Braves moving to suburbs in 2017 and I, for one, am not happy.

[notfrommensa]

I cannot determine if professional Wrestler, Big Boss Man, is going to happy or displeased with the Braves in his County.

I used to live about 2 miles from the proposed stadium (30 years ago). Traffic was nightmare then. I still know the area fairly well. I can’t believe that land has not been developed already.

And there are tons and tons of eating establishments along Cobb Parkway.

[Robot_Arm]

Does anyone know who is on the hook for cost overruns on the stadium, the Braves or the county?

[NDP]

@notfrommensa

And there are tons and tons of eating establishments along Cobb Parkway.

But are they within walking distance of the proposed stadium?

[Jeff_Lichtman]

This makes me think of the old warning to women who get involved with married men: if he does it with you, he’ll do it to you. Really, what’s to keep the Braves from moving out of their new ballpark in Cobb County in twenty years?

Have the bonds on Turner Field been paid off yet?

[Grumman]

@Doctor_Who

http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2013/11/11/5092546/a-desperate-trip-into-the-ruins-of-turner-field

An even better article that really sums it up for me.

That is some damn fine sarcasm.

[notfrommensa]

@NDP

But are they within walking distance of the proposed stadium?

Please define “Walking Distance”. within a mile? I think so.

I have never been to Turner Field, but there was NOTHING around the old Braves (and Falcons) stadium. (Atlanta Fulton County Stadium).

It looks like the field is going to be closer to the I-75 than Cobb Parkway and the parking is going to be West of the Stadium

[Labrador_Deceiver]

Wow, the OP goes on to list a bunch of reasons that really had nothing to do with the move. They moved it because attendance was in the shitter, despite the fact that the Braves are fielding playoff-caliber teams.

Other reasons:
-There are basically no places to go eat or drink before or after the games near Turner Field. The city kept promising that they’d add some sort of mixed-use development near the stadium, and they’ve failed to deliver for 2 decades now. They plan to make that a reality in the new location, in additon to the existing restauratnts that are in the area.

• The Braves didn’t own Turner firld, but will own the new ballpark. That makes good financial sense, and enables them to build a smaller stadium that will better fit their needs. That’s right, the stadium will be a good bit smaller than Turner Field.

• Yes, some people will be father away, but more people will be closer to the new stadium. It’s in a much more central location, from a population standpoint.

-It isn’t that far into the suburbs. The new site is just a couple of miles north of Buckhead, and still has an Atlanta address.

To quote a local radio commercial, this decision was “the biggest no-brainer in the history of earth.” There was basically no good reason to stay downtown.

[Labrador_Deceiver]

@Jeff_Lichtman

This makes me think of the old warning to women who get involved with married men: if he does it with you, he’ll do it to you. Really, what’s to keep the Braves from moving out of their new ballpark in Cobb County in twenty years?

I don’t know, maybe the fact that they’ll now own the stadium and 60 very, very expensive acres of land?

[Evil_Captor]

@wevets

There’s a lot of skepticism in the economics literature that this actually happens with sports venues as public expenditures. There’s a huge incentive for the sports franchise/organisation to lie and to pass off costs to the taxpayer. For example, I haven’t read all of this paper, but even just the abstract is sobering:

It even mentions Atlanta’s bad experience with this problem:

The opportunity cost to the taxpayer of building the stadium vs. other uses for the funds may be sufficient to explain the lackluster economic benefits of these stadiums, but the negotiations stacked in favor of the team or franchise (because how can you be a civic booster if you don’t support our [soon-to-be] local team?) certainly lead to bad policy through tax breaks and incentives.

I feel bad for the taxpayers of Cobb county, they’ll probably get the shaft in this deal.

Meh. Cobb is the nexus of white flight in the region, they deserve to be bent over a barrel by the Braves. I voted against the last stadium initiative on the grounds of, “I don’t give a shit about the Braves or professional sports generally” knowing that my vote was going up against thousands of votes from dull-eyed slackers in gimme caps going “yay Braves/Falcons/Hawks” who would vote for ANY sports bond. Now that we know the numbers touted by sports boosters are a lie, it’s still the same … a few people who know the numbers versus that same set of idiots in gimme caps.

