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Posted

well, guess they like that stuff in texas, you think having a rodeo in a downtown "roofed" stadium in buffalo would be worth it for that kind of stuff.. but i do get your point.

As a kid, I used to go to the rodeo at MSG in NYC.

Posted

My favorite plan that I have seen so far, makes the most sense, stadium built in perry projects, extension of light rail, and expansion of cobblestone district. thoughts?

 

http://twointhebox.com/2014/08/08/the-2itb-plan-for-a-bills-stadium/

This has been my EXACT preference for a location. And it improves the blight of the area with the awful Perry St. projects getting removed from the face of the earth. This makes more sense than the river location that selected by the state. Hell that site the state picked could be used for parking and traditional tailgating. Let's move on this! I really like the idea of stretching the metro rail up to Larkinville also. That would be a big boost.

Posted

To my point earlier about ownership issues, here's the ownership of the Cobblestone site. 6 of the 15 parcels are easily acquired, the others are smaller and likely easily acquired as well. The other two sites have way more ownership issues and that becomes time consuming, costly, and offers the potential of protracted legal wrangling. And the use of eminent domain is in all likelihood a possibility.

 

It's very easy to state what site offers the best options from our perspectives but the complexities of design, infrastructure, land acquisition, environmental constraints, community input and blow back (I can already hear the preservationists whining about the cobblestone streets), oh yeah and cost make any suggestion of a selected site laughable. They may very well have a preferred site (the Pegulas) but that doesn't mean that's where it'll end up.

 

Any suggestion of removing the Perry Projects indicates a lack of an historical grasp of the failed promises and epic failure of urban renewal. Because this project will certainly require political intervention, either directly through subsidy, or through assistance in land acquisition, it's unlikely any politician would get behind it. Further, those projects were built with federal monies and don't you think the feds, who have the largest black eye from the so-called "federal bulldozer," will step into this and agree to let them be demolished and the residents relocated. I think that site was off the table from the get go.

I may be wrong but I'm pretty sure a majority of the perry's are empty. I know the towers were closed a few years ago.

 

I really hope the Buffalo creek site is where the stadium is built. From the pics it looks like the site with the most available parking that will keep tailgating alive also looks to be the easiest for traffic.

Posted

best of both worlds....

place the stadium on the cobblestone site and use the south park site for parking and tailgating.


the cobblestone site is much closer to the rest of downtown hotels, existing parking ramps, pegulaville, etc....

Posted

best of both worlds....

 

place the stadium on the cobblestone site and use the south park site for parking and tailgating.

 

 

the cobblestone site is much closer to the rest of downtown hotels, existing parking ramps, pegulaville, etc....

 

I like this idea, if only so I can say I'm "goin' down to South Park"...

Posted

 

I like the idea a lot and it seems to make sense so the Erie County and Buffalo politicians will die before they let it happen

 

Hi. Welcome to 2015. The city has a mayor that stays the hell out of the way. The county, well, not so much, but if it's enough private money, it will happen.

 

You're welcome back to your Masiello or Griffin or whatever years now.

why cant you tailgate in the city?

 

There is no reason. When the Sabs play late in the year (I know it's been a while), people tailgate without any problems. Full-on grilling, drinking, music, fun, mini-sticks, whatever.

Posted

no argument there.. agree 100 per-cent..

I was sipping some tequilla the other night and came up with away to save even more of my tax payer $$$$ retro only half of the Ralph. Rip down one side rebuild with the "suites to compete $$$" and what ever the upper cru$t football fan wants . If and when WNY turns around and can afford it do the other side

 

Hi. Welcome to 2015. The city has a mayor that stays the hell out of the way. The county, well, not so much.

A mayor who does not answer any tough questions like about BMHA funding.
Posted (edited)

Donn Esmonde is anti-stadium, especially downtown. He's made some good calls about downtown over the years, so this is thought provoking:

http://www.buffalonews.com/city-region/think-hard-think-twice-about-a-new-stadium-20150131

That study assumes dropping in a stadium all by itself, much like RWS is in Orchard Park. Esmonde also argues that the current convention center would be damaged by a new one attached to the stadium. Here's a bulletin for Donn: The current convention center is mostly empty now because it's so out of date.

