Racist T-Shirts Around Wrigley?

[Pants Rowland]

First point, the sox didn't pay for the stadium, so a stadium design that would've fostered quite a bit more commercial activity is far more beneficial to me than allowing people to drive to the games and pollute and add traffic at an already awful time.

BUt to your second point, you are correct. However, had it happened 20 years ago we'd have had that much more progress. Look at Wicker park 20 years ago to now. Look at South Loop. It was so god damn boring and stupid.

 

But, there is clearly overregulation right now that could really help create something by the sox stadium. Look at the restrictions the new jimbos is working around (liquor license freeze).

 

By no means am I saying that what they did 20 years ago was the right thing to do or even a well thought out plan. From a relative standpoint, I am dumbfounded by how little the new ballpark has done to stimulate or promote additional growth in the area since its opening. A lot more could have been done over the past 2 decades had they come up with a better plan. However, let's also not forget that the row of housing projects across the Dan Ryan were still all in place when this park was originally constructed and as Greg points out below, Bridgeport was not always the most welcoming neighborhood either. Not everyone has the vision to conceptualize the transformation that has taken place in 20 years. Hindsight is 20/20, but it was still an ill-conceived plan at the time.

 

Ah, I get it.

But some of us remember Old Comiskey before they had the massive parking lots. There were houses in the neighborhood right by the park and it was a dangerous situation. You had to pay thugs on the street money to "watch your car" during the game. To the thugs' credit, if you paid the thugs 10 bucks, you would come out to find your car still had its tires inflated If you didn't pay, good chance your tires would be flat.

The argument would be, if the Sox didn't buy out all those homes, would it still be a dangerous area?

Bridgeport may be several blocks away, but it's still pretty close by. The homes by the old Comiskey parking lots were shacks with many roving gangs hanging around the park.

 

So basically, it was a Wrigleyville type of parking situation at a little lower rate and a far better return on your investment.

[bmags]

Right, it just pisses me off that the way they built it...it was just like, we're putting it in an island, no need to wander around it's not worth it.

[Pants Rowland]

First point, the sox didn't pay for the stadium, so a stadium design that would've fostered quite a bit more commercial activity is far more beneficial to me than allowing people to drive to the games and pollute and add traffic at an already awful time.

 

BUt to your second point, you are correct. However, had it happened 20 years ago we'd have had that much more progress. Look at Wicker park 20 years ago to now. Look at South Loop. It was so god damn boring and stupid.

 

But, there is clearly overregulation right now that could really help create something by the sox stadium. Look at the restrictions the new jimbos is working around (liquor license freeze).

 

Out of curiosity, are you of the opinion that had they built the park in the middle of Bridgeport, the lack of parking available would have discouraged people from driving to the ballpark? I am not so sure I agree that is how it would have played out. I think those surface lots would still be used with some type of shuttle service to the park. I like public transportation for getting to the game and will do anything possible to avoid getting in my car and paying for parking. However, they are a lot of folks in the other camp who would rather b**** about parking prices and traffic than exploring the alternatives.

[bmags]

Out of curiosity, are you of the opinion that had they built the park in the middle of Bridgeport, the lack of parking available would have discouraged people from driving to the ballpark? I am not so sure I agree that is how it would have played out. I think those surface lots would still be used with some type of shuttle service to the park. I like public transportation for getting to the game and will do anything possible to avoid getting in my car and paying for parking. However, they are a lot of folks in the other camp who would rather b**** about parking prices and traffic than exploring the alternatives.

 

Yes. I'm not saying it would eliminate, but i certainly think the parking situation in Wrigley is a huge deterrence to driving there. And hey, it gives the residents some extra income to sell their parking spots. It's so easy to drive to sox park. I'd bet a good 60% drive there. I'd bet it's quite lower for cubs games

[Pants Rowland]

Right, it just pisses me off that the way they built it...it was just like, we're putting it in an island, no need to wander around it's not worth it.

 

They definitely jammed a lot of s*** down the throats of the fans, the residents, and the taxpayers. Time heals all wounds, but Reinsdorf and his partners were pretty well hated even prior to the strike for the stadium, the threats of moving, putting the Sox on Sportsvision, and general disregard for the average fan as they catered to what they saw as their core fan base in the western suburbs. Luckily he learned a few lessons with this park and did a much better job getting a corporate sponsor for the United Center, although that too is an island in a sea of asphalt.

[Pants Rowland]

Yes. I'm not saying it would eliminate, but i certainly think the parking situation in Wrigley is a huge deterrence to driving there. And hey, it gives the residents some extra income to sell their parking spots. It's so easy to drive to sox park. I'd bet a good 60% drive there. I'd bet it's quite lower for cubs games

 

You have a point. I will occasionally drive to the Cell if I am short on time and know that I will easily be able to get parking at a relatively decent rate.

 

Off topic, is that Gregory Peck from Guns of Navarrone in your avatar? It looks like it but I think I might be mistaken.

[greg775]

I haven't been to the Cell in a while, but those parking lots that stretch forever to the south (i think it's the south) and the neighborhood to the north ... aren't there still a zillion homes in those areas? I mean couldn't all those be sold to giant hotel companies and restaurants and bars, etc? if the neighborhood was destined to be a destination neighborhood?

