Atlanta Braves moving? (Auburn: loan, metro area, build)

[Saintmarks]

Reading through the thread, much has been made over the Cobb official's statement about MARTA. My thoughts:

So as much as I would like rapid transit to go all over the metro area, is it really a surprise that Cobb County officials don't care to take part? If Cobb joined ranks with MARTA, the most that would happen in the next decade or two would be a line up 75 (or the extension of the green line thru northwest ATL) that would probably go no further than Cumberland. Does a county send all that money that will primarily benefit Fulton and DeKalb for one measly station at the far eastern end of the county a mile from the ATL city limits?

Play the race card about this all day if you want, but this doesn't make financial sense for Cobb. You would need a line to at least Town Center or KSU to make it worth the while. And we all know that wouldn't happen if Cobb signed on. Cumberland in 15 years maybe and then that would be about it.

[afonega1]

Originally Posted by Saintmarks

Reading through the thread, much has been made over the Cobb official's statement about MARTA. My thoughts:

So as much as I would like rapid transit to go all over the metro area, is it really a surprise that Cobb County officials don't care to take part? If Cobb joined ranks with MARTA, the most that would happen in the next decade or two would be a line up 75 (or the extension of the green line thru northwest ATL) that would probably go no further than Cumberland. Does a county send all that money that will primarily benefit Fulton and DeKalb for one measly station at the far eastern end of the county a mile from the ATL city limits?

Play the race card about this all day if you want, but this doesn't make financial sense for Cobb. You would need a line to at least Town Center or KSU to make it worth the while. And we all know that wouldn't happen if Cobb signed on. Cumberland in 15 years maybe and then that would be about it.

Who says that it would only be one line?At first sure but MARTA is still a work in progress.
Also how would it mainly benefit Dekalb and Fulton?

You act as though it would not benefit Cobb residents.Cumberland area is just one business center in a region anchored by where the majority of the jobs are concentrated in the city of Atlanta and also where MARTA currently reaches.

That means it runs both ways.More so from Cobb to Atlanta than from Atlanta to Cobb.Certainly not just because they will have the Braves.

Once again who says they cant build there own light rail system for Cobb?They are even saying no to that which is ridiculous to focus on just cars on the interstates.

Not playing a "race card: at all because Cobb is doing that like they have done in the past.You may not know Cobbs history but I remember and Im telling you that its NOT just about a financial decision. If that was the case then they really shouldn't be spending $450 million of tax payer money for a stadium.

[waronxmas]

Originally Posted by Cameron H

Know how I know you don't watch much baseball?

Really? Care to quantify how I (and a lot of people) find Turner Field beautiful are wrong about that? In comparison to what?

And what does this have to do with baseball?

[cqholt]

There is more to do in downtown Atlanta before a Braves game than 'eat at Cheesecake factory and take a trolley to the game'. Tourist could visit the museums around COP, King Center, Oakland Cemetery, Grant Park/Zoo Atlanta, etc. All these attractions are connected by MARTA bus or rail. Locals or visitors who are willing to be adventurous could visit any number of bars in along Marietta Street, Fairlie-Popular district, or along Edgewood Ave. Just because there is not a one-stop entertainment district for people to visit doesn't mean there isn't anything to do. What happened to people's sense of adventure, explore a city to find hidden spots?
Y'all wanna know where there is nothing to do? Cumberland. What people can eat at crappy national chain restaurants and walk around a failing mall before catching a trolley to the new Braves stadium. Give me a break, I would rather drink a $7-32oz beer a CNN Center then catch the shuttle bus to Turner, than visit Cumberland.

[waronxmas]

Originally Posted by Saintmarks

What is the capacity of a MARTA train? A quick google search says 300. How often do they run? Could 20,000 people really be moved by MARTA expediently (if the 40% someone mentioned is even close to correct). Do the math, it ain't happening.

I took MARTA a few times from Sandy Springs to see a Braves game. It wasn't so bad on a lower attendance week night but on a big weekend game when the stadium was full was less than a pleasant experience. Getting on the shuttles took so long that we started driving after that. 6% of 50k is still a large number to put on buses and then trains that don't hold THAT many people.

