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Originally Posted by CIA
When I look at the Meadowlands Sports and Entertainment Complex, the last thing that comes to mind is transit-oriented development. I'm aware there is a NJ Transit stop nearby, but I can't see transit gaining much of a share of the the model split with the car.
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Well it is a transit oriented development. Parking will be limited and expensive. Rail and bus service will be frequent. Much of the traffic will be tourists, who won't be coming in cars. The site is well served by transit, and just a few miles west of Manhattan. It's in the region's core.
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Originally Posted by CIA
Not a good thing, IMO. It's like tourists who come to Manhattan and take a bus to Woodbridge Center Mall. Why? Far cheaper places in the world if wanting to patronage a suburban mall.
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NYC gets tons of international tourists, and the U.S. has much cheaper retail than other countries, especially for luxury goods, which is why you see hordes of foreigners in the malls surrounding NYC, LA, and Miami. My in-laws (living in Germany) spend thousands on retail on their trips to the U.S.
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Originally Posted by CIA
 Malls are in the decline in many places across the country, but this new one is suppose to be a success? Personally, it's a tricky place to get too by car, let alone by transit. |
This isn't a mall, really, and malls aren't in decline. Low-end malls are in decline, but high end malls (like Mall at Short Hills, Garden State Plaza, Roosevelt Field Mall, The Westchester) have never been more profitable. And the majority of revenues are non-retail uses.
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Originally Posted by CIA
There is a reason why the private market wouldn't build this crap. If it ever does opens, I bet it goes the way of the Izod Center. If it ever opens.
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The private market did build this, but NJ taxpayers have subsidized the loans, largely because the financing required this (and because Christie is an idiot, but that's another story). Just because a project doesn't happen without taxpayer subsidies doesn't mean it's an automatically unworthy project.
And, in any case, the subsidies already occurred. The important thing now is to finally open the complex and get the economic boost.