20 year old Georgia Dome for a new stadium. And yes traffic where they are going (75/285) is nothing short of abysmal.

I actually remember them building the Olympic Stadium, then retrofitting it to Turner Field as a kid and what a hoopla was made about their new "state of the art" stadium.

And I wouldn't say this is a done deal. Cobb County is hardcore Tea Party territory and it will be a heavy lift for the Braves to convince the voters to authorize the several hundred million to pay for this.

[Just the facts]

NM - Adaniel beat me to it.

[Snowman]

From an evaluation on what financing information is publicly available, either something is missing from where the sources to pay for it are coming from or they have only budgeted enough that the best case of the proposed tax will only cover 1/3rd of the proposed subsidy on building it.

[Richard at Remax]

Deadspin sheds more light on situation Braves Announce Plans To Leave Atlanta For Cobb County [Updates]

[shawnw]

The AJC article referenced in your link is actually the first one I read but I thought I'd post something local. Even if they spent the exact same amount of money refurbishing the Ted, I think they'd be better off long term.

[Just the facts]

I am thankful everyday that we didn't close on our house in metro Atlanta back in 2007. This just gives me another reason to be thankful.

[Easy180]

Covered this on Morning Joe today saying the stadium would be closer to the majority of their season ticket holders so at least that part makes complete sense

[Just the facts]

To get to a game that starts at 7PM in this new stadium people will need to leave their work at 2PM.

[Snowman]

How did they not require the lease last longer than 16 years, 20 year length is short for a project like these, 30 seems more standard

[Mississippi Blues]

The way most Atlantan's make it sounds is that the majority of Braves ticket purchasers are in & around Cobb County. I don't agree with it myself, I'd much rather they stay at Turner Field, or at the very least build somewhere else around urban Atlanta. As much as I love & try to represent & defend Atlanta, there's no justifying this.

Mayor Reed made it sound like once Turner Field is demolished then they'll build some sort of development centered towards the middle-class. At least it's not going to be torn down & blend in with the rest of that massive parking lot, but given Atlanta's shortcoming on many things, I'm not gonna put it in the bank that anything will get built in it's place.

[bluedogok]

It makes some sense in that the majority of the population growth (and ticket holders) seem to be in North Atlanta and there are a ton of jobs up there as well. Still would be better more centrally located.

Architect Magazine - Atlanta Braves Moving to the Suburbs

Here is a graphic of tickets sales from the link.
The red dots on the map indicate game tickets sold in 2012.

[Richard at Remax]

Here's How Cobb County Will Pay For The Braves' Ballpark

[Snowman]

My favorite of the comments

A town with money is a little like a mule with a spinning wheel. No one knows how he got it, and danged if he knows how to use it.

(Originally from The Simpsons)

[TAlan CB]

This is a hard one, I agree that it should stay downtown and redevelop the area it is in. I will say the stadium is never full. There are other attractions nearby, always drive by the stadium to go to the zoo in Grant Park. There has been a resurgence of housing around this park as people are investing in the old houses and local pubs and theme restaurants. So there are reasons to stay. The state capital is within walking distance - and so is downtown. Now lets talk about the rest. The immediate area around the stadium has been the scene of frequent, particularly noted random violence (attack of young man because he was gay - another shot by preteens just to watch him die). In both cases these were individuals who lived nearby and were very familiar with the neighborhood. Nearby downtown is noted for the violence against Georgia State and Georgia Tech students. Now to traffic. The current location is as busy - if not more so - than where they want to move. It is a dead end corner of the intersection of I-20 and I-75. The only side streets that take you in or out go through dangerous neighborhoods or downtown - also dangerous and hard to get around (think Dallas on steroids - and I can say that having lived in both places). All the traffic from the north that comes to games is funneled into one very large combined I-75/I-85 Freeway with limited off-ramps at the most complicated freeway intersection in the Atlanta metro, think hour-long traffic jams without games. I used the metro to go downtown for business and would not want to get caught after dark anywhere near the stadium.

The proposed new location will have a more equal traffic distribution as the traffic will be coming equally from all directions (not predominately from the north). The neighborhood is much better. There are several 4-6 lane roads in the area that most of the locals will use instead of the interstates. I live 20 miles away (from the proposed site) and it would be easier to drive on local streets than take the interstates. Buses could be used to take traffic from the stadium to several stops on the north or west metro. Lastly, if it were my team I would put it in the best location to give it a chance to grow and succeed - and it's current location is not it. Atlanta could make promises to improve the area, and then forget about it after the deal is done. Cobb county location does not have to do anything other than help with the build funding. The locals near the proposed site are worried about traffic - understandable. But, the real '600 lb Gorilla in the closet 'is that most people - conservative anti tax, etc. - in the north metro are quietly saying 'thank God'.....no one wants to talk about that one.

[Mississippi Blues]

A year or so ago, the city of Atlanta (I think it was the city of Atlanta; don't quote me on that) had an idea of developing the surrounding parking lots with housing, parks, restaurants, etc. to build up the area around The Ted. I was rooting for that, but it's obviously not gonna happen now.

[Just the facts]

There is so much wasted land at the current location - and underutilized space in the surround area that it isn't even funny.

[Mississippi Blues]

There is so much wasted land at the current location - and underutilized space in the surround area that it isn't even funny.

That's what strikes me. Every time I drive by there, I just have to turn my head & keep from looking at it. The stadium isn't bad looking, but I can't stand how atrocious the surrounding area is.

[shawnw]

Was the area that bad during the Olympics or has it just gotten that bad since then?

[Richard at Remax]

The Braves' Move From Atlanta Is An Affront To Baseball And Democracy

[Mississippi Blues]

Was the area that bad during the Olympics or has it just gotten that bad since then?

I don't think it's ever been an ideal environment when you consider how empty it is around the stadium, but I'm not sure that it's ever been considered an area people avoid at all costs. I will say that people don't think very highly of the adjacent neighborhoods, especially after dark.

[Mississippi Blues]

Many people are optimistic that new development will spur where Turner Field currently is. In all honesty, where it's at isn't a very ideal place for such a national icon that the Braves are. I myself have become very hopeful in the future of the area around the current stadium as that area is one of the poorer area's of Atlanta & it needs something to go right for it, & as weird as it may sound, the Braves moving to a new stadium may be what it needs to develop.

I don't agree with the premise of teams going the suburban route, I didn't even before I became a "new urbanist", but metro Atlanta is massive & the same fans will go to the games & the area they're building is already developed rather nicely. I still don't really support them going to the Cumberland area, but with the shock wearing off of the Braves packing up & heading about 10 miles to the northwest, it seems like there is some good that can come out of this for the area around Turner Field.

[Mississippi Blues]

This is a nice little article that I read earlier today that kinda makes this whole ordeal sound a little bit prettier than it actually is.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/17/us...nted=all&_r=1&

EDIT: For the record, the population statistics aren't up to date. In the article, it states that the city of Atlanta has 423,000 residents, but at the 2012 census Atlanta is stated to have 443,775 people. Also, the article mentions the metro is 3.8 million, not counting the city of Atlanta, but the census shows metro Atlanta as having slightly under 5.5 million residents.