6 minutes ago, HazletonEagle said:

the space to tailgate. the proximity to the other stadiums. The ease of access for out of towners....

I look forward to being able to explore that area of the city a little bit before games. But there is just no way the traffic situation isnt going to be a massive downgrade. And when you have a long commute to begin thats a big factor. 

yeah the current set up is ideal for out of towners. 76 or 95 will take you right up to the front door and then filter you right back out to one of those major roadways. 

If you are a hipster in Williamsburg like the prior example w the guy who lives in BKN, sure, walking to Nets games and then popping right out to a bar is Fing awesome. I went to a bachelor party in BKN a few years back and our rental was walking distance like that to everything. It was sweet. If I lived in a NY/NJ suburb though and wanted to go to a game, that traffic and then figuring out the parking, etc would be a PITA and something I wouldn't want to deal with a lot.

I doubt the people traveling in from Boyertown/Souderton/Collegeville or Newtown/Yardley/NE Philly are going to be as likely to come see this new place consistently. They're going to come once see what its all about and then bounce. And those are the people buying season tickets, not the hipsters in walking distance. 

54 minutes ago, HazletonEagle said:

Agree. I'd arrive at 5 for a 7:00 game and walk to chicken and petes.

So you’re disappointed you won’t be greeted by Reno Mahe anymore?

1 minute ago, JBENT87 said:

yeah the current set up is ideal for out of towners. 76 or 95 will take you right up to the front door and then filter you right back out to one of those major roadways. 

If you are a hipster in Williamsburg like the prior example w the guy who lives in BKN, sure, walking to Nets games and then popping right out to a bar is Fing awesome. I went to a bachelor party in BKN a few years back and our rental was walking distance like that to everything. It was sweet. If I lived in a NY/NJ suburb though and wanted to go to a game, that traffic and then figuring out the parking, etc would be a PITA and something I wouldn't want to deal with a lot.

I doubt the people traveling in from Boyertown/Souderton/Collegeville or Newtown/Yardley/NE Philly are going to be as likely to come see this new place consistently. They're going to come once see what its all about and then bounce. And those are the people buying season tickets, not the hipsters in walking distance. 

You’ll be able to jump on 676 in five minutes from the new arena.  It’s not gonna be that bad

10 minutes ago, Dave Moss said:

So you’re disappointed you won’t be greeted by Reno Mahe anymore?

No. I think there seems to be plenty do to, and eat around the new location. For me, the transportation looks like a major deterrent. 

8 minutes ago, Dave Moss said:

You’ll be able to jump on 676 in five minutes from the new arena.  It’s not gonna be that bad

5 minutes???  In game traffic on congested city roads? I highly doubt it.

31 minutes ago, Dave Moss said:

Downtown has much better bars and restaurants.  Better hotels.  Better shopping.  I’m not sure I understand the attraction of the sports complex.

They just built a casino at the sports complex and you have xfinity. 

14 minutes ago, Dave Moss said:

You’ll be able to jump on 676 in five minutes from the new arena.  It’s not gonna be that bad

This clearly lives no where near the city. 

1 minute ago, 20dawk4life said:

This clearly lives no where near the city. 

What I hear you guys saying is that Philadelphia cannot figure out what every major city that has an NBA team has figured out - how to get people out of the parking garages and onto major highways 

 

2 minutes ago, Dave Moss said:

What I hear you guys saying is that Philadelphia cannot figure out what every major city that has an NBA team has figured out - how to get people out of the parking garages and onto major highways 

 

Yup. Clearly never been to the area. 

2 minutes ago, Dave Moss said:

What I hear you guys saying is that Philadelphia cannot figure out what every major city that has an NBA team has figured out - how to get people out of the parking garages and onto major highways 

 

They do a horrible job at eagles games in the wide open sports complex area.

Of course they are not going to be able to figure out how to make traffic flow in the middle of the city. If you dont know that already you are kidding yourself. 

I attended 2 games last season. Both on week nights and had work the next morning.

I left my house at about 2:30-2:45 to ensure that even if I hit some traffic slow downs Id be arriving at the arena by 4:30-5.

I park my car at the arena and walk over to chickie and petes. After about an hour there, and taking the taxi crab back to the arena its usually right around 6:00 when the doors open to the arena for a 7:00 game. 

I can even work half the day and just take a half day of PTO to go to the game.

Its timed perfectly.  But already between a 7pm start, and a 2:30 departure time, I am spending 4.5 hours for travel and a meal.

I LOVE that I can get out of the lot, make a U turn at the traffic light on the next block, and be on 95 within 10-15 minutes of getting in to my car. Got home around 11:30 on one occasion, and even at the 8:00 game I attended got home around 12.

 

 

In the new location I fear I will be arriving in center city around 4:30-5:00 rush hour. Will have to park my car somewhere miles away and walk to a SEPTA station, where I will wait however long in huge rush hour crowds to ride it to the closest station to the arena,. Thatll take up most of the time before the game. No time to eat dinner or walk around the area. 

Leisure time prior to the game will be eliminated. And though disappointing, thats not even the greatest of my worries because traveling home with work the next morning will now suck. Instead of Parking like 3 rows away in the lot right outside the building and being on 95 within 15 minutes, Im not even sure if I will be at a SEPTA station in 15 minutes. Then thats going to be congested. Not sure how long itll take to catch a train. Then you still have to deal with traffic leaving whatever lot you are parked at. They are probably adding an hour to my travel home.

