Wrigley Renovation Thread

[Guest]

A couple of articles Brett posted regarding the possibility of/credibility of a threat to move.

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-edit-wrigley-20130320,0,4600310.story

 

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20130319/BLOGS02/130319747/dupage-cubs-the-plot-thickens

[Careless]

If the city, the team and basically everybody could come together on providing one or two west-east connecting CTA trains it would make getting around the north neighborhoods much easier and would be quite condusive to commerce.

Quite a lot cheaper to build a new stadium than a few miles of new El tracks. Horrifying, but true.

 

Hell, NYC is paying over $2 billion per mile of new subway now.

In my own job search and looking for others, it's always surprised me how many different companies have significant presence in the suburbs. Sears, Allstate, Redbox, Motorola, etc. You get some reverse commuters there too, but in my limited experience there's definitely more local workers than city workers in my world(Northwest suburbs).

six of the 32 fortune 500 companies HQed in Illinois are in Chicago proper. Another four are out of the metro area, leaving 22 in the suburbs. And things like Boeing aren't exactly large employers in the region.

[Guest]

six of the 32 fortune 500 companies HQed in Illinois are in Chicago proper. Another four are out of the metro area, leaving 22 in the suburbs. And things like Boeing aren't exactly large employers in the region.

There are a whole bunch of stereotypes and not many facts being thrown around in this conversation.

 

Thanks for using some facts.

[KaiserCesar]

If the city, the team and basically everybody could come together on providing one or two west-east connecting CTA trains it would make getting around the north neighborhoods much easier and would be quite condusive to commerce.

Quite a lot cheaper to build a new stadium than a few miles of new El tracks. Horrifying, but true.

 

 

Any new east-west transit would more than likely be a BRT route. I don't believe any corridors on the north side were in the feasibility study done recently for potential projects in the city, but I imagine it could be done on Irving Park Rd. However, I hate to imagine the traffic implications for having 50-60 night games a year at 7pm at that location. Despite the proximity to the North and NW suburban employment centers, you'd probably have to ramp up the service on UP-NW and MD-N lines to provide other options and to ease any potential congestion.

 

edit: looks like Irving Park was in that study --http://www.metroplanning.org/uploads/cms/documents/brt_report_20110817_reva.pdf

[cbbryan]

A couple of articles Brett posted regarding the possibility of/credibility of a threat to move.

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-edit-wrigley-20130320,0,4600310.story

 

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20130319/BLOGS02/130319747/dupage-cubs-the-plot-thickens

 

I find it hard to believe the Cubs would move, but having the leverage can't hurt. That said, think of what the Cubs could do with 25 acres. They could build a whole lot more than a ballpark.

[jersey cubs fan]

A couple of articles Brett posted regarding the possibility of/credibility of a threat to move.

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-edit-wrigley-20130320,0,4600310.story

 

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20130319/BLOGS02/130319747/dupage-cubs-the-plot-thickens

 

I find it hard to believe the Cubs would move, but having the leverage can't hurt. That said, think of what the Cubs could do with 25 acres. They could build a whole lot more than a ballpark.

A park and a parking lot

[Ryne Ween]

six of the 32 fortune 500 companies HQed in Illinois are in Chicago proper. Another four are out of the metro area, leaving 22 in the suburbs. And things like Boeing aren't exactly large employers in the region.

There are a whole bunch of stereotypes and not many facts being thrown around in this conversation.

 

Thanks for using some facts.

 

Except this information doesnt mean anything. So Sara Lee is in Downers and Kraft is in Northbrook so we should put a stadium in the suburbs? Obviously you guys know there are more people living/working in Chicago than any cluster of suburbs agglomerated onto chicago. The "suburbs" isnt a single place its hundreds of miles of sprawl.

[cbbryan]

 

I find it hard to believe the Cubs would move, but having the leverage can't hurt. That said, think of what the Cubs could do with 25 acres. They could build a whole lot more than a ballpark.

A park and a parking lot

 

Depends on how they do the parking. If they were to build parking garages instead of an open parking lot, I would think they'd have room to build a few businesses. Maybe I'm overestimating the possibilities.

 

Edit: Just an example, the Twins new Target Field is built on an 8 acre plot. Why couldn't the Cubs do something similar?

[SouthSideRyan]

A couple of articles Brett posted regarding the possibility of/credibility of a threat to move.

