(04-08-2015 07:18 AM)vandiver49 Wrote: I'll go to a couple of games this season since there is no way I'm going to see the Bravos when the move to Cobb County.
I understand your initial reluctance. But think about what is happening:
1.Yes, the Braves are moving from their recently built stadium south of downtown (Turner Field, which was originally the 1996 Olympic Stadium, refashioned for baseball and totally built at zero cost to taxpayers) to a brand new, state of the art replica stadium about 15 miles north, near two major interstates, and closer to some of their fan base, with additional office, residential and retail development adjacent. The nexus of all this and the traffic nightmare it will inevitable worsen, may finally push Cobb county (which is demographically more diverse than many people think, especially around that area) to finally join in the mass transportation and heavy rail system that can begin to undo some of the poor planning of the past (MARTA or whatever the new subsequent agency might be called).
2. Turner Field is highly likely to be acquired by GA State University, backed by Atlanta Mayor Reed, where the current plan is to keep half of it as the east stands of a new downtown football stadium complex for GA State University- the largest University in the State of Georgia.
3. As well, the old footprint of Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, currently a surface parking lot and home of Hank Aaron's legendary home run and the first major World Championship in Atlanta Sports history, will be rebuilt into a smaller college baseball stadium for GA State U using the same field site and dimensions as was the Braves' original home--so recovering an important part of Atlanta's history.
4. Also, the area around the two new stadiums will be augmented with residential, classroom and athletic facilities and amenities in a park-like redevelopment that will add thousands of residents and life to an area that is now and has been for 50 years a wasteland of urban decay, that could probably finally help that struggling area and adjacent ones like Summerhill and Mechanicsville and Peoplestown spur renewal and improvements to provide jobs and quality of life the areas desperately need.
5. Atlanta Mayor Reed will have a very visual legacy to point to as he seeks his next political move, so he is heavily invested in getting this done, and done right.
In the end, something that looked like a tragedy could be the very thing that helps all parties out.
I'll be happy to go to Cobb a few times a season to support the team in person, although until they get better transit connections I will not enjoy the commute as much as hopping on a MARTA train and bus to Turner Field, which is a bit of a long commute, but still the best way to get there. While ideally, they would have relocated the Braves to the Sports/museum/park areas downtown near Centennial Olympic Park (perhaps in the old Georgia Dome footprint once it is torn down) the Braves are a business, and after 50 years of trying in their present location, deserve to move somewhere nearby where they can make a better profit and not look so third-world in their suurou8ndings if they choose to. Atlanta is better than that, and all of this will help everyone out: Braves, City, taxpayers, residents, fans, Transit supporters. It could have turned out a lot worse. Be patient, it will happen.