[BobLibDem]

So what becomes of Turner Field? Converted to football use for a local college? A date with dynamite?

[Labrador_Deceiver]

@Evil_Captor

Meh. Cobb is the nexus of white flight in the region, they deserve to be bent over a barrel by the Braves. I voted against the last stadium initiative on the grounds of, “I don’t give a shit about the Braves or professional sports generally” knowing that my vote was going up against thousands of votes from dull-eyed slackers in gimme caps going “yay Braves/Falcons/Hawks” who would vote for ANY sports bond. Now that we know the numbers touted by sports boosters are a lie, it’s still the same … a few people who know the numbers versus that same set of idiots in gimme caps.

What stadium initiative did you mean?

[Evil_Captor]

@Labrador_Deceiver

What stadium initiative did you mean?

I don’t remember. The one for Turner Field 20 years ago? I remember being against it but knowing I was doomed. DOOOOOOMED!

[Labrador_Deceiver]

Really? Why was there a referendum for a stadium that was built by the Olympics and cost the city of Atlanta nothing? Maybe there was one for the Georgia Dome in 1990?

[cmkeller]

BobLibDem:

So what becomes of Turner Field? Converted to football use for a local college? A date with dynamite?

Centerpiece for an Atlanta 2024/2028 Olympics bid?

[Yodalicious]

I live in Cobb County, 10 - 15 minutes west of the site. Traffic there is TERRIBLE. MARTA barely comes into Cobb and access to 75 is troublesome at best. So why here? More money and white people. Cobb says it is putting up $450 million in public funds. I have no idea where it’s coming from. I assume there will be a public referendum, but seeing as Cobb folks don’t even like to raise taxes to fix roads, I’m not sure it will go through.

On the plus side the Wendy’s, Steak 'n Shake, Taco Bell, and KFC in walking distance will be making money hand over fist. Also, I plan to open my driveway for parking, $20 per car. Walking from my house will get you to the stadium quicker than driving.

[Justin_Bailey]

@cmkeller

Closest equivalent I can think of was Seattle ditching the Kingdome, but the Kingdome was genuinely falling apart, IIRC. Wasn’t there a two-week period toward the end of its life when the Mariners had to play on the road because a chunk of concrete fell from some part of the structure?

And killed a construction worker, IIRC.

[Labrador_Deceiver]

1. Traffic is terrible everywhere in this city, particularly on the connector downtown. Traffic on Cobb Parkway isn’t really that bad, even at rush hour. 285 and 75 are a different story.

2. Marta doesn’t go to Turner Field either.

3. I think Cobb County will try to raise funds via a hotel tax increase.

[RTFirefly]

Dear citizens of Cobb County:

Welcome to the bigs, suckers!!

Hope you enjoy paying for the Braves’ new home - and remember, it’s gonna belong to them, not to you. So enjoy forking over your tax dollars to make rich team owners even richer!!

[Kiber]

Well - I can see the new location from my office and here are my $0.02.

• Traffic will be bad here, just like downtown. But for me - it’s a net gain, because I’ll be in bad traffic for a shorter amount of time (it’s closer to my house than Turner Field).
• I’ll be more likely to go to a game here - in part because of location, and in part because of the other elements they’ll be adding (easier parking, bars and restaurants, etc.)
• Because the Braves will own the stadium and the 60 acre plot - they’re much more likely to make the fan experience a positive, since they’ll directly benefit.
• Related to the above, anything that helps the Braves financially is probably a good thing - they can use the help offsetting some of their rather blockbuster failures lately.
• Finally - this map shows where the ticket buyers are coming from. Look at the locations of Turner Field and the proposed new facility - and you decide which is closer to the majority of fans.

[Justin_Bailey]

@Kiber

• Finally - this map shows where the ticket buyers are coming from. Look at the locations of Turner Field and the proposed new facility - and you decide which is closer to the majority of fans.

It looks like no contest to me. The new stadium is clearly closer to the majority of ticket holders.