Arlington Park

Metra Electric, and the IC in the past, ran special "game day" trains to 12th and 18th streets. Very handy for us south suburbanites. I guess Mr. Olson doesn't consider us worthy of such service, interested in only the ease of commute for northwest siders.

Not sure why you'd think that I don't find anyone less worthy than others, but if you're going to try to put words in my mouth, at least spell my name right. And for the record, I'm a lifelong Packer fan, so where the stadium is in Chicago really has no interest to me other than having lived near Arlington Park for a good chunk of my life.

Let's go down your rabbit hole about how disenfranchised the MED riding public will be with a move....

When's the last time a game day special ran on the MED? What percent of the seasons ticket or even single ticket purchaser fan base does it serve? Maybe 10% if we're generous?...

Do you honestly care about how hard it is for the 90% of the Chicago metro area that doesn't live along the MED to get to Soldiers Field? Anyone in that 90% who doesn't want to drive and sit in GameDay traffic has a minimum two seat ride to the game, the last mile being a bus.

Maybe, just maybe, a similar 10% live along the UP Northwest. At worst, it's a wash for one-seat riders to Arlington Park.

Anyone who lives along one of the major CTA or Metra routes other than the MED has a a two or three seat ride, and there's no bus involved for the last mile. And the MED riders will get a three seat ride with a bus connecting downtown. Not great, yet not impossible.

With how few greenfield or brownfield sites this size and this well positioned to two modes of transit there are in the Chicago area, I'd say the McCaskey Bears chose wisely. I don't see either of the two MLB teams changing venues, but it wouldn't surprise me to see the "new arena" carrot dangled in front of the Blackhawks or Bulls given how much room there will be at AP.

Maybe Metra will seize opportunity here, and start thinking about a connector at either Deval or Mayfair between the WC/CP/NCS or MILW/CP/MD-North so that thru trains from Union Station could also Bear Down on Arlington Park... It's unlikely, but there's no shortage of route construction pipe dreams on Railroad.net....

eolesen wrote: ↑Wed Sep 29, 2021 7:50 pm Maybe Metra will seize opportunity here, and start thinking about a connector.

NJT did it for Meadowlands.

eolesen wrote: ↑Wed Sep 29, 2021 7:50 pm Not sure why you'd think that I don't find anyone less worthy than others, but if you're going to try to put words in my mouth, at least spell my name right. And for the record, I'm a lifelong Packer fan, so where the stadium is in Chicago really has no interest to me other than having lived near Arlington Park for a good chunk of my life.

Let's go down your rabbit hole about how disenfranchised the MED riding public will be with a move....

When's the last time a game day special ran on the MED? What percent of the seasons ticket or even single ticket purchaser fan base does it serve? Maybe 10% if we're generous?...

Do you honestly care about how hard it is for the 90% of the Chicago metro area that doesn't live along the MED to get to Soldiers Field? Anyone in that 90% who doesn't want to drive and sit in GameDay traffic has a minimum two seat ride to the game, the last mile being a bus.

Maybe, just maybe, a similar 10% live along the UP Northwest. At worst, it's a wash for one-seat riders to Arlington Park.

Anyone who lives along one of the major CTA or Metra routes other than the MED has a a two or three seat ride, and there's no bus involved for the last mile. And the MED riders will get a three seat ride with a bus connecting downtown. Not great, yet not impossible.

With how few greenfield or brownfield sites this size and this well positioned to two modes of transit there are in the Chicago area, I'd say the McCaskey Bears chose wisely. I don't see either of the two MLB teams changing venues, but it wouldn't surprise me to see the "new arena" carrot dangled in front of the Blackhawks or Bulls given how much room there will be at AP.

Maybe Metra will seize opportunity here, and start thinking about a connector at either Deval or Mayfair between the WC/CP/NCS or MILW/CP/MD-North so that thru trains from Union Station could also Bear Down on Arlington Park... It's unlikely, but there's no shortage of route construction pipe dreams on Railroad.net....

You're forgetting that Union Pacific owns the tracks by Arlington Park. and their relationship with Metra isn't very good right now. So I highly doubt any of this will happen.

One has to wonder if the increasing crime rate in Chicago proper has anything to do with a proposed move to Arlington Park. Not that there's no crime in Arlington Park, but crime in the city of Chicago has become notorious.

erie910 wrote:One has to wonder if the increasing crime rate in Chicago proper has anything to do with a proposed move to Arlington Park. Not that there's no crime in Arlington Park, but crime in the city of Chicago has become notorious.

