Yeah, these things are bad, but they are trade-offs. The number of trees removed looks really minimal, and fine when compared to the resulting improvements to the grounds. Turning over space to be used exclusively by the team is bad. A terrible precedent for a public park. The obvious thing to is for the city to pay to fix up this stadium it owns, and keep complete control. But governments seem allergic to doing absolutely anything beneficial for people unless it's a part of some Public-Private Partnership of dubious value. I'm not even mad at the Emerald Necklace Conservancy for railing against this their lawsuit. They're right. But at a certain point, I'd just like a stadium.
Yeah, cars suck. They ruin cities. But this plan to keep cars away can work, I think, depending a lot on the details. There is literally not enough space in the area for any large number of people to drive and park, and people will figure that out pretty quick. Aggressive parking enforcement, with offending cars getting ticketed and towed, that'll deter drivers pretty quick. There aren't many spots better suited for public transit. I think this plan works.
This I don't understand at all. You will still be able to go to Franklin Park for peace and quiet, exactly as usual, 345 days a year. On those few game days, other people want to use the park to be loud and rowdy. They should be able to do that, too. If you still want peace and quiet on those days, the park is more than 500 acres. Find a quiet spot. There will be plenty.
Also, I don't understand this complaint because the noise and the crowds would be there in any situation where the stadium is fixed up and filled to capacity. Even if it's just for high school football, a filled ~11,000 seat stadium will be loud from spectators and stadium speakers. So what do you want to actually happen to this stadium? Demolish it? Fix it up, but cut the capacity way down? What would you actually want here?
I think it’s pretty simple. If you’re talking about doing something for a company or a public private partnership, that leads to any nuisance for the surrounding neighborhood, people should have a much greater say in that decision than they should in something that truly improves the common good, such as better and safer transportation, denser housing, more geographic equity in education, etc.
Perception creates its own reality, and for that reason I think there is a major difference between a stadium owned by the city hosting events for the citizens of the city (let’s not forget, it was built for high school games), and hosting events at the behest of some national sporting group that some people might like, but is not really something coming from or enjoyed by the grassroots. I am not saying this is a complete parallel, but this is why we didn’t want the Olympics here: hosting the Olympics doesn’t do anything for the people on the ground, it’s for other people’s benefit. So this distinction does matter to me and I suspect to many others.
In your previous post you said we as a region are sunk if the neighborhood could defeat something like this, and I would disagree with that. I think these are the things that the neighborhood actually should have a say in, even though it frustrates me that the neighborhoods can defeat so many other things that truly should be forced upon the city, even against resistance, that I mentioned above. I don’t live near here and I have not participated in the process, but if it is true, as some have said, that the typical process for approving this has actually been rushed, then I am with the critics. If a reasonable and fair and consistent process is followed and it still happens, then sure, detractors can sod off, but it sounds like we’re not there yet as far as I can tell.
I really don’t like the fact that government, as you say, won’t do anything on its own and public private partnerships are the only way to do things. We are just sliding deeper and deeper into totally unfettered capitalism and corporate dominance of every decision making process, and I don’t think we need a race to the bottom to outcompete other states’ “gimmes” to attract investment. Wu, out anyone, ought to hew close to that ethos.
Lastly, a major event is a major event. People drive, get dropped off, Uber, and there buses, security and emergency vehicles, and concessions and equipment delivery vehicles that all swarm in. It doesn’t matter if this was here or in downtown crossing, a big event is a zoo and that’s just the way it is, and certainly this area is very tight quarters other than Seaver itself, and a BRT line is not going to simply solve that problem.
Coda: I would definitely go these games if it was built; as a non-abutter, it sounds pretty fun. I am just trying to put myself in their shoes, since it would not impact me the way it would them.
