WrigleyField 22

I mean sure, but also if you don't, okay. Nothing to be mad about.

Canceling my plans for Fields jersey for this one now...

The official Chicago Metropolitan area as defined by the census bureau We need a stadium location version of this... I like that each "side" of the debate also feels the other is the weird nerd part of the meme.

And that small minority of people are wrong. People should work harder in school. The "Chicago" in that middle pic incorporates some of the most rural places in the state. I'm referring more to the "Central Illinois" part. I can't put Champaign in the same categories as Carbondale, for example. And Champaign isn't northern Illinois either. But it's an abstract graphic, you can nitpick any of the borders Every good Chicagoan knows that South of I-80 is Southern Illinois. And South of 64 is Kentucky.

Illinois/Chicago antecdote. My friend from Effingham area would tell people when she was studying abroad she was from IL, which automatically made them think Chicago (and then either Capone or MJ) . That annoyed her so she just started saying St. Louis. So it's definitely a "know your crowd" scenario if you wanna give a roughly accurate description. Naperville and Aurora are probably big enough and known enough, for instance, to just start there rather than Chicago if that's where you live.

People from the city of Chicago get upset when a person from the suburbs says they are from Chicago whether they're talking to a person from Illinois, New York or England. It's very goofy horsefeathers. The city is the city though and Arlington Heights makes Evanston look like the Loop. That middle pic is pretty crazy. The official Chicago Metropolitan area as defined by the census bureau

I actually like the east side with the glass. The saucer part is ugly, collanades or not. But really, trying to save the collanades just really screwed that reno.

IIRC during the remodel they did everything they could to incorporate the colonnades to maintain the landmark status. End result - a horsefeathers looking structure, so bad that it lost the status they tried so hard to maintain. Also - they ended up with the smallest stadium seat capacity in the NFL. This is the most horsefeathering Bears series of events short of them accidentally imploding the place. Jesus Christ. The Bears would walk away fairly unscathed. The city on the other hand....

Its possible the headache of how to split it like 50 ways post Virginia is just not worth it (plus the NFL maybe wouldn't allow it).

Best guess is the McCaskeys made a deal with the NFL, where the NFL agreed to pony up a significant chunk of the financing for the new stadium which will be paid off either in the long haul or as part of any sale of the team. The State of Illinois is not in any financial position to assist with this move and the best the Bears are likely going to get from Arlington Heights and Cook County is real estate tax relief. It's possible there's a major lender behind the scenes on this since most of the McCaskeys' wealth is tied up in the Bears, but I don't see how the NFL would allow the Bears to be plunged into that kind of debt to a third party unless that person is going to purchase the team. If theres a financer already lined up and ready to buy the Bears, it's very likely Pat Ryan, who reportedly has rights of first refusal anyways on any McCaskey sale. I don't think he's quite wealthy enough to go it all alone, but connected enough to lead a ownership group.

I've never purchased land let alone of this magnitude, but submitting a bid feels like more than posturing to me. Announcing that you have made a bid is absolutely posturing. It could lead to something, but generally speaking organizations do not announce their intentions to pay for transparency reasons. Any bid is likely to come with tons of contingencies. In the Bears case, financing, almost certainly of significant public source, is a huge one. So these bids are more outlines. Followed by tons of due diligence and finalizing financing.

I just saw this. I think that was exactly me.

3 pick in 7 on 7 for a certain QB? It'sHappening.gif

Somewhat related, Ravinia has a train stop right outside the venue and after a show - it is a complete nightmare to jump the train. Parking (travel by bus to the lots) is a rodeo as well. Point is - even if there is mass transit, as Tim pointed out - getting a large number of people to leave at the same time is gonna be a nightmare with or w/o mass transit. I don't think anyone would claim its possible to have a 50k + stadium and not have congestion issues. It's of course its not going to be a trip to the grocery store. But touting SFs transit as a positive is laughable compared to the other stadiums in the city. It's only positive in the sense there are multiple options that all kind of suck.