 

The Cell basically sits there and to the West is beautiful Bridgeport, but to the north and south there is nothing but homes and to the East is a neighborhood that really could be thriving but isn't? Couldn't the college and the east of the park really be the area that could boom if somebody had a plan??? Who lives in all those homes to the north and south of the park? That's not considered Bridgeport is it?

Edited April 14, 2010 by greg775

[bmags]

You have a point. I will occasionally drive to the Cell if I am short on time and know that I will easily be able to get parking at a relatively decent rate.

 

Off topic, is that Gregory Peck from Guns of Navarrone in your avatar? It looks like it but I think I might be mistaken.

 

Woody Guthrie

[joeynach]

I'd venture to guess far less than 1% of the fans at Wrigley were in a fraternity. Nice generalization though.

 

I didnt really mean it as if they physically in fraternities. I meant it to describe a style of behavior. Have u sat in the bleachers on a weekend. You feel like your at a tailgate or someone summer party in their yard. Its more like the general accepted attitude is one of rowdy ra ra "ness" if you catch my drift. I got the same feeling at a lala palooza for example. My point was so if this type of enviornment is encourages then no wonder lots of cubs fans (generally my age, mid 20s) take on this embarssing of silly, goofy, just have fun and clown around behavior at the ballpark. Hence the racist Fukudome episode.

 

[The Ginger Kid]

I'm not sure what you guys are referring to when you talk about the neighborhood integration of Camden Yards. Yeah it looks like that on TV, but the park is right in the middle of downtown Baltimore. Those buildings you see on Eutaw St., if I recall, those are actually stadium property and they're right there on the concourse, mostly for show. The gap you see in center field, if you look with the right view up high enough, you can see traffic on Camden Street, and then the next street is Pratt Street which is one of the main downtown streets. So there is nothing neighborhood/residential at all with that stadium, it looks nice, but that is all decoration. Yes there is public transportation that goes right there, but there is a big parking lot to the south between Camden Yards and M&T Bank stadium just like there is at the Cell, and to the west of it is expressway that becomes downtown streets.

I stayed with my sister on Leadenhall about a ten minute walk from that stadium and sold gameday programs outside the park one summer. lots of old brownstones around the ballpark from what I remember, but I was only there for a summer vacation.

[knightni]

Woody Guthrie

Heh. I thought it was Sean Penn.

 

 

[knightni]

The park's at 35th and Shields, just like the old park.

 

Besides, the old park was closer to Bridgeport than the newer one, so it would have been impossible to build closer without the Sox playing a season at Wrigley.

 

[southsider2k5]

Out of curiosity, are you of the opinion that had they built the park in the middle of Bridgeport, the lack of parking available would have discouraged people from driving to the ballpark? I am not so sure I agree that is how it would have played out. I think those surface lots would still be used with some type of shuttle service to the park. I like public transportation for getting to the game and will do anything possible to avoid getting in my car and paying for parking. However, they are a lot of folks in the other camp who would rather b**** about parking prices and traffic than exploring the alternatives.

 

Yeah, I don't think $50 parking would have helped attendance.

[kitekrazy]

I didn't view the shirt as racist. Usually in the sports world the word "mow" refers to dominance.

[RockRaines]

I haven't been to the Cell in a while, but those parking lots that stretch forever to the south (i think it's the south) and the neighborhood to the north ... aren't there still a zillion homes in those areas? I mean couldn't all those be sold to giant hotel companies and restaurants and bars, etc? if the neighborhood was destined to be a destination neighborhood?

 

The Cell basically sits there and to the West is beautiful Bridgeport, but to the north and south there is nothing but homes and to the East is a neighborhood that really could be thriving but isn't? Couldn't the college and the east of the park really be the area that could boom if somebody had a plan??? Who lives in all those homes to the north and south of the park? That's not considered Bridgeport is it?

They've built quite a few beautiful houses south of the park and directly west. The funny part is that most of the northside idiots who talk s*** about the area around the Cell wouldnt be able to afford even 10% of one of those houses. I do wish there were more restaurants and nice taverns closer to the park down 35th st.

[longshot7]

The shirt that calls U.S. Cellular Field the "World's Largest Ghetto" deserves a special place in t-shirt hell. There's lots wrong with it, but at the top of the list is the fact that it doesn't remotely make sense. U.S. Cellular Field is a single building - wouldn't it be the world's "smallest ghetto"? Assuming the wearer of the shirt thinks the neighborhood surrounding the ballpark is a "ghetto," wouldn't that very neighborhood be one particularly obvious example of a larger "ghetto?" For god's sake...

 

I feel the same way about those "Wrigley - World's Largest Gay Bar" shirts. Who are you insulting actually? If I was gay, I'd be outraged (by being compared to Cub fans).

[bmags]

They've built quite a few beautiful houses south of the park and directly west. The funny part is that most of the northside idiots who talk s*** about the area around the Cell wouldnt be able to afford even 10% of one of those houses. I do wish there were more restaurants and nice taverns closer to the park down 35th st.

 

Considering the hell that the new Jimbos (what's it gonna be called) is going through I'm guessing a lot of blame also falls on the city of chicago for their absurdly difficult zoning and regulations.

[Controlled Chaos]

Considering the hell that the new Jimbos (what's it gonna be called) is going through I'm guessing a lot of blame also falls on the city of chicago for their absurdly difficult zoning and regulations.

I think cork & kerry

 

Edit: Weird coincidence, my dad's buddy who lives over there just sent a pic....

 

 

 

 

Edited April 15, 2010 by Controlled Chaos