A Fear of Garages
Wednesday, November 22, 2006 at 7:11am 4 comments (last by Jamison)
Yesterday, San Francisco officials made public the Candlestick Point redevelopment plan they've been trying to negotiate with the 49ers. Replacing the cold damp stadium and the vast parking lot used 10 days a year would be a new neighborhood with 65,000 housing units, a hotel, parks, kayaking, main street lined with sports bars and not just a new 49ers stadium but a 8,000-10,000 arena for other events. Moving the surface parking into a 9,300 car garage seems to open up a lot of space.
I'm guessing this was made public just to show how unreasonable the 49ers have been in negotiations. And their reaction? The Niner's CFO Larry MacNeil called the plan "spectacular" except for one problem.
"The idea of being in a big garage, stuck in traffic, surrounded by other cars that are idling was not something our fans were particularly interested in," he said. "We're looking to break new ground on the stadium. But we're not looking to terrify our fans."
So exactly what kind of girlie-men are 49ers fans that they are scared of parking garages? Are they scared to drive across the bridge too? If the team were familiar with the San Francisco bay area, they'd know that is what the morning commute is like anyway.
This all seems to come down to tailgate parties for them, but in the narrowest view that every single fan wants to have one in the parking lot. While the 8 story garage would only allow one-eighth of those driving in to have a barbecue, the city has pointed out there will also be space along the waterfront park and the sports bars and clubs will provide an alternative option, probably a more appealing one given how cold Candlestick can be.
4 Comments
Jamison Thursday, November 23, 2006 at 10:07am
No matter where the new stadium goes, a flat parking lot is going to be a waste of land. Both Candlestick and Hunter's Points would be better utilized as housing and mixed use developments.
Zig Tuesday, November 28, 2006 at 2:05pm
I am sure it could be workable if they really wanted it to be
I think there are other issues besides the parking garage including the complexity of getting this thing built while remaining at the existing park.
The question to me is why would they want to stay in SF with the logistical issues including the parking garage (which likley would cause traffic problems) without even getting into issues dealing with our poltical culture here when the promised land of Santa Clara is just sitting there. I'm surprised they haven't moved earlier
I personally wonder why noboby mentions the other side of the freeway in Vis Valley right next to Caltrain. It seems to me a nice park could be built there.
Jamison Tuesday, November 28, 2006 at 6:55pm
Well, where the old lock factory sits is going to become an extension of the neighborhood making it more sustainable (they don't have the population to support a grocery store) additional housing both below market rate and targeted at Caltrain commuters and a one stop addition to the T-Third Street line to hook up with Caltrain.
Now south of that you're no longer in the city, but you're right. It's a little further south into Brisbane, but there seems to be plenty of room on the fields between Caltrain's tracks and Bayshore, then from Bayshore to the hills.
It would probably be impossible to swing between all different cities and companies, but a new stadium there could share parking with the Cow Palace, though that sits across another city line in Daly City. A multi-story parking structure is still in order of course, but with fewer stories and shared between them it would not be such a waste.
Since it's a little far from Caltrain the extension in the planning stages to connect the T-Third Street to Caltrain could be designed to run from there to an additional (event only) stop serving both the Cow Palace and Stadium.
It would never happen of course.
Patrick Wednesday, November 22, 2006 at 5:34pm
Matier and Ross were saying that the Candlestick deal is dead, but a new proposal for Hunter's Point is being floated. We'll see.
Actually, I think moving to the South Bay makes good sense for the 49ers. The weather is better and for 10 home games a year, is it really worth it?