New Atlanta Falcons Stadium (designers, cars, office)

[arjay57]

I thought they were putting the MMTP down there in the gulch.

[Lady's Man]

Originally Posted by gtcorndog

C'mon son.

Step 1: Read the post
Step 2: Comment.

There are relatively few surface lots down there compared to the average NFL venue. Also, moving the stadium eats up some of the parking and any of the promised redevelopment of the local area would eat up more surface parking. The amount of tailgating is already low for NFL standards because of the parking situation. Take away some more lots and what happens? It isn't rocket science. If you need it explained more, private message me and I'll be glad to help you out.

so you're arguing that the stadium should be moved to the suburbs so that we can increase the number of surface lots around the stadium?

[gtcorndog]

Originally Posted by brownhornet

LOL that dude must not go to many football games. The Saints/Falcons tailgate is known as one of the largest in the NFL. Along with the Chick Fil A kickoff game AND the Peach Bowl. I mean, most tailgating i've ever been to is done in parking lots around the stadium, what do you expect a park for picnics?

You should really get out more if that tailgating impresses you. It is a big World, get out and see it.

[Gulch]

Originally Posted by Lady's Man

so you're arguing that the stadium should be moved to the suburbs so that we can increase the number of surface lots around the stadium?

That's a typical "f--k the city and surrounding neighborhoods as long as I can tailgate" attitude that I hear constantly regarding the Dome and Turner Field every time someone brings up parking issues. I've never had a problem tailgating for any Falcons, Braves, Tech, or GSU games.

[Atlwarrior]

You know we can all post comments until we are blue in face. Bottom line Arthur Blank like Downtown, so no further discussion needed.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by gtcorndog

I like the stadium downtown, but there are obvious drawbacks to that location to a lot of fans. The tailgating sucks. Sure you can ride MARTA, but that isn't what football in the South is about. The entire gameday is an event and having limited parking (or deck parking) limits this greatly. I wouldn't think of going to a game without getting there at least 3-4 hours early with some heavy grillin and chillin. I am a huge football fan, but the social aspect of tailgating is HUGE to many. I don't think Atlanta will ever have a good tailgating scene downtown because you need a lot of those dreaded surface parking lots.

I also am skeptical about the stadium having any effect on redeveloping the poor communities surrounding the stadium. The Georgia Dome and Phillips Arena didn't have much effect on the area. Heck, how often does Phillips Arena draw 15,000 fans downtown and how many times will a new stadium draw that number? You only have 10 Falcons games and 3-4 college games a year. Throw in a few big concerts and a few big monster truck-like events and you might get 25-30 events a year. That certainly isn't going to be enough to have a huge impact. Heck, we are already having those events, so what will a new stadium bring in? I think it is very optimistic to think that a new stadium will bring in 3-5 additional events a year. If the current stadium hasn't spurred development and investment, why would a new stadium? It has been said before and I agree (not that there is anything we could do about it), but Turner Field would be a perfect location and setup (with the massive parking lots) for a Falcons stadium and the Georgia Dome site would be perfect for a baseball stadium (since a baseball season brings 30,000 fans to the location 81 days a year which is far greater than that of a football stadium).


We'll see where the fans are residing when the new stadium... and new stadium ticket prices come out. Shrinking capacity by about 6,500. They aren't getting rid of the high priced seats, so who is going to suffer? The guy up in the corner end zone who can barely pay the $400 for season tickets today is going to suffer. I don't think that the affluent northern suburban fan will be effected as much as some of the fans from less affluent areas. Is this a generalization and are there affluent areas south of town? Sure, but I think there is some truth to that generalization.

This was kind of a rambling post that doesn't really specifically address your post, but there is some connection.

I know I'm going to get laughed at, but GSU games too.
The atmosphere around the dome is good. The CnN center, under the bridge, etc.

[bryantm3]

Originally Posted by gtcorndog

I like the stadium downtown, but there are obvious drawbacks to that location to a lot of fans. The tailgating sucks. Sure you can ride MARTA, but that isn't what football in the South is about. The entire gameday is an event and having limited parking (or deck parking) limits this greatly. I wouldn't think of going to a game without getting there at least 3-4 hours early with some heavy grillin and chillin. I am a huge football fan, but the social aspect of tailgating is HUGE to many. I don't think Atlanta will ever have a good tailgating scene downtown because you need a lot of those dreaded surface parking lots.

