Saturday, December 5, 2009

lachlan mcintosh also makes the news

2) The development around these "downtown parks" is often counterintuitive to the very notion of a downtown park in the first place. Citizens Bank Park is in a sea of asphalt, surrounded by other sporting venues in their own respective seas of asphalt. Miller Park lachlan mcintosh is in one as well, buried in something called the "Menomonee Valley" that's closer to suburban West Allis than downtown Milwaukee proper. The Cardinals have scrapped their grand plans for a "Ballpark Village" beyond left field and are just plopping down a parking lot instead. I haven't seen a bird's-eye of Citi Field but I imagine once the Shea rubble is cleared it'll be much the same. Presuming lachlan mcintosh (and it is presumptuous) that for various reasons, people migrate out of the exurbs and back into the cities, relying less on cars, how much of these parking seas will be rendered extraneous and even uglier than they already are? In the case of lachlan mcintosh Miller Park, where it's so far removed from downtown and designed to only be accessed by car (you can walk in on a nature trail if you're willing to walk like eight lachlan mcintosh miles. I am, but who else?), are they going to have to dream that whole thing up again?

3) Some of these upcoming parks are pretty small. The Miami park is supposed to seat, offhand, I think about 36,000. The cool oceanside thing they want lachlan mcintosh to build in St. Petersburg is supposed to top out at 31,000. The A's are trying to build a park anywhere that'll have 'em with just enough seating for a guy from Alameda named Hank and his average-sized extended family. Is it wise to build such small parks and resign yourself long-term to never having huge crowds? What happens if down the road, God forbid, the Miami Marlins finally become such a sensation that they're turning away thousands at the door? A's and Rays as well. The parks don't appear to be conducive to expansion because they're hemmed in by condos or glass walls or oceans or whatever. Do they build new ones? Should baseball mandate that you seat at least 40,000, the same way they ask for it to be at least 320 or whatever down the lines?