Somewhat related, Ravinia has a train stop right outside the venue and after a show - it is a complete nightmare to jump the train. Parking (travel by bus to the lots) is a rodeo as well. Point is - even if there is mass transit, as Tim pointed out - getting a large number of people to leave at the same time is gonna be a nightmare with or w/o mass transit. Right, people point out that Arlington Park has its own Metra stop and use it as a reason why a stadium in Arlington Heights would be easy to get to. It's one Metra stop on one Metra line. While there are cross-suburb highways like 355 and 294, by and large Chicago's infrastructure is built to get people to and from the city. Someone in like Tinley Park doesnt care about the Metra, they care about having to switch highways 3-4 times and then drive on surface streets not designed to send 60,000 people into a concentrated area. 53 is 3 lanes without any shoulders in the area near Arlington Park exit, and I don't think taking Rand or Northwest Highway is going to be any better. Of course the local roads would have to be looked at a site like Arlington or wherever. And definitely a move to Arlington would be less convenient for certain south suburbs people. But as far as transit to SF goes, the one 18th street Metra stop is the only one that's all that convenient. Roosevelt is at least 20 minutes, but from my experience with a Gameday crowd its probably closer to double that. McCormick Green is about the same. Not sure how bused are, but I can't imagine theyre a great option. As to the hypothetical Tinley park person. It's currently something like 80 to 57 to 94 to LSD. To Arlington is 80 to 355 to 290 to Euclid. So even though it's further the number of HW thing isn't really an accurate complaint. Although theres obviously certain areas that may end up relevant. But yea, there would be some relative winners and losers. But SF is kind of a centrally loser spot for almost everyone, not an actual good spot.

Agreed. I think it was one of the Hawks Cup rallies that I'm still scarred over. I lived in walking difference to Soldier Field so wasn't using public transit or car, and getting out of the stadium vicinity was the worst stadium experience I've ever had. But all the other times I've been, including for Soccer games which aren't as packed as a Bears game and it just always seems to suck. Edit- and as much as getting on the redline after a Cubs game can also be soul-crushingly miserable, there's at least alternatives because you're in the middle of a neighborhood with Bars and restaurants. SF doesn't offer any alternative like that.

Transit normally helps, but I think the transit isn't quite close enough (at least the El stops) and then you're land locked with the lake which lessens the exit paths.

Uh, wow this take.. It's not just that he uttered the word. Also what in hell is the "full blown outed racist" crap? The line isn't "not racist" and "KKK". He's going to undergo sensitivity training. He isn't losing his job.

Yea I don't care about the Final Fours and Super Bowls and horsefeathers. As an actual IL resident all I really want is for IL to not shell out any money to build something new for the Bears or any sports team. Beyond that, I think they could do more accessible than Soldier Field, although you are likely talking about less accessibility for some group, unless there's some magical space on the west side or something, but I think that ship sailed post UC.

It’s picturesque but yeah not exactly a ideal location for a 60,000 seat football stadium. I’d prefer the Bears find something in the city and I could live with Soldier Fields location as my concern is more the stadium than the location. I want a stadium that can host Super Bowls, Final Fours, Big Ten Championship games, etc. if that has to be built in Arlington heights or something so be it. Cowboys Stadium is not in Dallas, whatever they call the Cardinals stadium is far away from central Phoenix, MetLife field is not centrally located, nor is the new LA stadium. Yea, Soldier Field is mostly good for being picturesque. It's kind of miserable to get in and out of. For 8 times a year, the boonies is okay. For baseball and even hockey/basketball, it's a bigger factor. And Arlington Heights is still not even that "Boonies". There's a Metra stop there at least. We're not talking Dekalb or something.

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Not sure if serious, but they can't do that.

Once you realize Javy is a jedi who occasionally uses his jedi mind tricks in game it explains a lot.

Well they don't own any of it. So that's the trade off. Don't get me wrong, it was a pretty sweet deal as is for the Bears, but owning a domed stadium outright and still getting city/state to kick in financing would probably be the preferred deal for most teams.

Well they surely wouldn't finance the whole project, but they could chip in more than the McCakseys. That's basically why they have Soldier Field. A rich and experienced businessperson would have a dome and enough equity to make it very worthwhile, while milking the state for as much as they could. The Bears aren’t in Soldier Field because the McCaskeys are too poor Its a pretty big reason. Inability to secure financing killed the Elk Grove deal in 98 is my understanding.