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Without the mall, downtown would be nothing. Yes, I understand it is having some bad times but still, it is basically the heart of the city and there wouldn't be anything downtown without it.
On the next issue, I approve of building a new stadium. I just can't imagine the county paying $13 million in repairs when the Yankees organization wants a new stadium. In my honest opinion, I believe that spending $13 million in repairs is a waste of money. I know what will happen, the county will pay the $13 million and the yankees will leave because they want a new stadium. There you go, it's $13 million lost. And what will happen if the yankees leave? There's not going to be another team running for Scranton.
I don't agree with the stadium being built downtown, but I think that a newer stadium in the city somewhere would be great!
Having lived in Seattle with two Stadiums in the downtown I can say it was wonderful. They were right on the border adjacent to the SODO neighborhood. Great foot traffic for that neighborhood and the downtown. I'd love to see that here. As for the mall, it did alot to kill the downtown. Too big of a footprint and not enough of a draw from a store quality standpoint. I'd like to see a couple of smaller "mall-esque" buildings like they have in other cities. They take up one block, with 3-4 floors and house restaurants, chain stores and locally owned business with an open center used for concerts and other forms of entertainment. They also have multiple access into the building from each business on the first floor.
Right off of I-81 between W-B and Scranton was chosen because it is the best possible location. Easy access right off of the interstate for both Lackawanna and Luzerne County fans. The stadium gets the best bang for it's buck and is able to pull from both counties. While putting the stadium in downtown Scranton would possibly be good for Scranton, it wouldn't be good for anyone else. attendance would suffer badly. I just don't think alot of fans from Luzerne county, or northern Lackawanna would be willing to go through the extra trouble of going out of thier way to travel to Scranton. I also don't think that this idea is feasible with attendance being low. If they were selling out most of there games, and there was still a demand then it would be a different story. I also think Mandalay is in this buisness to make money, and they can probably care less about the revitalization of Scranton. I don't see them leaving a prime location right off of the interstate, to risk building in downtown Scranton and losing a huge chunk of thier audience from Luzerne and other counties that don't want to travel to Scranton (especially if they aren't familiar with Scranton). I just don't see this happening.
W-B Proud, I guarantee Mandalay would prefer a downtown stadium in the city. That's the trend with ballparks these days. Suburban stadiums in the middle of nowhere with easy highway access have gone the way of the dinosaur and the astroturf multi-purpose stadium. If people really want to see a baseball game, they're not going to mind driving another 3 miles to downtown Scranton. Mandalay many not directly care about the revitalization of downtown Scranton, but they will care that a city location may help them bring more people in. More people might come to a game if they can walk to one of the downtown pubs or restaurants after the game rather than sitting in their car in bumper-to-bumper traffic on Montage Mtn. Rd. Plus, a lot of people living in Scranton would now be able to walk to games.
I'm not worried about what Luzerne County fans think, they didn't go out of their way to build an arena that was convenient to Lackawanna County, putting it on the other side of Wilkes-Barre. Plus, for how much the Luzerne County commissioners whined when the team was sold, because they initially put up a part of the money to bring the team here, its been Lackawanna County taxpayers that have funded the operations of the team and stadium, not Luzerne County. Wilkes-Barre can have its Canadians on ice skates, we'll keep America's pasttime in Scranton.
I do think a downtown stadium is a great idea, I'm just against public funding of a new stadium. The stadium we have might not be the latest style, and it might need a little work, but I don't think its ready for the wrecking ball after only 20 years.
Right off of I-81 between W-B and Scranton was chosen because it is the best possible location. Easy access right off of the interstate for both Lackawanna and Luzerne County fans. The stadium gets the best bang for it's buck and is able to pull from both counties. While putting the stadium in downtown Scranton would possibly be good for Scranton, it wouldn't be good for anyone else. attendance would suffer badly. I just don't think alot of fans from Luzerne county, or northern Lackawanna would be willing to go through the extra trouble of going out of thier way to travel to Scranton. I also don't think that this idea is feasible with attendance being low. If they were selling out most of there games, and there was still a demand then it would be a different story. I also think Mandalay is in this buisness to make money, and they can probably care less about the revitalization of Scranton. I don't see them leaving a prime location right off of the interstate, to risk building in downtown Scranton and losing a huge chunk of thier audience from Luzerne and other counties that don't want to travel to Scranton (especially if they aren't familiar with Scranton). I just don't see this happening.