Let's do the math at this point. 6% of a capacity crowd is 3000 people. Most coming from northern burbs, but some will obviously be going east/west/south, so let's say 2000 people heading north. Trains run, what, every ten minutes? 300 X 6 = 1800. An hour after the game and you still don't have everyone on board as they aren't empty when they roll into the station plus the incessant amount of time it took to get from the stadium onto the shuttle and then to 5 points.

Says to me 6% might be an inflated number.

Not sure what reference you found, but the normal capacity of a single MARTA car is 250. 300 or so would be the max capacity. So in an 6 car configuration (though 8 cars are more common when there are events), a single MARTA train can haul 1500 to 1800 passengers. So using an 8 minute headway, one line could technically move 11000 to 13000 passengers per hour. Multiple it across all four lines, you could move several orders of magnitude of the capacity of Turner Field quite easily.

[waronxmas]

Originally Posted by Lady's Man

comparing one of the worst franchises in all of sports to the braves is just plain silly. pro sports don't belong in the state of florida... at least not yet. The braves are not only one of the most successful franchise in baseball (in terms of winning and fan support), but they are also one of the best run teams in baseball (financially). The braves will unequivocally make more money by moving to cobb county.

Did you read what I posted? The Marlins went from winning the World Series to being the worst team in baseball in 9 short years. That has all to do with the way their ownership managed the whole stadium deal.

Not to say that the Braves will do the same (I don't believe they will), but there are very clear financial pit falls for Cobb County based on recent history. They're happy today, but I don't think they will be a few years from now.

[tikigod311]

Cobb county to pay for 45% of the proposed Braves stadium

Lee said the remaining 45 percent of the cost would be funded with no tax increase for more than 95 percent of the county's residents.

Report: Braves to pay 55 percent of stadium cost | www.ajc.com

We also get a sneak peek into the new transit for Cobb. Check it out!

[tikigod311]

Found this on another site...

Looks like Cobb County released a sneak peak at what the proposed transit service will look like for the new braves stadium

[westau]

Originally Posted by cqholt

There is more to do in downtown Atlanta before a Braves game than 'eat at Cheesecake factory and take a trolley to the game'. Tourist could visit the museums around COP, King Center, Oakland Cemetery, Grant Park/Zoo Atlanta, etc. All these attractions are connected by MARTA bus or rail. Locals or visitors who are willing to be adventurous could visit any number of bars in along Marietta Street, Fairlie-Popular district, or along Edgewood Ave. Just because there is not a one-stop entertainment district for people to visit doesn't mean there isn't anything to do. What happened to people's sense of adventure, explore a city to find hidden spots?
Y'all wanna know where there is nothing to do? Cumberland. What people can eat at crappy national chain restaurants and walk around a failing mall before catching a trolley to the new Braves stadium. Give me a break, I would rather drink a $7-32oz beer a CNN Center then catch the shuttle bus to Turner, than visit Cumberland.

Those things are nowhere near Turner Field and for out of town people might not be easy to find. Downtown and Turner Field are essentially completely separated by massive parking lost and the huge I-20/downtown connector interchange.

The area around Cumberland has more than just chain restaurants(for instance one of the top 50 rated BBQ restaurants in the whole country).

Is there actually a shuttle bus at CNN Center for Braves games or are you talking about then hopping on MARTA, then walking 10 minutes through a dingy failing mall(see what I did there?), and then getting on a shuttle bus to the game? I have never heard of a shuttle from CNN Center so I am genuinely curious about that part.

[Mishap]

Originally Posted by tikigod311

Cobb county to pay for 45% of the proposed Braves stadium



Report: Braves to pay 55 percent of stadium cost | www.ajc.com

We also get a sneak peek into the new transit for Cobb. Check it out!

This line strikes me as odd:

Lee said the remaining 45 percent of the cost would be funded with no tax increase for more than 95 percent of the county's residents.

They don't exactly have control over income taxes. Only thought would be either the hotel tax somehow impacts 5% of residents or they're planning some funky carve out on property taxes.

Wouldn't surprise me if the rest of the project is some backdoor tax abatement structure that basically has them paying zero property taxes on the area while the county picks up the tab on all the infrastructure in the area and listing them in a non-stadium specific bucket.