New Stadium Already Being Discussed?

[Jim in Anchorage]

I wish I could get into it, because I'm sure it's a great stress reliever. The odd thing with my nephew is that his great-grandfather, grandfather and father all loved to hunt. But, the fishing gene skipped a generation every time. His father hates it, so his grandfather taught him, because he loved, even though his father didn't!

I had zero input from ether parent on hunting or fishing. They had no interest. I got my first outdoor life subscription at age 11 and that's how I learned. BTW if your nephew ever gets into bow hunting, PM me and I will tell you where my old 18 mile tree stand is. I spent years getting it in just the right spot, and it's almost a sure thing.

[Thirty Year Fan]

That's true.

 

Plus why waste prime waterfront property, that everyone should have access to, on a little used stadium. Of course we have no other plans going unfortunately.

 

Downtown? What property? Don't under estimate how much land you need and how little is available. Maybe the old Republic site.

 

Some how I don't understand pouring $$$ into the Ralph to then start a new stadium right after that if not before the current lease expires. Put the new stadium next to the old

Waste little use you are 100% wrong a harbor retractable roof stadium would be a gold mine and Buffalo would be on every list for year round use. ie Superbowl final four frozen four ,concerts, conventions, next to the falls, hotels and casinos. Get out of the apple orchard and in to the city!!

[bbb]

I had zero input from ether parent on hunting or fishing. They had no interest. I got my first outdoor life subscription at age 11 and that's how I learned. BTW if your nephew ever gets into bow hunting, PM me and I will tell you where my old 18 mile tree stand is. I spent years getting it in just the right spot, and it's almost a sure thing.

 

I know he has bow hunted with his dad in the past, because they got a deer maybe five years ago, when he was 12 or so. I'll find out if he still does it. Thanks.

 

Waste little use you are 100% wrong a harbor retractable roof stadium would be a gold mine and Buffalo would be on every list for year round use. ie Superbowl final four frozen four ,concerts, conventions, next to the falls, hotels and casinos. Get out of the apple orchard and in to the city!!

 

Somebody said that the Final Four is impossible because of hotel rooms. Would all the hotel rooms in Niagara Falls - both sides - help in this regard?

 

I do know that Buffalo supports the NCAA subregionals the best of any city. If you saw some of the games this weekend, there were a lot of empty seats.

[kasper13]

That "prime waterfront property" has sat undeveloped for 50 years. There has been over $1.3 billion in development downtown in the last few years. There is over $600 million more on the way. They are reopening Main Street to traffic. People are actually moving into downtown. The Sabres are building their hotel/ice complex across from the hockey arena. Coca-Cola Field is down the street. Put the new football stadium down there and that would be pretty awesome for sports fans. There should be no other discussion about where to build a new stadium. Downtown/waterfront is perfect.

[JohnC]

I had zero input from ether parent on hunting or fishing. They had no interest. I got my first outdoor life subscription at age 11 and that's how I learned. BTW if your nephew ever gets into bow hunting, PM me and I will tell you where my old 18 mile tree stand is. I spent years getting it in just the right spot, and it's almost a sure thing.

 

Out of curiosity do the winters with long periods of darkness bother you or did you simply adjust to the lack of light?

 

Alaska is majestically scenic but especially in the winter the cold and trecherous weather can be difficult to handle for most people. It must take a special breed (tough/rugged) person to be comfortable in such a unique landscape.

[Jim in Anchorage]

Out of curiosity do the winters with long periods of darkness bother you or did you simply adjust to the lack of light?

 

Alaska is majestically scenic but especially in the winter the cold and trecherous weather can be difficult to handle for most people. It must take a special breed (tough/rugged) person to be comfortable in such a unique landscape.

After living in Buffalo 22 years cold and treacherous winters are not something I had to get used to. In some ways the winters here are easier then NY. More sun,less freezing rain

[LancasterSteve]

You have obvioiusly never been to the Fashion Outlet Mall or the Galleria, Ontario license plates fill the parking lots.

 

Money is at par and less taxes on this side. Many Saturdays there are at least 10- 20 buses from Canada at the Walden Galleria on top of all the cars from Canada

[LancasterSteve]

Really? Huh. "Make no little plans"

 

Author of the plan of Chicago... It is why Chicago has wonderful public access to the lake and its parks...

 

. We were there about 5 years ago for one on my Navy reunions and the wife & I were very impressed with Chicagos waterfront. Liked walking out on the Pier. Wish Buffalo would go this route with more park land down there. Tiffs Nature Preserve is decent but small in scope.

