[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by wanderer34

He also did preside over the Iverson era. Croce was the GM, I believe, and while Snider was primarily a hockey man, we had one of best players in AI. If you couldn't see that, then I don't know if you're a fan of basketball or what.

He let the team get bad enough to stumble into Iverson. Regardless, he never cared about basketball and this is not relevant to the discussion at hand.

Originally Posted by wanderer34

It's al about logistics as well as location. The Sports Complex has two major interstates, a state highway (PA 611 - Broad St), a major arterial (Pattison Ave), and even side streets that are as wide as Market St and wider in some instances.

Cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars. You're missing the point. This is a city. The transit is the priority and will reduce the reliance on cars.

Originally Posted by wanderer34

It may make more financial sense to build a stadium in the center of the city, but even a moron can see that traffic plus congestion will clog not only Market and Broad, but all of the side streets east of Broad.

This bolded point is why they will not build in the stadium complex. If the financials aren't there, it's not going to happen. everything else is moot. Also more talk about cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars cars.

Originally Posted by wanderer34

Plus the train sets on the BSL and the MFL have 6 cars each. If you're going to want more space inside the trains, you have to expand to ten cars if you're considering spectators and the same can be said for the regional rail system.

I'm pro transit expansion and increased demand increased the likelihood of improvements! Again, it's the financials. Also, if you think the transit is good enough at the stadiums now with just the BSL (all south bound and funneling all other transit lines), then it is substantially better with the MFL (cars coming from the east AND west), regional rails, and trolleys feeding directly to the arena. Currently the BSL has to take all the traffic from these lines for the last leg of the journey, that concentration on one transit option is no longer needed here. Are you getting this? Do you need it sketched out?

Originally Posted by wanderer34

Everybody who's pro Chinatown (or downtown) arena has this pie-in-the-sky thinking that this one arena is going to raise Philly's profile, boost wealth, and somehow turn Philadelphia into this elite city.

Literally nobody has said this. Stop it with the strawman arguments. This is about revitalizing one of the most highly visible commercial corridors in the city and replacing a defunct mall with an engaging asset. Could that impact our image? Maybe? However that is not the point. The point is it is the best possible (read: actually proposed and not theoretical) option to fix Market East. Nobody has said anything about this turning us into an "elite city", whatever that means.

Originally Posted by wanderer34

we're still the poorest Top 10 big city.

Irrelevant since there is no public money involved here and possibly wrong (or soon to be wrong) - Houston is gunning for our belt!

Originally Posted by wanderer34

Philadelphia isn't as big as NYC and if we were, it wouldn't be a problem placing an arena downtown

Plenty of cities have does this who are not NYC. We're not building MSG, we're not building TD Bank, we're talking about a peer, yes, but it will be it's own thing that's learned from what's been built before and been shown to work, and it will be build for PHILLY.

Originally Posted by wanderer34

My beef is not with the new arena per se, but the location. There's more than enough space in the Sports Complex to build three new venues alone. I'd prefer the WFC but if Harris wants a new arena (and cheaper land costs), he should consider the Sports Complex.

You already admitted the financials don't work as well at the stadium. I'm sad they're leaving South Philly too, but their rationale is logical, not spiteful and will be a positive overall. Change is hard, but it is also constant, so stop complaining about something that is financially illogical (staying in the complex) and look at what is feasible (Market St, Camden!?, Penns Landing, 30th Street, etc). This move away from the WFC was inevitable, if you think there is a better option that makes sense, happy to hear about it, but I'm happy with this because it could have been worse, this is a winner. This isn't the Colts leaving Baltimore.

Originally Posted by wanderer34

I'm not 100% sold that Harris will pay for the traffic improvements and other infrastructure around Center City (electrical, water & sewage, capping Vine St, etc.), as the land at 10th and Market plus the arena seems to be the only thing that he's committed to and not the improvements around the arena and vicinity.

This is part of what all the community back and forth is about. He better!

Originally Posted by wanderer34

It's comical for some, but depending on where you're at and where you live, it's best to get early than just thinking you're going to make it in 30 min on time to your assigned seat when you have up to 20K people arriving at WFC for the same reason. Especially if it's an important regular season game or a playoff game. You have to blame yourself for being tardy as well as SEPTA for that one!

That sounds like much bigger issue when driving and driving from OUTSIDE the city. So more cars, cars, cars, cars, cars. If you're taking public transit this is rarely ever an issue - especially when you don't need to make transfers. That is really where I've found delays pile up getting to the stadium complex (or anywhere). The stadium complex requires transfers for anyone not on the BSL, as I did when I use to take the R7 or R6 from Chestnut Hill or Manayunk and now that I take the 34 from West Philly. The new proposal does not. That is why it is superior. You will no longer need to transfer on public transit or a car with a silly 2 hour lead time to get to a 6ers game once this is built. Time is the most valuable resource on the planet. I suggest you celebrate getting a bit more back with this move.

Also, just FYI, I was not tardy with my son, we had a transfer issue, yes, but we actually still JUST made it into CBP (not into our seats) for the first pitch though it involved a lot more running than I'd hoped for. Also, if we had to arrive TWO hours early for a game, I wouldn't ever be able to take my son to one. What a sad world that would be.