4 ms·

Many years ago, the San Francisco Giants were looking for a new stadium to replace the decrepit Candlestick Park. They settled on some land in the south bay on

Many years ago, the San Francisco Giants were looking for a new stadium to replace the decrepit Candlestick Park. They settled on some land in the south bay on the outskirts of my town. Local town officials approved a plan that would implement a utility tax on residents that would pay a portion of the costs. However, it required the approval of the voters. In the next election, the approval vote appeared on the ballot where, to my pleasant surprise, it was massively rejected, 70% to 30%. Ultimately, the Giants built a fine, new stadium with their own funding on land provided by San Francisco. For us, it was fortunate we had the opportunity to vote on it unlike so many other cities where they're given no choice. (See Seattle, Dallas, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Glendale, New Orleans, Chicago, ...)

raldi 5y ago
On the other hand, having the stadium built in SF was arguably the primary catalyst in the transformation of SOMA from an underused-warehouse district to the new tech epicenter of the world, stealing Silicon Valley's fire in a way previously thought impossible. If the stadium had been built in the south bay, SF might today be saying, "Whew, we really dodged a bullet there", and meanwhile Twitter and Dropbox and Uber and Airbnb would all be headquartered in Santa Clara county and giving them all their employees' tax revenue.
- Drunk_Engineer 5y ago
  SOMA would have developed regardless, and it is nonsense to suggest tech companies want to locate near baseball stadiums.
  - raldi 5y ago
    I never said tech companies want to be near baseball stadiums. Rather (like in Baltimore and San Diego), the new stadium revitalized a neighborhood whose original reason for being had mostly dried up, bringing enough business to support the (re)emergence of nearby restaurants and other amenities, and those investments in the neighborhood made it an attractive place to have offices that eventually became the new primary source of support for the restaurants, condos, hotel, etc. The stadium was what broke the neighborhood out of the chicken-and-egg quandary.
- pbuzbee 5y ago
  Well we have a comparison here, right? Levi's Stadium, where the 49ers play, was built in the South Bay. I wouldn't say that Levi's Stadium sparked a major transformation in the area even after being open nearly 8 years now. Usually the opinion is that Levi's is (relatively) in the middle of nowhere.
  - raldi 5y ago
    I'm not arguing that you can plop a stadium down anywhere and be assured of an entire industry swooping in to cluster around it; I'm arguing that in some situations (particularly the transit-rich urban shells of former industrial/pier/warehouse areas) a stadium can be the catalyst that breaks through the chicken-and-egg barrier and unleashes the neighborhood's latent potential. The area around Levi's Stadium didn't really have much latent potential waiting to be unleashed.

raldi 5y ago

On the other hand, having the stadium built in SF was arguably the primary catalyst in the transformation of SOMA from an underused-warehouse district to the new tech epicenter of the world, stealing Silicon Valley's fire in a way previously thought impossible. If the stadium had been built in the south bay, SF might today be saying, "Whew, we really dodged a bullet there", and meanwhile Twitter and Dropbox and Uber and Airbnb would all be headquartered in Santa Clara county and giving them all their employees' tax revenue.

Drunk_Engineer 5y ago
SOMA would have developed regardless, and it is nonsense to suggest tech companies want to locate near baseball stadiums.
- raldi 5y ago
  I never said tech companies want to be near baseball stadiums. Rather (like in Baltimore and San Diego), the new stadium revitalized a neighborhood whose original reason for being had mostly dried up, bringing enough business to support the (re)emergence of nearby restaurants and other amenities, and those investments in the neighborhood made it an attractive place to have offices that eventually became the new primary source of support for the restaurants, condos, hotel, etc. The stadium was what broke the neighborhood out of the chicken-and-egg quandary.
pbuzbee 5y ago
Well we have a comparison here, right? Levi's Stadium, where the 49ers play, was built in the South Bay. I wouldn't say that Levi's Stadium sparked a major transformation in the area even after being open nearly 8 years now. Usually the opinion is that Levi's is (relatively) in the middle of nowhere.
- raldi 5y ago
  I'm not arguing that you can plop a stadium down anywhere and be assured of an entire industry swooping in to cluster around it; I'm arguing that in some situations (particularly the transit-rich urban shells of former industrial/pier/warehouse areas) a stadium can be the catalyst that breaks through the chicken-and-egg barrier and unleashes the neighborhood's latent potential. The area around Levi's Stadium didn't really have much latent potential waiting to be unleashed.