Citizens of Cobb County: Your reaction to the Braves move (Atlanta: university, tax)

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by RearrangeMyFace

i'm moving to Smyrna. i hope this means free tickets for cobb residents

Smyrna will probably get the same discount city of Atlanta residents have been getting for the last 50 years.

[gtjared]

Originally Posted by RearrangeMyFace

i'm moving to Smyrna. i hope this means free tickets for cobb residents

Well at least your username is appropriate.

[Jimmeh]

I live 1 mile from where the stadium is going to be and used to work right across the street at NAPA HQ where the stadium's long parking lot is planning to be built. Funny too since NAPA is a huge sponsor. Traffic wasn't too bad on Circle 75 going towards the Windy Hill 75 exit. Traffic gets backed up on Windy Ridge all the way across Cobb Pkwy to Spring Rd. Essentially 3 miles. And Cobb Pkwy is backed up.

I never really saw traffic toward my house during rush hour, but with people looking for alternative routes that may change. The Renaissance Waverly Hotel hosts a con called AWA every year. Think Dragon Con, but half the size. It brings in 25,000 and other than the Galleria deck being full and parking at Cumberland Mall and the hotel, you don't see a difference and you may have no idea unless you see cosplayers. If Cobb doesn't look to profit off parking and nearby businesses can still get their customers to their stores, then it won't be bad.

I see more tailgating at Cumberland mall in the future. In downtown you pay some sketchy dude to park in his lot, after he collects enough money, and there are no more spots, he disappears. Usually I pay for parking for convenience and finding a safe place to leave my car. Unmonitored lots are a waste of space. Most lots up here are monitored by local and corporate security companies. Lots in downtown are usually just monitored by local towing companies.

With that being said, I'll probably go to more games if I don't move to midtown. I'll probably buy a better bike. Though, I like Turner Field. They should have built decks and just fixed up the area. After a game, you go straight home. Now, after a game, you'll probably go to a sports bar. Most likely we will see more drunk drivers.

My property value will probably go up, rent will probably go up, more people may move to some of the previous quiet neighborhoods, littering will probably be more common, and this area will start looking more and more urban. More people means more chances of crime. This doesn't have to do with the Braves in general, just any area that gets an influx of people. Overall, not looking forward to it.

End my pessimistic views.

[arjay57]

If Cobb wants to be more urbanized they will have to put up with a few of the headaches that go along with it.

[noah]

Its good spin but the real reason they are moving isn't ticket sales - the big revenues in baseball are tv contracts but the Braves are locked in to a terrible deal so they are looking for other revenues. Here they get a stadium paid for with a high percentage of public money and they get to own and get 100% of the revenues from all the shops, bars etc around the stadium to increase their revenue. Sure, ticket prices will go up also to help cover their share of construction but its the other revenue streams, suites + real estate leasing that they care about here.

Downtown isn't that bad as you say and the Falcons are staying right there - many more visitors to downtown than Cobb and many attractions beyond just a stadium. Those that lived in the suburbs could easily drive in or take marta -- not sure all these people are now getting season tickets and going to Tuesday night games on a school night when with traffic its only 1 hour or 1.5hrs to get to the game during rush hour from say Perimeter. I think it will do well but sometimes the projections are a bit rosey.

Originally Posted by sammy87

I use to live really close to that area. It's a good move. Braves attendance was down anyway. Turner Field was in a dump, they cant sell out playoff games, something is wrong. Face it, the money is north of ATL. The people that will buy season tickets live that way. That was part of the problem for the Thrashers. The people that had the money to go regularly with families all lived outside of downtown.

Aren't the Falcons moving as well? Same thing, downtown ATL isn't that nice of an area. + Traffic.

[emcee squared]

Originally Posted by jsvh

As an outsider I have my own opinions for what this means for the area, but those of you that live there:

Thoughts on what it means developmentally for the area?

Any home-owners that live near this?

How do you feel about $450m in your tax dollars going to the Braves?

Effects on Traffic? Need for road improvements? Need for rail transit? (If so, how will these get funded?)

Other benefits / concerns?

I live a couple miles from it and really dislike it.

1) If I ever want to go to that part of town for food, shopping, etc., I'll have to make sure there is no game because traffic will be utterly horrific. Leading into two...

2) Traffic. It is already utterly horrific, I can't imagine doubling down on it.

3) Money.

4) Turner Field was fine.

5) Public transportation. Where?

[learning11]

Oppose the move as presented-

Let the taxpayers vote on it.

[neil0311]

Originally Posted by arjay57

If Cobb wants to be more urbanized they will have to put up with a few of the headaches that go along with it.

I don't think Cobb wants to be "more urbanized" per se. I think the area where the stadium is proposed (directly across Cobb Pkwy from Nalley Lexus) is already an area that is more urban than suburban. You have high rise office buildings in the area, along with Cumberland Mall, the Galleria, and what would be classified as a business focused area that is also relatively diverse.

I'm not sure having people come to Braves games on summer evenings or weekends is going to significantly change the character of the area at all. What is probably hoped for is that restaurants and businesses in that immediate area, of which there are many, will benefit from the increased traffic. As long as the county and GDOT make the tweaks necessary for traffic flow, I see it as a great fit.

As the NY Times article correctly points out, the Cumberland area is already a much more "urban" than the area around Turner Field.

[Gulch]

Originally Posted by neil0311

As long as the county and GDOT make the tweaks necessary for traffic flow, I see it as a great fit.

Need a lot more than tweaks to avoid a traffic disaster in the area. Also, who's paying for said tweaks? The Braves?

[neil0311]

Originally Posted by Gulch

Need a lot more than tweaks to avoid a traffic disaster in the area. Also, who's paying for said tweaks? The Braves?

Some are projects already underway or on the drawing board. I would imagine that some of the county investment is in the form of traffic and infrastructure improvements. The proposed site is literally a stone's throw from entrance/exit ramps for I-285 and I-75.

Can it be any more of a "disaster" than what happens getting to/from Turner Field?