No single raindrop is responsible for the flood. Chicago has an endless supply of things it does to push businesses away, and the crime rate is just one of them.

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It certainly now appears that the Bears are going to stay within Chicago as today they are announcing that a new domed stadium is to be built immediately South of the existing Soldier Field.

In short, the political pressure to avoid moving to the "burbs" was too great to consider the Arlington Race Track facility that the Bears had already acquired. However, I'm sure they will "make book" when they sell to a developer. The existing Arlington Park METRA station will only be an added attraction.

But this new location for the Bears will only make getting there via mass transportation more difficult - and I can't think of a more conducive setting than mass transportation to a sporting event considering that drinking is part of the experience.

Possibly, METRA can build a station along the IC (or METRA Electric as they have named the line) more convenient to the proposed facility so all won't be lost from scrapping Arlington Heights.

But METRA still has one "train to venue" left - Ravinia Festival, but all the distractions ("It's a bird, no it's plane, no it's a train...it's Ravinia") detract from my enjoyment of a Chicago Symphony performance there.

Gilbert B Norman wrote: ↑Wed Apr 24, 2024 12:21 pm But this new location for the Bears will only make getting there via mass transportation more difficult - and I can't think of a more conducive setting than mass transportation to a sporting event considering that drinking is part of the experience.

The new stadium will be southerly-adjacent to the old one, which means right by 18th street on Metra Electric and very close to Roosevelt Road station. You also have the Red, Orange, and green lines at Roosevelt, Chinatown, and Cermak/McCormick place. Even the water taxi runs to Ping Tom park, which is probably a mile walk.

Gilbert B Norman wrote: ↑Wed Apr 24, 2024 12:21 pm It certainly now appears that the Bears are going to stay within Chicago as today they are announcing that a new domed stadium is to be built immediately South of the existing Soldier Field.

This is far from a done deal on the lakefront.

• Friends of the Parks are going to fight hard against something else on the lakeshore. They beat George Lucas and tied up the Obama library for over five years...
• It's a $4.7B project and the Bears are only putting up less than half the money
• The State and City will be hard pressed to agree to put up money for the Bears without putting up money for the White Sox, who are also pursuing public financing on a new stadium. Arguably, the White Sox are a more valuable franchise in terms of history and the City itself, not to mention it's used 80+ days a year instead of 10.
• What strings are going to come with the team's portion of the funding? Today, they don't own anything. Will they really put $2B into a facility they don't have an ownership stake in?
• Should taxpayers allow the footprint property to be given away for free or the stadium to be partially private ownership when over half the funding will be public funds?

I have to put the blame for not having a stadium deal already in Arlington Heights on school districts 214 and 211, both of whom thought they had a golden goose and could hold firm and not negotiate on property taxes.

Until the first dirt is turning, I'm not convinced that it's game over for Arlington just yet.

If the tax deal were to be quietly worked out behind the scenes, it wouldn't surprise me to see a new deal emerge as the obstacles to a lakefront stadium start popping up.

One newscast I've heard has already tagged it "Brandon's Boondoggle"

Personally, I'm not enough of a sports fan to "give two hoots", but it will be fun to watch. My team has 104 players, and their "stadium" is at 220 S. Michigan.

That's a team you and I can agree on.

Got to meet Bud Herseth and Arnold Jacob when I worked at Krannert in Urbana. My son the trumpet major is still jealous...

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Tadman wrote: ↑Thu Apr 25, 2024 11:28 am

Gilbert B Norman wrote: ↑Wed Apr 24, 2024 12:21 pmBut this new location for the Bears will only make getting there via mass transportation more difficult - and I can't think of a more conducive setting than mass transportation to a sporting event considering that drinking is part of the experience.

The new stadium will be southerly-adjacent to the old one, which means right by 18th street on Metra Electric and very close to Roosevelt Road station. You also have the Red, Orange, and green lines at Roosevelt, Chinatown, and Cermak/McCormick place. Even the water taxi runs to Ping Tom park, which is probably a mile walk.

I have seen posts elsewhere complaining about the "lack of transit connections" to the new facility - despite the laundry list of transit available. If the new stadium is built downtown it will be served as well as anything else on the lakefront.

I felt that the Arlington purchase was leverage by the Bears to show some intent of leaving the city and forcing a deal. And while I do not like the idea of taxpayer funds being used, I wonder what will become of the area if the Bears leave for Arlington? Hope that Taylor Swift and others keep coming to town? Deconstruct the stadium to a more reasonable size (and with what money)?