Raise the Hammer

Yada yada, I"d like to respond to your points. I"ll just post the corresponding number instead of quoting everything:

1. I know. That's the problem. It's the cars that matter, not the eyeballs apparently.

2. The point is, over a million people are at our waterfront. Based on my observations as someone who is down there much of the summer, there are always more people on the waterfront trail and Bayfront Park than anywhere else, including Williams. But again, these must be homeless, money-less people in the eyes of Primus since they aren't on the waterfront trail in their cars.

3. The locations aren't even remotely close to being similar. There are some homes to the south of this new location, but the rest is factory and empty, polluted brownfield with the waterfront all along the north. Why has no real city built a stadium in the middle of nowhere for a looooong time now? They are all built in downtown, urban areas surrounded by many more residents than Barton/Hess.

4. I assume you're new to Hamilton. This property will sit here like this forever unless massive public funds are involved. Heck, most of our builders won't touch a perfectly clean building or lot downtown without massive public money.

5. I've yet to meet the person who considers polluted, abandoned brownfields as equating to a higher quality of life than clean land, new public spaces, an entertainment venue, shops, restaurants, patios, improved transit and roadways and improved connections to the harbourfront and downtown core. See downtown stadium districts in San Diego, San Fran, Toronto, Baltimore, Boston etc.... if polluted, empty brownfields are a better quality of life than those areas than I'm speechless.

6. Again, refer to my partial list of stadium districts above. I do agree that there is potential for a dysfunctional community, not because a stadium equals that, but because dysfunctional is what we do best in Hamilton. It doesn't have to be that way though if we learn from real cities that are centuries ahead of us by having developed their urban districts, including stadiums, properly - again, there's a reason why nobody is building stadiums in remote locations or in the middle of factories these days and it isn't because all of those cities are intentionally trying to lower the quality of life in their downtowns.

Comment edited by jason on 2010-03-20 22:28:59