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-edit-wrigley-20130320,0,4600310.story

 

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20130319/BLOGS02/130319747/dupage-cubs-the-plot-thickens

 

I find it hard to believe the Cubs would move, but having the leverage can't hurt. That said, think of what the Cubs could do with 25 acres. They could build a whole lot more than a ballpark.

 

Again, I'm struggling why the Cubs are supposed to care about having 25 free acres to build on in a shitty area that nobody cares about.

[cbbryan]

 

Again, I'm struggling why the Cubs are supposed to care about having 25 free acres to build on in a [expletive] area that nobody cares about.

 

As I stated above, I don't believe the Cubs will move in the end. That said, if they were to move, I believe they could open up diverse revenue streams with 25 acres to work with.

 

It may be an area that no one cares about now, but it's hard to argue fans wouldn't follow the Cubs to Rosemont. We're not talking about 25 free acres in Iowa.

[MSG T]

six of the 32 fortune 500 companies HQed in Illinois are in Chicago proper. Another four are out of the metro area, leaving 22 in the suburbs. And things like Boeing aren't exactly large employers in the region.

There are a whole bunch of stereotypes and not many facts being thrown around in this conversation.

 

Thanks for using some facts.

 

Except this information doesnt mean anything. So Sara Lee is in Downers and Kraft is in Northbrook so we should put a stadium in the suburbs? Obviously you guys know there are more people living/working in Chicago than any cluster of suburbs agglomerated onto chicago. The "suburbs" isnt a single place its hundreds of miles of sprawl.

 

 

But, isn't the point that if you have people willing to travel into the city from those spread out areas, wouldn't they also be willing to travel to one of those other spread out areas? And would those fans in the city be willing to travel? It's not about population density in a 1 sq mile area of a much larger overall area, it's about the total number of people within that area that are willing to travel.

[Guest]

 

Again, I'm struggling why the Cubs are supposed to care about having 25 free acres to build on in a [expletive] area that nobody cares about.

 

As I stated above, I don't believe the Cubs will move in the end. That said, if they were to move, I believe they could open up diverse revenue streams with 25 acres to work with.

 

It may be an area that no one cares about now, but it's hard to argue fans wouldn't follow the Cubs to Rosemont. We're not talking about 25 free acres in Iowa.

 

I don't know that I'd call it a shitty area that nobody cares about, anyway. Definitely not a great spot for a stadium, given the planes, but downtown Rosemont is actually pretty cool.

[jersey cubs fan]

 

I find it hard to believe the Cubs would move, but having the leverage can't hurt. That said, think of what the Cubs could do with 25 acres. They could build a whole lot more than a ballpark.

A park and a parking lot

 

Depends on how they do the parking. If they were to build parking garages instead of an open parking lot, I would think they'd have room to build a few businesses. Maybe I'm overestimating the possibilities.

 

Edit: Just an example, the Twins new Target Field is built on an 8 acre plot. Why couldn't the Cubs do something similar?

 

It's a baseball team, they aren't going to be building an amusement park and car wash.

[jersey cubs fan]

But, isn't the point that if you have people willing to travel into the city from those spread out areas, wouldn't they also be willing to travel to one of those other spread out areas? And would those fans in the city be willing to travel? It's not about population density in a 1 sq mile area of a much larger overall area, it's about the total number of people within that area that are willing to travel.

 

No, people travel from suburbs into cities. For 8 Sundays a year you could get people to travel out to another suburb. But this isn't football. It's 81 days a year and a fanbase accustomed to attending the game in the city. It will be much harder to get them to go to some suburb 81 times a year to watch this team.

[Guest]

 

I find it hard to believe the Cubs would move, but having the leverage can't hurt. That said, think of what the Cubs could do with 25 acres. They could build a whole lot more than a ballpark.

A park and a parking lot

 

Depends on how they do the parking. If they were to build parking garages instead of an open parking lot, I would think they'd have room to build a few businesses. Maybe I'm overestimating the possibilities.

 

Edit: Just an example, the Twins new Target Field is built on an 8 acre plot. Why couldn't the Cubs do something similar?

 

It's a baseball team, they aren't going to be building an amusement park and car wash.

 

They could do something similar to the Wrigleyville West thing that's happening at the new ST complex, though.

[SouthSideRyan]

 

Again, I'm struggling why the Cubs are supposed to care about having 25 free acres to build on in a [expletive] area that nobody cares about.

 

As I stated above, I don't believe the Cubs will move in the end. That said, if they were to move, I believe they could open up diverse revenue streams with 25 acres to work with.

