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The Ballpark isn't even 20 years old yet and it's not goin' anywhere anytime soon. Yes, Arlington is the least "urban" city in Texas (which is saying something) but it's in the middle of the Metroplex and few people complain about the location. It would be better if someone developed around it as originally planned, especially since Cowboys is just right down the street, but as far as them moving or building a new stadium, it ain't happening. Especially around downtown Dallas.
Had Mark Cuban bought the team, however (thank God he didn't), we might be discussing that right now.
Why isn't Arlington urbanized? The location is fantastic -- right in the middle! That's where I'd start my search if I had to live in the area, using only a map!
Most "experts" will tell you that stadiums don't USUALLY drive development (although cities sure do like to pitch that notion when asking taxpayers to cough up funds to build their stadium). There has been some development proposals in part of Minneapolis' downtown called "Downtown East" that is closely tied to the development of the new Vikings stadium, but I personally think it has more to do with the fact that part of that development will include a public green space/promenade that developers want to build near sooner than later before prices escalate. That, and DTE has been seeing a resurgence well prior to the news of a Vikings stadium being built in the area, so it can't be all attributable to the stadium.
Why isn't Arlington urbanized? The location is fantastic -- right in the middle! That's where I'd start my search if I had to live in the area, using only a map!
Because Arlington is not a (traditionally speaking) city. It's a city-burb.
The people and city leaders there somehow think that it's better just getting by as a "kind-of city" in between two much larger, better established ones. Fort Worth get's sh*t by other people because of the rejection of streetcars 3 years ago, yet there's still SOME effort to get rail (seriously, our City Council completely replaced the Transit Authority council we had because of their failure on rail), but Arlington has rejected ANY kind of public transportation several times over. How can you call your town a city if you don't even have one bus running?
For Fort Worth and Dallas, Arlington is just the place to go when there's a Cowboys game/Rangers game, an event at Cowboys Stadium, or if you just want to go to Six Flags.... and of course, for some college kids, UTA.
What's really at odds with Arlington is that it is actually denser than both Dallas and Fort Worth and really diverse. On paper it has everything for it to be really urban and yet it's not. On paper it makes sense for it to have public transportation, even more so than Dallas or Fort Worth and it doesn't. I think it all boils down to leadership in the end.
Density
Arlington - 3,872/sq mi
Dallas - 3,518/sq mi
Fort Worth - 2,166.0/sq mi
Ok, what's your point? That doesn't stop people from moving here. The population of Minneapolis has declined over the years but Dallas is still growing.
Minneapolis is land locked so it's hard to gain population. The freeways contributed to minneapolis population decline wiping out large sections of neighborhoods. Minneapolis is undergoing and construction boom in the north loop as will as other parts of the city. I wouldn't be surprised if minneapolis is around 8,000 people per square mile by 2020.
Which city is ahead or will have the better future when comes to having a successful light rail system. I don't live in either city so may be some of you have the answer. Anyone used both systems? How are the connections to both airports? ridership?
Metro Transit's existing and future light rail is much better planned. Once the Central Corridor is completed next year It will cover Downtown Mpls, The University of Minnesota, The state Capitol, Downtown St.Paul, and all of the pro sports venues. The existing Hiawatha Line already covers the airport and the Mall of America. There is an additional suburban line planned to go through the chain of lakes and the southwest suburbs that is about to start construction soon and a line that will go to the northwest suburbs that was just approved. A multimodal station next to Target Field is currently under construction that will open next year and eventually join all 4 LRT lines together. The Union Depot in St Paul was recently renovated and will serve as a grand station for light rail and future high speed rail. Also, a $400 million mixed used development will help transform the east side of downtown. It will include a park, a transit station, two office buildings and apartments, retail and restaurants, and a plaza next to the new Vikings Stadium. Both of these projects will be completed in 2016.
Which city is ahead or will have the better future when comes to having a successful light rail system. I don't live in either city so may be some of you have the answer. Anyone used both systems? How are the connections to both airports? ridership?
DART is currently building a rail line to DFW airport, which will be completed next year.
I'm not really familiar with the DART system but where exactly does it go? It looks to me like the lines just go from downtown to random suburbs, it doesn't really go to any destinations which would explain why the ridership is underwhelming for it's size. We've already discussed the dumbness of not building the stadiums on the lines. To my knowledge Cowboys Stadium and Rangers Ballpark are the only two football and baseball stadiums in the country that have no other transit options other than driving. The fact that it's just now they're finally building a line to the airport is laughable. To be fair though, I've heard that the suburbs have a lot of power there so catering to them was probably the only way they could build the network to begin with.
I'm not really familiar with the DART system but where exactly does it go? It looks to me like the lines just go from downtown to random suburbs, it doesn't really go to any destinations which would explain why the ridership is underwhelming for it's size. We've already discussed the dumbness of not building the stadiums on the lines. To my knowledge Cowboys Stadium and Rangers Ballpark are the only two football and baseball stadiums in the country that have no other transit options other than driving. The fact that it's just now they're finally building a line to the airport is laughable. To be fair though, I've heard that the suburbs have a lot of power there so catering to them was probably the only way they could build the network to begin with.
Seriously? Cowboys Stadium and Rangers ballpark are not even with the city limits of Dallas. The vast majority of the system is totally within the Dallas city limits. The City of Arlington, which is where the stadiums are located does not want any public transportation. Recently, DART has tried to expand to Arlington but the city council didn't want it. You must don't realize how far DFW is from Dallas. They had to build through the suburbs to get to the airport.
I'm not really familiar with the DART system but where exactly does it go? It looks to me like the lines just go from downtown to random suburbs, it doesn't really go to any destinations which would explain why the ridership is underwhelming for it's size. We've already discussed the dumbness of not building the stadiums on the lines. To my knowledge Cowboys Stadium and Rangers Ballpark are the only two football and baseball stadiums in the country that have no other transit options other than driving. The fact that it's just now they're finally building a line to the airport is laughable. To be fair though, I've heard that the suburbs have a lot of power there so catering to them was probably the only way they could build the network to begin with.
You can facepalm all you want. You're the ones who are stuck with that dumb decision and a poorly designed transit system. Texas does things bigger, Minnesota does them better. No wonder Downtown Mpls has more workers than Downtown Dallas and five times the population.
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