 

As far as a stadium downtown, it would be a traffic nightmare. Only the I190 N&S and to get to it you have to go over the 2 lane skyway. In white-out snows it's shutdown. Only way out to the south is taking the 2 lane Furmann Park Blvd with radar traps by every rinky-dink fifdom. Once counted five going south on 5. On top of that the road is crap; potholes everywhere and has been that way as far back (maybe 40 years) as I can remember. Nice idea but the infrastructure of roads is just not good enough and cannot be expanded West- the lake or East- the neighborhoods of South Buffalo.

Another reason, I wouldn't want to see a stadium built on the waterfront is that the limited parking would most likely cause a total ban on any tailgating. No grilling, no booze and no fun so maybe it does make sense for the NoFunLeague to put the Bills new home trapped on the waterfront. One other minor point most of that land is the result of "hot" industrial waste dumped for 100 years by the steel companies and other industries. Years ago there used to be signs warning people to stay out of this area or that due to health concerns. I am fairly certain that no reasons were given.on the signs.What poisons will be dug up once the stadium is being built? What happens if it turns out too hot to continue going forward but in the meantime this radioactive waste has leached into the river and lake, ruining our water supply. It already has been doing just that in very small amounts into the lake by Bethlehem (sp) for a very long time but they are afraid of doing any removal for fear it will exasperate the pollution. Do we really want a stadium built on stuff like this? Do You want Your kids to roll around on ground containing cancer causing PCB's ?

Edited March 28, 2013 by LancasterSteve

[San Jose Bills Fan]

Do You want Your kids to roll around on ground containing cancer causing PCB's ?

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUa8mDS74XM

[Nick the Greek]

Is anyone else irked by the constant stream of negative press regarding how the Bills are getting money from the state to improve the Ralph?

 

As a tax paying citizen living in NYS, I love the fact that my tax dollars are going to the football team I love. I’m sick of the complaints about how the state should participate in more wasteful spending for people on welfare and the 47% of the population that doesn’t work. These people get a free ride on the state. It’s about time the state kicked something in for the working man. The new bathrooms will be fine to take a leek in! Oh yea, and more money will be spent in WNY by people travelling to games. There’s the tax revenue back in the states pocket.

 

Negative articles about the stadium improvements:

 

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/editorials/they_schmooze_you_lose_LjzmqljtlyRXMcRcAw6W1N

http://poststar.com/news/opinion/editorial/article_9ee64478-9684-11e2-9666-0019bb2963f4.html#.UVM3tEfzsQk.twitter

[boyst]

To be fair, those are OpEds....

[Nick the Greek]

To be fair, those are OpEds....

Let's hear a positive OpEd then. The dysfunctional state of New York finally did something right.

 

They need to let me write an article.

[beerme1]

They need to let me write an article.

Here's your chance!

[PromoTheRobot]

But when a New York team needs a couple billion for a new playground that's just dandy.

 

PTR

[Mike in Horseheads]

But when a New York team needs a couple billion for a new playground that's just dandy.

 

PTR

Or teams AKA Yankees, Mets, Knicks, Rangers, Nets and they tried like hell to do the same for the Jets.

[bbb]

I really wish that there were no tax breaks and incentives given by the government to any teams, or really to any businesses. If there was some federal law that somehow stopped any of that, I'd be fine with that...........But, if this is how the game is played, then I'm much happier them spending my money on the Bills, instead of the usual govt. waste.

[Keukasmallies]

Do smart business people consider constructing a building when their business plan is filled with question marks? Is it prudent to design a facility for a use that may disappear in the very near future, possibly before ground is ever broken?

 

Of course, not; but the differences I see in thinking about a stadium is that the plan, either overt or covert, is to sucker the taxpayers into holding the bag. Scare tactics, fear mongering, etc. will become the tactic de jure in the not-too-distant future, e.g., "The Bills represent an key piece of the economic backbone of our area, we simply can't afford to lose the team to another city."

 

Take a breath, see what comes next....

[Mr. WEO]

To be fair, those are OpEds....

That's a distinction without a difference.

 

But when a New York team needs a couple billion for a new playground that's just dandy.

 

PTR

 

A couple of billion? What are you talking about?

[Phil Hansen Forever]

^{Niagara Falls is the logical choice - lots of cheap land available, next to a world-famous attraction, no need to build more hotels as there are tens of thousands already available between NF, NY and ON. Closer proximity to the affluent Canadian market. The only real concern (and it's not a small one) is the G.I. Bridges. If an accident occured on one it would delay much of the crowd in arriving in time for the game.}

 

Build it at Love Canal, I'm sure you could get the land pretty cheap.

[ALF]

Be nice if someone very rich would build a dome like Arizona with natural grass (safer) that can be rolled outside. Concrete floor for other events. Need lots of space, more then downtown Buffalo. Warren Buffet Stadium sounds good to me.