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Originally Posted by Mister Uptempo
I would rather the Sox stay on 35th. The fact that Guaranteed Rate is a incredibly mediocre place to watch baseball and is surrounded by a wasteland of parking is largely Reinsdorf's doing. Not sure whether any new stadium development would be any better. Jerry's motivations have not changed one iota over time, and a new home for the Sox would likely reflect that.
The state might be able to make a few bucks selling the land the park is on to developers. Bridgeport has become a place for Chinatown overflow, and this could be sold as Bridgeport East.
Ford City is a great idea. Always thought that area would be ripe for a rebuild with an Orange Line extension; doubly so if the N-S portion of the Lime Line were to ever get built. Same goes for some that power center garbage on the west side of Cicero in Burbank. The one thing Ford City does not have is easy access from an interstate, which might be a sticking point. It's about 4.5 miles from I-55, but would mean slogging through airport traffic on Cicero.
I'm not sure moving the Sox to Soldier Field would work. Using Google, Guaranteed Rate and Soldier Field are both right around 17-18 acres. But I don't see how a baseball stadium could fit in SF's narrow footprint, unless you wanted to recreate the Dodgers' experience in the LA Coliseum in the 50's. 
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Using Google Maps I tried to measure the distances, and I think it could be done if you take out the south portion of the west grandstand at Soldier Field. The idea would be to reexpose the west colonnades, and the colonnades themselves would provide a kind of "Green Monster" effect in left field. The home plate's most logical position would seem to be in the southeast corner of the current field.
I think you could also take out the 300 level on the north end which would partially, or perhaps in whole, give a vista out onto the Field Museum and much of the skyline. By taking away these and many of the west side's seats you are likely talking about a 30-35k seat stadium. You would probably want to shoehorn somehow more seats on the south end with another tier. Not sure how easy or practical it would be to do that.
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Trying to re-jigger the area to fit baseball would likely mean moving things like the Gold Star Families' Memorial. That'd be a tough sell. But, to bring up a sore spot for many, does One Central make any more sense with 81 MLB games a year than with 8 or 9 NFL games?
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Why so? Trying to rebuild outside the footprint of the current stadium would be a non-starter. I don't see the need to get anywhere near the Memorial.
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Bronzeville Lakefront, is around 95 acres, if the truck marshalling yards are counted. The 77 is 62 acres.
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The Marshalling yards would be a potential fit. Though give its more narrow configuration I am not sure it the footprint makes sense. I excluded the 78 because now with the new Wells Street and new railroad alignment I don't think there is a potential proper footprint there either.
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The state still owns the site. So, consider that Illinois' contribution to the stadium effort. The Village of Tinley Park has been fighting with the state just maintain the property. The town has plans to one day use some of the site for parks and convert the rest to residential, but they had similar plans a few years ago and were more than willing to toss those plans in a dumpster when the possibility of a racino came up. They'd likely do it again for the Sox.
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I think Tinley Park is just too far removed for even most South Siders. What may make more sense is Naperville. I forget where the land is that Naperville was said to be offering the Bears, but obviously, that same land could be in play for a new Sox park. Lots of discretionary income, perhaps even some retail/residential possibilities, and perhaps some decent transit connections.
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