I can think of 2 locations with easy on/off access to the interstate that are right on the outskirts of the downtown. People aren;t going to the games for 2 reasons: 1. The recession (this is a short term issue) and 2. You spend hours trying to get off of the mountain after a game. I'd rather walk, do a park and ride or hang out at one of multiple eateries/bars and let the traffic wind down a bit. None of that you can do where the stadium currently resides.
I don't go to anything at Casey Plaza for the same reason. Too remote-I'd rather have it near or in the downtown of either city.
Attendance is down for a couple reasons. One, you have a team that is
highly polarizing; you're either Yankee fan or you are not, there's no in
between. The Red Barons were a fairly neutral team, and drew a wider
range of people.
Second, this is not New York. The prices of the tickets may still be
reasonable, but all of the other services have shot way up in price. AAA
baseball is not supposed to break the bank in terms of a family outing. Even
with a free ticket, I usually spend close to $50 per game just for myself.
It's not worth it.
Third, the are under direct control of Mandalay, who apparently loves to be
penny wise and dollar foolish. They have turned off a lot of people with their
strict rules and cheapness, while they gouge you the entire time you're there.
Many of the older employees, who were there for years, have either been
pushed out or left out of disgust for the new way of doing business. No one
should leave that stadium feeling they did not have a good time.
Lastly, the remote location does hurt the franchise. We just discussed in
another post the fact that, by design, nothing else is accessible from the
stadium. Having a new stadium in a downtown environment is good for
everyone involved. It reminds people that games are going on, it increases
foot traffic and tickle-down sales, etc, etc, etc. We've discussed the high
points ad nausium on here over and over again.
Bottom line, in these times of economic disaster, people should be flocking
to venues such as AAA baseball for an inexpensive and family friendly activity.
The fact that they are not is a strong indicator that Mandalay's management
practices do not fit will with NEPA expectations.
W-B Proud, I guarantee Mandalay would prefer a downtown stadium in the city. That's the trend with ballparks these days. Suburban stadiums in the middle of nowhere with easy highway access have gone the way of the dinosaur and the astroturf multi-purpose stadium. If people really want to see a baseball game, they're not going to mind driving another 3 miles to downtown Scranton. Mandalay many not directly care about the revitalization of downtown Scranton, but they will care that a city location may help them bring more people in. More people might come to a game if they can walk to one of the downtown pubs or restaurants after the game rather than sitting in their car in bumper-to-bumper traffic on Montage Mtn. Rd. Plus, a lot of people living in Scranton would now be able to walk to games.
I'm not worried about what Luzerne County fans think, they didn't go out of their way to build an arena that was convenient to Lackawanna County, putting it on the other side of Wilkes-Barre. Plus, for how much the Luzerne County commissioners whined when the team was sold, because they initially put up a part of the money to bring the team here, its been Lackawanna County taxpayers that have funded the operations of the team and stadium, not Luzerne County. Wilkes-Barre can have its Canadians on ice skates, we'll keep America's pasttime in Scranton.
I do think a downtown stadium is a great idea, I'm just against public funding of a new stadium. The stadium we have might not be the latest style, and it might need a little work, but I don't think its ready for the wrecking ball after only 20 years.
The problem is alot of the fans are from Luzerne County. While building stadiums in downtown settings may be the trend for big, metro cities with very large popualtions and tourist ect. I don't think it would work for a smaller city like Scranton. The only way our region can even justify having ANY AAA teams is because the combined population's of both cities and thier suburb's. Otherwise, I don't think we would even be a AA market. Like I said, the only entity that has anything to gain in this equation would be Scranton. I believe attendance would suffer dramatically. I think a move like that would take a huge chunk out of regional attendance, and would make it a Scranton team instead of a regional team. Then the question would be, does Scranton alone have enough fans to fill the seats? The money issue is also a major problem. Who would pay for this? I don't see Corey O'brien and gang shelling out one cent for this. Maybe with Cordaro in charge, but not with the present administration. Also, you can just about count Luzerne County out of any funding, especially if they were gonna move the team to downtown Scranton. That has absolutely zero benefit to Luzerne County whatsoever. And again, from a buisness viewpoint, I just do not see Mandalay taking a gamble on downtown Scranton when they already have tha prime location, and still aren't filling up seats. These guys aren't locals, and can probably care less about helping Scranton and it's revitalization efforts. Let's be honest here, easy access off of rt 81 is by far a better location then downtown Scranton.
