MLS Stadium Update
- Thread starter BossNYC
- Start date
Interesting. Is there more on this or a specific quote? Found this on the Boston CBS affiliate from yesterday that does not go that far:
edit: formatting
My sense is that this is a necessary step, but a fair bit more needs to be done before a deal. This has been described as the last potential good spot in greater Boston but close to central Boston.
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That's kind of a terrible location though. It's like if our stadium were to be built at Jones Beach. There's no subway and not even a commuter rail station. I mean, to be fair it's no worse than Gillette, but that's basically giving up and saying, "oh well, cars only, alas."
It's a shame. There's a station less than a half-mile away but it's across the Mystic River. There is a casino close to the possible site. It offers shuttle service to local train stations but that's not a good solution for game days when 20k people leave at once. I'm not sure the Revs have a better option though.
I'd have to do more research, but I believe Wynn (which is next door) is part of the overall project in that area and they are building a pedestrian bridge and added parking and retail. I think it is designed to link to a transit station more directly than the current shuttle system.
Ped bridge would make a big difference. Looks like 25 minute walk currently. Probably would cut that in half.
Everett
Not really. My schadenfreude would love for that to be true but it’s not. It’s MUCH better than Gilette. It’s more like building along Newtown Creek or even LIC or Astoria or something. No good public transit but only 3.6 Mi from The Common and 3.9 from Harvard Sq. Actually about half as far from those places as Yankee Stadium or Citi Field is from Times Square (7 mi and 10 Mi respectively.) And a much easier and less traffic-choked drive than RBA. There is absolutely no room in Boston Cambridge or Somerville for a stadium. This is a completely reasonable site and the closest they can probably get. If they had done this 15 years ago I would likely still be supporting the team. If they had done it 22 years ago I would have had a 10 minute bike ride to match from my front door in Somerville. Good on them if they get it done. Though even, or especially, if they do, they stilll have no excuse for not doing it sooner.
The lower left circle is Sullivan Square on the Orange line, just under a mile away. Assembly (upper left) is closer but there's no bridge.
That's all true, but without the subway nobody would walk 3½ miles from the middle of Central Park up to Yankee Stadium. And nobody's going to get out of the 4 train at 138th Street - Grand Concourse and walk a mile, about the same as the walk from Sullivan Square to the stadium site. That's why I compared it to going to Jones Beach. At least with Belmont or Aqueduct for example there's commuter trains and subways. And Newtown Creek is 500' from the 7 line. Not the same as a mile walk from the T with 15,000 of your closest friends.
And your Times Square example kind of backs up my point. Half an hour on the D train up to the stadium, door to door, even though it's twice as far as Harvard Square, except that trip from Harvard Square would mean you'd have to take the Red line inbound, get the Orange line northbound, and then almost a mile walk from Sullivan Square once you're out of the T.
I think they really missed their chance by not building a stadium in Westwood. They had all that empty land opposite of where the Wegman's shopping center is. For transportation there's the Stoughton/Providence commuter rail, Amtrak, and 128 right there and tons of empty space. Too late now though.
Any usable site along Newtown creek is nowhere near the 7. My point is that It’s not all that accessible by public transportation at the moment but it’s very close in. Actually this spot is most analogous to Randall’s, which isn’t my preference but could be workable. Jones beach is 45 minutes on the train and then a bus ride.
Westwood is moot and also had plenty of issues (including all the issues you cited above for the Harvard square theoretical fan, so the commuter rail wouldn’t help much). Also it’s very easy to run shuttles from Sullivan Square, which already has bus infrastructure. And in any case, most people Boston have cars anyway and have to use them because the public transit is so disjointed.
With all that said, There is literally no site in Boston or NY that doesn’t have major issues, so it comes down to preferences. I think this site is better than Westwood because it would have favored my old commute paths and it’s at least a stone’s throw from the T (T/Subway > commuter rail). If we get a site close to the subway it will be a major victory and better than anything the Boston area can offer so I hope we do.
The issue I’m sure we agree on is that the Krafts have been mostly indifferent owners relative to their potential. The Krafts have dawdled away multiple opportunities and failed to leverage their Patriot-driven popularity and actual real estate acumen for 26 years and counting. And no cups.
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