 

It may be an area that no one cares about now, but it's hard to argue fans wouldn't follow the Cubs to Rosemont. We're not talking about 25 free acres in Iowa.

 

I don't know that I'd call it a [expletive] area that nobody cares about, anyway. Definitely not a great spot for a stadium, given the planes, but downtown Rosemont is actually pretty cool.

 

Compared to downtown Naperville.

[SouthSideRyan]

 

I find it hard to believe the Cubs would move, but having the leverage can't hurt. That said, think of what the Cubs could do with 25 acres. They could build a whole lot more than a ballpark.

A park and a parking lot

 

Depends on how they do the parking. If they were to build parking garages instead of an open parking lot, I would think they'd have room to build a few businesses. Maybe I'm overestimating the possibilities.

 

Edit: Just an example, the Twins new Target Field is built on an 8 acre plot. Why couldn't the Cubs do something similar?

 

It's a baseball team, they aren't going to be building an amusement park and car wash.

 

They could do something similar to the Wrigleyville West thing that's happening at the new ST complex, though.

 

ST games draw 8,000 people.

[glavine93]

 

I find it hard to believe the Cubs would move, but having the leverage can't hurt. That said, think of what the Cubs could do with 25 acres. They could build a whole lot more than a ballpark.

A park and a parking lot

 

Depends on how they do the parking. If they were to build parking garages instead of an open parking lot, I would think they'd have room to build a few businesses. Maybe I'm overestimating the possibilities.

 

Edit: Just an example, the Twins new Target Field is built on an 8 acre plot. Why couldn't the Cubs do something similar?

 

It's a baseball team, they aren't going to be building an amusement park and car wash.

 

there's already a brand new funplex/monstrosity called "MB financial park" right by the rosemont land. among other things, it's home to "toby keith's i love this bar and grill" and the worst parking garage ever. EVER.

[Guest]

ST games draw 8,000 people.

 

I'm not seriously trying to argue in favor of Rosemont as a location for the Cubs, but why would it make it worse if you have 4-5x as many people to potentially frequent the establishments we're talking about?

[jersey cubs fan]

ST games draw 8,000 people.

 

I'm not seriously trying to argue in favor of Rosemont as a location for the Cubs, but why would it make it worse if you have 4-5x as many people to potentially frequent the establishments we're talking about?

 

If you have an area around the stadium that you want people to enjoy before and after games, to draw in extra revenue, you have to be in the city. You are not going to get people to drive to a Mundelein an hour+ before the game, spend $30 on nonsense, go to the game, and then spend another hour plus after the game.

 

A suburban stadium would only be a park, game and leave situation.

[Banedon]

Tunney tries to defend himself a bit...

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-wrigley-field-tunney-0321-20130321,0,6755883.story

[MWV]

Tunney tries to defend himself a bit...

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-wrigley-field-tunney-0321-20130321,0,6755883.story

 

The artificial deadline, the carefully leaked tidbits and the specter of relocation are out of the well-worn playbook used by sports owners to win a stadium deal.

Never mind that the Cubs aren't attempting to extort stadium cash from the city, à la Jeff Loria, but rather trying to spend their own money on much needed improvements to the facilities they own.

[Mark Priors Calves]

there's already a brand new funplex/monstrosity called "MB financial park" right by the rosemont land. among other things, it's home to "toby keith's i love this bar and grill" and the worst parking garage ever. EVER.

 

that parking garage is the an abomination

[Guest]

 

A suburban stadium would only be a park, game and leave situation.

Right and not much walk-up traffic either. I've gone to Wrigley several times without a ticket hoping I'm going to find good seats from a scalper or knowing I"m going to go to a bar around the game and then hang out in Chicago. I"m not doing that anywhere else.

 

The Cubs leverage is not in moving to the suburbs. It's the brand and making everyone rich(er) with the brand. They are all trying to get the biggest slice.

[DrCub]

From a purely attendance based view; how does Philadelphia (#1 in 2012 attendance, and surrounded by parking lots and crap), Milwaukee (#11 in attendance in 2012, right behind the Cubs, and surrounded by parking lots), and Anaheim (#7 in 2012 attendance, and same crap type locale) get all those people to come to games? Pittsburgh had a good season, and has some decent bars, etc around it and had terrible attendance. Is it purely having a good team? I really am interested to know. While I'm confident that Rosemont isn't happening; I'm equally confident the Cubs could do quite well outside of Wrigleyville.