Royals Downtown Ballpark rendering (Kansas City, Center: 2015, condos, hotels)

[kcmo]

Found this. Thought it was pretty cool. This would have been amazing.

[rwiksell]

On that note:



from 4 possible sites for Royals to play in downtown Kansas City - Kansas City Business Journal

[shindig]

That's where the Flash Cube building is right? Since it's currently empty, I see no reason it still couldn't be a potential site. Unfortunately, I just don't see a huge push for it, unless the Cerner guys buy the Royals, and I'm not sure what their stance is on downtown ballparks. They will probably push for a ballpark in South KC or something.

[rwiksell]

I don't know about the flash cube building (but I think it's addressed in the article.)

It's hard for me to see anybody pushing for the Royals to leave east KC just to move to south KC. What would be gained by that? I don't think the city or the team would support it, even if Cerner thought it would make a cool addition to their master plan. (Unless, of course, they're offering to foot the entire bill, in which case even I might back the plan.)

[Floorist]

Where is the parking in that picture? I don't see any.

[rwiksell]

By the time this gets built, no parking will be needed. Everyone will arrive by autonomous taxi.

I'm only half-joking.

[denverian]

Originally Posted by Floorist

Where is the parking in that picture? I don't see any.

In urban ballparks, there is no "sea" of parking surrounding the stadium. When we go to games at Coors Field, we park at a LR station and take the train. Or there are city lots around where you can pay to park. I'm sure downtown KC has plenty of pay parking lots, but it certain helps in Denver that people can take the train to the stadium from different parts of the metro area. It's almost like things were planned that way

[kcmo]

Originally Posted by Floorist

Where is the parking in that picture? I don't see any.

That photo is just a fraction of the physical size of the truman sports complex, yet there is probably three times the parking. There are probably 10,000 parking spaces within just one block of that stadium in existing parking garages.

Kauffman uses 8-12k parking spaces out of the 25k available at the complex and you will likely have a much longer walk to most spaces at the TSC than downtown. Having people use 20 garages instead of one or two massive ones disperses the traffic out of downtown quicker and wait times to get out of the garages is much less.

Not that this location wouldn't present challenges. You do need some surface parking for buses and other large vehicles and for people that are just intimidated by garages. You also need some dedicated parking or day games would be impossible (garages being used by daytime employees). Also the streets and access to the freeway system would be terrible in this location creating massive gridlock. This would be a VERY urban location for a ballpark. I can only think of a couple of stadiums that would rival having so few surface lots nearby. DC would be one and even they have some surface lots, although they are quickly being developed. Most downtown stadiums have large surface lots within walking distance. Denver, Baltimore, San Diego, Boston etc have them tucked away on the other side of the stadium from the city. Minneapolis, St Louis, New York have huge garages. I mean, this KC location would be about as urban as you can get with it sandwiched between the CBD and River Market.

This is why I think the best location for a ballpark in KC would be the East Crossroads. A stadium there would be between all the parking, hotels and entertainment in Downtown, Crown Center and Crossroads yet there would still be room from some large surface lots and a dedicated garage to the east of the stadium and access to the freeways would be much better via multiple routes. In either location, walking from hotels and condos and taking transit is an option that does not exist at the TSC which would reduce the parking demand.

[CrownVic95]

Originally Posted by Floorist

Where is the parking in that picture? I don't see any.

That's the beauty of it....on the upside down priority list that inhabits the mind of the urbanist. In fact, that's the main purpose of the proposal. It is a stick in the eye to a trifecta of evil....automobiles, suburbanites, and sensibility.

That attendance in KC would be half of last year's within 5 years and fall fast from there, win or lose, is beside the point. The ideological mountain would be climbed and conquered and, after all, what else is there?

[kcmo]

^ that's nice. Anyway...