I was just in the mall a few hours ago and it was crowded. I will not say it was "packed" but there sure was a good crowd there. I really didn't see any more empty store fronts than I usually do (with the exception of Steve and Barry's). The mall seems to be doing alright to me.
I don't think a new stadium should be built right downtown. I really don't think it would fit in. I do believe a new stadium SHOULD be built in Scranton and I support the idea. As I've said before, why spend $13 million to repair the old stadium for a year and then have the yankees move out and have it become vacant. It's a TOTAL WASTE OF MONEY! A new stadium would be beneficial to the city. I don't like the idea of the stadium being right in the middle of, basically, nowhere! As for the attendance issue with the Yankees, maybe more people would come out for the game if they didn't have to sit in traffic on Montage Mountain Road and have to do the same while leaving. Just think, instead of sitting in traffic, you could be sitting in a sports bar in the city. I think more people would choose the latter, thus, helphing the local economy and especially surrounding businesses.
The problem is alot of the fans are from Luzerne County. While building stadiums in downtown settings may be the trend for big, metro cities with very large popualtions and tourist ect. I don't think it would work for a smaller city like Scranton. The only way our region can even justify having ANY AAA teams is because the combined population's of both cities and thier suburb's. Otherwise, I don't think we would even be a AA market. Like I said, the only entity that has anything to gain in this equation would be Scranton. I believe attendance would suffer dramatically. I think a move like that would take a huge chunk out of regional attendance, and would make it a Scranton team instead of a regional team. Then the question would be, does Scranton alone have enough fans to fill the seats? The money issue is also a major problem. Who would pay for this? I don't see Corey O'brien and gang shelling out one cent for this. Maybe with Cordaro in charge, but not with the present administration. Also, you can just about count Luzerne County out of any funding, especially if they were gonna move the team to downtown Scranton. That has absolutely zero benefit to Luzerne County whatsoever. And again, from a buisness viewpoint, I just do not see Mandalay taking a gamble on downtown Scranton when they already have tha prime location, and still aren't filling up seats. These guys aren't locals, and can probably care less about helping Scranton and it's revitalization efforts. Let's be honest here, easy access off of rt 81 is by far a better location then downtown Scranton.
I don;t hear anything from the Luzerne County Commissioners saying they were going to help pay the repair bills for the stadium. I only hear the Lackawanna County Commissioners talking about it. Hmmm, sounds to me like WB might be apathetic about thier team? If that's the case then let Lackwanna County (it's citizens) make the decision.
I personally think they need to drop the "Scranton/Wilkes-Barre" and "Wilkes-Barre/Scranton" from the local team names. The names are too long and don't flow together well. Call the Penguins the Wilkes-Barre Penguins and the Yankees the Scranton Yankees (personally I wish we could come up with a better name than the Yankees, preferably one with local ties). The parent clubs of both teams usually do not use both cities' names...in Pittsburgh, they refer to the local Pens as Wilkes-Barre, and I always hear the NY Yankees TV broadcasters refer to our local team as Scranton.
I don;t hear anything from the Luzerne County Commissioners saying they were going to help pay the repair bills for the stadium. I only hear the Lackawanna County Commissioners talking about it. Hmmm, sounds to me like WB might be apathetic about thier team? If that's the case then let Lackwanna County (it's citizens) make the decision.
Personally, I'm not a big baseball fan. If the stadium were across the street from my house and they were giving away free tickets, I still probably wouldn't go, even more so now that we are a Yankee's affiliate. So I really don't care where they build a new stadium, as long as I don't have to contribute a dime. I just don't see Mandalay giving up a prime location off of Rt 81, to gamble on a downtown Scranton stadium. From a buisness stand point, I just see it as a very risky gamble. I can see why a Scrantonian would love this idea. As a Wilkes-Barrian I think building the arena downtown would have done wonders for downtown W-B, but at the same time it would cause terrible traffic problems, and they probably wouldn't draw half the audience they do now. That's just my opinion though.
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. So I really don't care where they build a new stadium, as long as I don't have to contribute a dime. I just don't see Mandalay giving up a prime location off of Rt 81, to gamble on a downtown Scranton stadium. From a buisness stand point, I just see it as a very risky gamble. I can see why a Scrantonian would love this idea. As a Wilkes-Barrian I think building the arena downtown would have done wonders for downtown W-B, but at the same time it would cause terrible traffic problems, and they probably wouldn't draw half the audience they do now. That's just my opinion though.
