[QUOTE=Jurph]
Camden Yards is fine. The neighborhoods that it’s nestled in aren’t nice but they aren’t nasty either. Baltimore has whole blocks that are blasted-out wastelands where you don’t see a single car. Camden Yards sits in between Pigtown, Federal Hill, and the Inner Harbor; Pigtown is the worst of these and I park my car on the street there every night. The crime that you’re most risking near Camden Yards is probably having your car broken into and some random stuff stolen (and likely your valuables left behind) by a stupid/wasted junkie.
There are other neighborhoods, less than a half mile further west or north, where I won’t park during the day. In those neighborhoods you’re more likely to be shot, stabbed, or stopped by the police and asked about your intentions to buy or sell drugs.
[/QUOTE]
Agreed. We used to live in the Otterbein area, about 2 blocks from Camden Yards, between the ballpark and the Inner Harbor. That area was very nice and I imagine still is. Pigtown, on the other side is not as nice, but not really as bad as it seems. To the north is mostly U of Maryland - Baltimore, again not upscale, but not horrible. People who think this is a bad part of Baltimore are obviously not from Baltimore. And I think that’s sort of the point of the OP.
[QUOTE=Mr. Miskatonic]
Many stadiums are in places where there is no neighborhood.
The Shea stadium, Giants Staium for NYC. Nothing but Turnpike and watershed.
Lincoln field, Wachovia Center, and Citizen’s Bank Park in Philly, you have to walk a couple of miles just to get to the edge of the industrial park (empty during most gametimes) or the South Philly neighborhood (YYMV). Other than that its surrounded by highways.
[/QUOTE]
Or Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, NY. Been there once for a different event and there is practically nothing in the area.
[QUOTE=EJsGirl]
And actually, I expected the neighborhood in Cincinnati around the Reds’ yard to be worse than it was. It really wasn’t bad at all.
[/QUOTE]
Neighborhood? What neighborhood? If you walk a block to the east or west you hit another arena. If you walk a block north you’re smack in the middle of downtown. If you walk a block south you’re in the middle of the Ohio River. Not to say that downtown Cincy is all stadiums and high-rises. If you go another five blocks north you wind up in Over the Rhine. Not the best neighborhood, but not terrible either.
[QUOTE=Omniscient]
I think a definite front runner will be Chicago’s Comiskey Park (US Cellular Field), home of the lowly White Sox. The stadium is situated in the dilapidated Armour Square neighborhood right next to the Dan Ryan. There’s very little in the way of business there and abandoned buildings are just as common as used ones.
[/QUOTE]
Nah. It’s not the nicest of neighborhoods, but it’s never been one I would warn out-of-towners about walking around in. Heck, we used to take the bus home by ourselves at ten or eleven p.m. when we were about 12 or 13 and never encountered anything resembling a problem there.
Was Pro Players stadium formerly the Miami Arena or something like that? Where the Heat played? If so, I agree. Back in the day (early 90s), I went to a concert there and at the I95 exit for the place, the traffic had a tendency to back up badly. They actually hired off-duty cops to stand on the exit ramps to prevent hold-ups of the people in the cars. It was bad. The streets around the Arena were one-way going in before the concert and one-way going out after and lousy with cops. One scary trip.
VCNJ~
[QUOTE=HelloKitty]
I’ve never been to the Orange Bowl, but when I lived in South Florida we went to a game at the now-named (I think, it might have changed) Pro Players Stadium in Miami. It’s in a terrible neighborhood! It is basically in the middle of row upon row of tenement-style housing and streets with broken streetlights, etc. We for sure kept our doors locked when we drove out of the place!
Don’t know if it’s the worst, but its pretty bad.
[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=ShibbOleth]
Agreed. We used to live in the Otterbein area, about 2 blocks from Camden Yards, between the ballpark and the Inner Harbor. That area was very nice and I imagine still is. Pigtown, on the other side is not as nice, but not really as bad as it seems. To the north is mostly U of Maryland - Baltimore, again not upscale, but not horrible. People who think this is a bad part of Baltimore are obviously not from Baltimore. And I think that’s sort of the point of the OP.
[/QUOTE]
Correct. I work at University Medical and I never feel unsafe walking to my car, even if I’m leaving in the wee hours. Many, many hospital staff park at Camden Yards.
[QUOTE=Omniscient]
I think a definite front runner will be Chicago’s Comiskey Park (US Cellular Field), home of the lowly White Sox. The stadium is situated in the dilapidated Armour Square neighborhood right next to the Dan Ryan. There’s very little in the way of business there and abandoned buildings are just as common as used ones.
