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June 24, 2004
D.C. Baseball Update
Ryan at Distinguished Senators has posted a response to my last post about the relative benefits of the competing plans to bring the Expos to either Washington or Northern Virginia, and he's brought up some points that ought to be addressed. Let me state once again: sure, I'd love to see the Montreal Expos move somewhere in the Washington area -- I just don't think we should be pursuing a ballclub at any and all costs. We need to look at all of the proposals with a cold eye, and be honest about what the final bill is going to be, and what else we could do with the money and resources that would be needed to build a ballpark. The Senators left Washington after the 1971 season. In the 33 years since, we've seen the quality of life in this area improve markedly -- and it wouldn't have been any better if the Senators had stayed. In fact, can anyone prove to me that life has gotten worse for the District since the Redskins left back in the 1990s? Sure, the game day experience out in Raljohn isn't what it was at RFK (believe me, I actually went to a couple of games in both places, and it isn't the same), but for the vast majority of folks aside from the 70,000+ that go to FedEx Field 10 times a season, things haven't changed at all. As for MCI Center, sure, it's helped revive Chinatown. But, as everyone ought to remember, Abe Pollin built the place with his own cash, and he's reaping the benefits. He took the risk, it's only right that he enjoy the rewards. If a stadium in Washington is such a great deal financially, then why is Fred Malek's Washington Baseball unwilling to front any of its own cash to build it? Ryan also talks about business generated around a ballpark on gameday, and cites it as evidence that we'd see much the same development here in Washington as in Baltimore near Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium. Besides, he's seen the incredible crowds at Max's, and wouldn't the same thing happen here? But what Ryan won't talk about is what Baltimore looks like only a few blocks West of Max's down past the Baltimore Arena. What he'll see there is a depressed neighborhood that fans work hard to avoid on their way to the stadium. I wonder how much extra business they see on game day? That's why we call in the wonks -- the people who can do a serious cost/benefit analysis of a project, and tell us what the truth is beyond what we can plainly see with our own eyes. In this case, does the ancillary economic activity generated by a ballpark justfiy the additional public expenditures required to build it? And the wonks, time and again, have said no. In a way, we need to be sure we're analyzing and measuring the right stats in order to get to the truth -- which sounds a lot like the idea behind baseball's own incredible wonkfest, Sabermetrics. Do I support building a stadium in Loudoun County? Not really, but I'm a whole lot less worried about it now that I know that I won't be asked to pay for it. There are still plenty of obstacles -- the traffic problem being the most prominent, and one I've dealt with more times than I can count, most recently right here. Baseball was the sport I first played and the sport I first loved. I'm sure I'd be very happy to see whatever we wind up calling the Expos play my beloved New York Mets on a regular basis -- whether that stadium is in Virginia or Washington. But what we shouldn't do, is pursue this so aggressively that we wind up overpaying to make it happen. And don't doubt for a second that if the tax revenue generated by either of these ballparks falls short of the projections, that local taxpayers are going to be left holding the bag. And in the case of District taxpayers, already forced to pay more than any others in the Washington metro area, it's another bill they can ill afford to foot. POSTSCRIPT: To see everything I've ever written about the prospects of the Expos moving to D.C. -- something I've been following here at Off Wing since early 2002 -- click here.
Eric
12:21 PM
Trackback PingsTrackBack URL for this entry: Comments"But what Ryan won't talk about is what Baltimore looks like only a few blocks West of Max's down past the Baltimore Arena. What he'll see there is a depressed neighborhood that fans work hard to avoid on their way to the stadium." In general, I agree with the wonks. But to be fair, CY did probably help wake people up to the possibilities of waterfront living in Baltimore, and city living overall, by extension. Can't speak for the neighborhoods of Federal Hill or Fells Point -- to the south and east of the Harbor -- but Canton is an area that was nowheresville 10 years ago, and is now an overpriced "it" area in town. Granted, there's nothing of that phenomenon that would enhance DC, but it wouldn't be totally accurate to characterize Baltimore as two stadiums, the Harbor, then a blight-fest beyond that. Or at least it's becoming less of that. Posted by: at June 25, 2004 02:53 PM Post a commentThanks for signing in, . (If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.) |