What this is looking like is, this will become a full day thing to get there ridiculously early to avoid rushing around in crowded traffic at the worst time of the day just trying to get in to the arena on time. And going home is going to take waaay longer, which really sucks when you have work the next day.

 

May have to consider a hotel and making a day of it walking around the historic area and such. Which actually sounds awesome. But that makes it much more cost prohibitive especially to do more than once a year. Id like to one day have a partial season ticket package, but maybe not anymore.

3 hours ago, 20dawk4life said:

No. I’m acting like a city with a rise in crime, including car jackings will see an increase in crimes and car jackings when you bring in more people in a small area. Brooklyn had issues when the Barclays Center first opened and it took time for it to get better. But now with all the hipsters it’s basically a suburb. 

You jus made our point for us and they got 10 years to slowly clean it up before it opens. 

I think a center city arena would be cool. Other cities have stadiums and arenas in the middle of downtown with zero parking. Anyone been to Charlotte for a Panthers game? Better to take septa for games anyway. My buddy talked me into taking septa for an eagles game years ago and I’ve been doing it ever since. Super convenient. 

38 minutes ago, DaEagles4Life said:

You jus made our point for us and they got 10 years to slowly clean it up before it opens. 

It will get worse before it has a chance to get better. 

38 minutes ago, Gannan said:

I think a center city arena would be cool. Other cities have stadiums and arenas in the middle of downtown with zero parking. Anyone been to Charlotte for a Panthers game? Better to take septa for games anyway. My buddy talked me into taking septa for an eagles game years ago and I’ve been doing it ever since. Super convenient. 

It would be "cool". But it lacks practicality. 

SEPTA better for who??????? They dont run one from Hazleton or Wilkes-Barre. It adds a whole new, previously completely unnecessary step. You drive to Philly and used to be right at the arena. Now you have to drive to philly, and then take SEPTA. Thats stupid.

Fans that root for other teams drive to games downtown and don't take public transportation.  Some people take public transportation for convenience.  MSG, for example, is on top of a train station. So is the Garden  

Actually, I figured it out....

It's between 10th and 11th on the North Side of Market St

 

 

So this means they'll probably build an underground parking garage at the arena and you'll still have the Parking Lot at 8th and Market,

You're only getting 20-21K people a game, so it's not like 70K for the Eagles.

Between more people taking public transit, you probably only need parking for 3000- 5000 cars.   (There are currently 8 lots totaling 6100 spots down at the WFC)

29 minutes ago, HazletonEagle said:

It would be "cool". But it lacks practicality. 

SEPTA better for who??????? They dont run one from Hazleton or Wilkes-Barre. It adds a whole new, previously completely unnecessary step. You drive to Philly and used to be right at the arena. Now you have to drive to philly, and then take SEPTA. Thats stupid.

Move out of the sticks

3 minutes ago, Gannan said:

Move out of the sticks

No way. Not to Philly.

3 hours ago, JBENT87 said:

I doubt the people traveling in from Boyertown/Souderton/Collegeville or Newtown/Yardley/NE Philly are going to be as likely to come see this new place consistently. They're going to come once see what its all about and then bounce. And those are the people buying season tickets, not the hipsters in walking distance. 

FWIW, I live about five minutes from souderton and this makes going to games more appealing to me.  As I said before, I prefer taking the train into town over driving in.  But I’m someone who grew up in the city and know the city better than most suburbanites so maybe you’ll be right about the majority of people around here.

Another thing about the arena- I hope thats not the final design. Because thats probably the ugliest new stadium project I have seen in quite some time. 

I need to revise my statement because while a bunch of new NFL statiums have been build fairly recently and are all pretty awesome, I just looked at all of the basketball arenas, and most are ugly. 

https://www.nba.com/magic/nba-arena-tour-exterior-view_042313

Still, not my favorite design.

4 hours ago, Dave Moss said:

What I hear you guys saying is that Philadelphia cannot figure out what every major city that has an NBA team has figured out - how to get people out of the parking garages and onto major highways 

 

The pacers stadium is downtown and it works pretty well

2 hours ago, ToastJenkins said:

The pacers stadium is downtown and it works pretty well

It also works in Salt Lake because they have a massive amount of parking in the area.

It will suck in Philly for anyone not living in the city. If you want to take kids to the game from South Jersey you have to park some other place and take public tran in and then when they are worn out and tired after the game do the same thing home.

In my experience, it always sucks navigating to an arena that’s downtown.  There’s absolutely no upside from a logistics perspective, just more BS to contend with, especially when you have a pretty open, dedicated space like we have at the current sports complex.

The ONLY reason for moves like this is to funnel money into 1) the public transit system and 2) private commerce in the area (bars, restaurants, private parking garages, etc).  

53 minutes ago, MIRV Griffen said:.

The ONLY reason for moves like this is to funnel money into 1) the public transit system and 2) private commerce in the area (bars, restaurants, private parking garages, etc).  

But this is exactly what Philadelphia needs, especially in that part of the city. And the kicker is it’s all privately funded. It’s a tremendous slam dunk win for the City IMO if this happens.