Quote:
Originally Posted by electricron
I strongly disagree. All one has to do is look at the results surrounding sport facilities in other Texas cities. Ballparks in Arlington, Houston, and Round Rock, no new developments. Arenas in Houston, San Antonio, and Cedar Park, no new developments, or far less than hoped for in Dallas. Football stadiums in San Antonio, Houston, and Arlington, no new developments. Why do you think Austin would get better results? Besides UT facilities, what major development exists near Royal Stadium?
Sporting facilities usually cause a death knell for any new developments around them.
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It really depends on how they are done. Arlington is a horrible example because Cowboys Stadium, the Ballpark, and Six Flags were all built with Rhode Island-sized parking lots on every side. Not to mention, Arlington is largely suburban sprawl to begin with. Even on a good day, it takes a good bit to get to downtown Fort Worth and even longer to get to downtown Dallas. There's no rail link (TRE is a good bit north of there) and there's no plan for one in the immediate future. Arlington, for whatever reason, opposed the TRE going through their city at the time it was built, if I remember right. FC Dallas' choice of Frisco for their stadium is equally bad, in my opinion, though in fairness the metroplex is developing (and getting more dense) to the north...it's still sprawl for now, though, and will take years (decades) to truly densify that far north. Houston did well for the Dynamo to have their stadium right next to the CBD. It's a fantastic stadium and adds to the neighborhood.
Riverside is relatively close to downtown Austin and makes more sense for natural expansion of development into that area - and it's already begun. If large venues are done from the beginning with relating to the surrounding neighborhood(s) in mind (i.e., with ground-level retail, no acreage of surface parking lots...), then it can tie together pretty nicely and organically. The Detroit one, I think, is a great example. Public transportation, if done correctly (and if the general public sees it as advantageous to utilize it), can offset the need for so much parking to begin with.