I also am skeptical about the stadium having any effect on redeveloping the poor communities surrounding the stadium. The Georgia Dome and Phillips Arena didn't have much effect on the area. Heck, how often does Phillips Arena draw 15,000 fans downtown and how many times will a new stadium draw that number? You only have 10 Falcons games and 3-4 college games a year. Throw in a few big concerts and a few big monster truck-like events and you might get 25-30 events a year. That certainly isn't going to be enough to have a huge impact. Heck, we are already having those events, so what will a new stadium bring in? I think it is very optimistic to think that a new stadium will bring in 3-5 additional events a year. If the current stadium hasn't spurred development and investment, why would a new stadium? It has been said before and I agree (not that there is anything we could do about it), but Turner Field would be a perfect location and setup (with the massive parking lots) for a Falcons stadium and the Georgia Dome site would be perfect for a baseball stadium (since a baseball season brings 30,000 fans to the location 81 days a year which is far greater than that of a football stadium).


We'll see where the fans are residing when the new stadium... and new stadium ticket prices come out. Shrinking capacity by about 6,500. They aren't getting rid of the high priced seats, so who is going to suffer? The guy up in the corner end zone who can barely pay the $400 for season tickets today is going to suffer. I don't think that the affluent northern suburban fan will be effected as much as some of the fans from less affluent areas. Is this a generalization and are there affluent areas south of town? Sure, but I think there is some truth to that generalization.

This was kind of a rambling post that doesn't really specifically address your post, but there is some connection.

wow. completely agreed. i'd give you a +1 on your rep but it says i've done it too much.

i think the point is that a stadium is by definition not good in an urban environment. it negatively affects the surrounding neighbourhoods by removing walking connections and taking the life out of a 1 square mile area, when space is valuable in an urban area.

unless they're willing to totally re-conceptualize the way stadiums work (and they aren't), the most likely outcome is that we'll have another dome-type stadium that will depress the surrounding communities.

[testa50]

Originally Posted by gtcorndog

There are relatively few surface lots down there compared to the average NFL venue. Also, moving the stadium eats up some of the parking and any of the promised redevelopment of the local area would eat up more surface parking. The amount of tailgating is already low for NFL standards because of the parking situation. Take away some more lots and what happens? It isn't rocket science. If you need it explained more, private message me and I'll be glad to help you out.

The answer to the problem isn't difficult, at least from a physical perspective. Just turn COP into a designated tailgating zone and allow people to lease tailgating plots for a small fee. College campuses do this sort of this all the time; normally college football stadiums aren't surrounded by a sea of surface lots, and they tend to have way better tailgating than the NFL regardless.

Now, from a bureaucratic perspective it might be somewhat difficult to set this sort of thing up. That's another story altogether. But it's not like this is some new, unsolvable problem specific to downtown Atlanta.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by testa50

The answer to the problem isn't difficult, at least from a physical perspective. Just turn COP into a designated tailgating zone and allow people to lease tailgating plots for a small fee. College campuses do this sort of this all the time; normally college football stadiums aren't surrounded by a sea of surface lots, and they tend to have way better tailgating than the NFL regardless.

Now, from a bureaucratic perspective it might be somewhat difficult to set this sort of thing up. That's another story altogether. But it's not like this is some new, unsolvable problem specific to downtown Atlanta.

Shut down the streets around COA and rent spots to users. That way tailgaters don't trample the grass and litter in the park. Public restrooms are available at the park and CNN Center, this prevents the issues that residents in Vine City and Castleberry Hill have with public urination.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by testa50

College campuses do this sort of this all the time; normally college football stadiums aren't surrounded by a sea of surface lots, and they tend to have way better tailgating than the NFL regardless.

I love the way many college stadiums are sensitively situated in the midst of a distinctly pedestrian environment. I don't know why pro stadiums don't do the same thing.

Both Sanford Stadium in Athens and Bobby Dodd at Tech are excellent examples of this. People do their tailgating elsewhere and then simply walk (gasp) to the stadium.

The Falcons would be well served to take a few pages from the college playbooks.

People park intown, in decks, small surface lots, hotels and in remote locations. Many also take transit. There are no oceanic asphalt lots surrounding these stadiums -- they're simply not needed.