[/QUOTE]
I’ve only seen Comiskey from the train, coming into Chicago from the south on Amtrak. I remember thinking that the area didn’t look all that great, but considering how lots of cities look from the train, I didn’t make a decision either way. That part of Chicago really is as rundown as it looks out the window?
[QUOTE=Veuve_ClicquotNJ]
Was Pro Players stadium formerly the Miami Arena or something like that? Where the Heat played? If so, I agree. Back in the day (early 90s), I went to a concert there and at the I95 exit for the place, the traffic had a tendency to back up badly. They actually hired off-duty cops to stand on the exit ramps to prevent hold-ups of the people in the cars. It was bad. The streets around the Arena were one-way going in before the concert and one-way going out after and lousy with cops. One scary trip.VCNJ~
[/QUOTE]
No, Pro Player Stadium was the name that was purchased to rename Joe Robbie Stadium. Like most companies with naming rights, they went bankrupt. It is now Dolphins Stadium.
Based on the mid-90’s I agree with The Cell (New Comiskey), and based on the late 90’s, Yankee Stadium’s area wasn’t that great. The one I’m surprised no one has mentioned yet is the United Center in Chicago. I haven’t been there since the late 90’s, but at the time it didn’t seem like a great area. Maybe things have changed.
[QUOTE=bibliophage]
Curb your pride. The OP specifically asked for in-use sports stadiums. The Forum is now a mega-church. If the crime figures from homes.point2.com can be trusted, it looks like Comerica Park in Detroit is in the lead so far.
[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Dignan]
Based on the mid-90’s I agree with The Cell (New Comiskey), and based on the late 90’s, Yankee Stadium’s area wasn’t that great. The one I’m surprised no one has mentioned yet is the United Center in Chicago. I haven’t been there since the late 90’s, but at the time it didn’t seem like a great area. Maybe things have changed.
[/QUOTE]
I would say the United Center area is worse and always has been worse than the Comiskey Park area. I thought Fenway’s neighborhood was worse than Comiskey Park’s.
edit: I should add, that applies if you stay west of the Dan Ryan. East of the Dan Ryan, and it’s a little sketchier, but I wouldn’t consider the area east of the Dan Ryan part of Comiskey’s neighborhood.
[QUOTE=bibliophage]
For what they’re worth, the “total crime risk” figures are from http://homes.point2.com
STADIUM ZIP TOTAL CRIME RISK
Yankees Stadium 10451 70
Oakland Coliseum 94621 229
Orange Bowl 33125 328
Dolphin/Pro Players 33056 154
Comiskey Park 60616 192
(old) Tiger Stadium 48216 333
Comercia Park 48201 392
Cotton Bowl 75210 326
Louisiana Superdome 70112 240
The Forum (L.A.) 90305 412
RFK Stadium 20003 247
Nationals Park (new) ? ?
Monster/Candlestick 94124 ?
Camden Yards 21201 229
[/QUOTE]
I couldn’t find the link for crime risk on that website, but from homefair.com, I got these numbers, somewhat suggesting that Comiskey Park may be perceived as more dangerous than it actually is:
Comiskey Park (60616)
Total Crime Risk 193
Personal Crime Risk 274 (Murder Risk 332, Rape Risk 177)
Property Crime Risk 149
Wrigley Field (60613)
Total Crime Risk 190
Personal Crime Risk 295 (Murder Risk 441, Rape Risk 256)
Property Crime Risk 119
So, going by those numbers (and, to be fair, a ZIP code is not as localized as just the community that surrounds the ballparks), the Wrigley Field zip code is much more risky for personal crime than the Comiskey Park ZIP code.
Just to add to the numbers a little, both ZIP codes are about the same size, around 50,000 residents. The Wrigley Field ZIP code is white by a wide margin. The Comiskey Zip code is about 60% black. I can’t help but think that perceptions of the safety of a neighborhood are somewhat influenced by the racial make-up of these areas. I’m not saying it’s a conscious perception, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there is an element of this in it. Maybe nobody here on the Dope takes that into account, but among my peers, friends, and family, that’s a definite factor in the perceived safety of a neighborhood.
[QUOTE=JpnDude]
How about the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum? It’s right by South-Central Los Angeles.
[/QUOTE]
This would be my first choice. War zone any direction you look. But USC has been buying up a lot of the area right around the Coliseum for new building, so the DMZ is slowly being pushed back a bit.
I still wouldn’t drive there at night, though.
The big dividing line with the new Nationals ballpark would be the river it sits on. On its side of the Anacostia is the Navy Yard area, which has the Navy Yard, the Department of Transportation, lots of new office space and a revived 8th Street Corridor, with lots of restaurants and actual nightlife.
Across the river is the Anacostia neighborhood, which is really, really bad.