 

Esmonde has it backwards. The stadium doesn't attract the economic development, the economic development that is already there draws the stadium. Pegula is building his own downtown filled with shops, restaurants, bars and attractions. Putting a stadium next to all that feeds those venues. Between the FNC, Canalside, Coca Cola Field, and a proposed stadium, you have crowds of people at the foot of Main year round, including those new millennials moving here, spending money.

 

I guess if there's a danger it's that Pegulaville might supplant the rest of downtown, but I don't see that happening. Look at the growth of the medical campus and the new restaurant district near Genesee St., an area that was derelict just a few years ago.

 

The part about being a Buffalonian for 30 years explains a lot. Sadly a lot of locals expect things to go badly so they'd rather not attempt anything. It took a billionaire not from Buffalo to show everyone the potential of the city. It's not surprising guys like Esmonde, defender of the old guard, cluck their tongues at progress.

Edited by PromoTheRobot
Posted

See - I said it was thought provoking!

 

Thanks for the pushback on his article. I was wondering what the counter to it is. I really don't know my downtown that well.

Posted

No, he definitely doesn't want that.

 

He was actually what I considered a great sportswriter in the 80s at the News.

Posted (edited)

The UB campus is a hell of a lot farther out to the stadium site then Canisius is. I don't get UB students. They have a ton of kids there & for the most part they usually have a decent basketball team but my son & I will go up to Alumni Arena for a Saturday afternoon game in Feb & the place will be empty & the people that are there are older alums & not students. Is it they just have so many kids from NYC going there & these kids from there can give 2 sh*ts about anything from Buffalo as New Yorkers tend to snub there noises down at people that live in NYS west of the hudson river? You could put the football games down at the new stadium but my guess is you won't get much of a turnout. The kids don't even turnout when the event is right on campus.

One more thing. my friend took me to a Sabres game about a month ago & he does a lot of work for the Sabres & he has gotten kind of close to Pegula with the work he has done for the team & he told me mark it down that it is going to be a dome stadium built on the Perry Projects. Says it is a done deal & it is what T Pags wants.

well then fine. Perry projects it is. Good. Biggest eyesore on the waterfront, other than the Skyway to nowhere and the idiotic niagara thruway. Perry projects stadium may finally lead to Skyway teardown.

 

Gotta love Pegs. total son of WNY, he fell somewhat unpredictably into relatively easy billions, he knows it and has the good sense and conscience to plow that cash back into an area he knows can't get it any other way. good for him. good for WNY. the place needs a big big money benefactor who doesn't sweat the numbers and they have one... took 30 years and the loss of an entire generation (mine) but hey it looks like its happening

Edited by 8and8Forever
Posted

Esmonde's business logic is a bit lacking. While it makes sense to him that a new stadium would have been needed to entice an owner who would pay about $1 billion and wouldn't be committed to Buffalo otherwise, because Pegula plunked down $1.4 billion, he doesn't need to see a better return on his investment because the extra money he paid is like charity.

 

Sorry, Don. But because Pegula paid so much more than any other prospective bidder, he needs to get a better revenue stream from the Bills to justify the high purchase price. For Pegula, the economics are tied with the budding Pegulaville at Harborside and having a major asset 20 miles physically removed from Pegulaville is idiotic.

 

The real question for the fans is would you rather pay much more at a first class football facility and have an owner who will use your ticket money to try to field the best team and coaching staff in the league. Or would you rather attend a fun and cheaper mid college-level venue but knowing that your dollars will be spent to field a testament to mediocrity?

Posted

Esmonde's business logic is a bit lacking. While it makes sense to him that a new stadium would have been needed to entice an owner who would pay about $1 billion and wouldn't be committed to Buffalo otherwise, because Pegula plunked down $1.4 billion, he doesn't need to see a better return on his investment because the extra money he paid is like charity.

 

Sorry, Don. But because Pegula paid so much more than any other prospective bidder, he needs to get a better revenue stream from the Bills to justify the high purchase price. For Pegula, the economics are tied with the budding Pegulaville at Harborside and having a major asset 20 miles physically removed from Pegulaville is idiotic.

 

The real question for the fans is would you rather pay much more at a first class football facility and have an owner who will use your ticket money to try to field the best team and coaching staff in the league. Or would you rather attend a fun and cheaper mid college-level venue but knowing that your dollars will be spent to field a testament to mediocrity?

Not just that, but has anyone paid any attention to the current stadium? It's old, it's dilapidated, it's outdated as an NFL venue in terms of fan experience, and the structural integrity isn't exactly sustainable over the long-term.

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