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Originally Posted by Mutiny77
But proposing to build it in, say, Clayton County would?
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Whether it's Cobb, Gwinnett, or Clayton, ice hockey hasn't done well in Atlanta regardless of how many people or northern transplants move, and that's a fact!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mutiny77
If you believe B2R's posts in this thread were "basically a whole bunch of nothing," then that says more about you IMO.
It's interesting that this seems so intensely personal for you.
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The people who believe the Atlanta will get another hockey team soon need to get their heads out of the sky and see which cities Atlanta now has to contend with. This isn't 1967 and it isn't 2000, when the league was rapidly expanding into newer markets such as St Louis, Los Angeles, and the Bay Area, this is 2023, and there are much more cities that want another sports franchise, and when it comes to getting a hockey team, you can't deny the advantage that a city like Houston, KC, SLC, and even Quebec has over Atlanta at this point, such as urban arenas in or close to the city center, growing metro areas, dynamic economies especially considering Houston, and a more cohesive urban identity. Atlanta CSA sprawls to Chambers County, AL, nearby Augusta, GA, and almost close enough to Chattanooga, TN, spanning close to 40 counties, you might as well chop off GA's northern half and create a new state called Atlanta State. KC has 14 counties in it's CSA, SLC has 10 counties, while Houston has only 9 counties in it's massive CSA. And all cities do a great job in keeping their sports venues within the city limits, ditto for the Atlanta Braves.
Houston does sprawl the same way as Atlanta does, but both Minute Maid Park and the Toyota Center is located at downtown, while the Texans play nearby the Astrodome. Houston doesn't have the best mass transit system, but it's expanding it's light rail system while MARTA hasn't looked towards expanding it's system. Both cities don't have commuter rail, but it would be better if Houston expanded to the Outer Loop as opposed to terminating it's lines at or close to the Inner Loop. Admittedly, I'm not a fan of Houston's massive city limits of over 600 sq. mi., and both Houston and Atlanta are auto-centric areas, but the key to Houston's success would have to be to connect it's light rail system to IAH and Hobby Airports, as well as expand into the Outer Loop.
I don't consider the Alpharetta as one of the best or the best of any proposal to land an NHL team but one of the worst only because it's too far away from the city core, with no rail link connecting to Atlanta. It's not even close to the city boundary like Truist Park is. I can only hope that private money is going to fully fund this proposed arena if Alpharetta gets the hockey team, and I do mean if because the State of GA nor Fulton County shouldn't have to fund this boondoggle. And if conservatives want to have their hockey team far away from Atlanta, then I don't see why the leftists should want to really support hockey in Atlanta, all this coming from a former Democrat now independent!