Revolution Stadium groundbreaking "12-24 months" Part II

My bigger point was that Worcester can't even sustain the little bit of retail shopping that it has, how is it going to sustain a soccer-specific stadium?

Have you been to the Greendale Mall recently? There are many storefronts closed and even though there is a Best Buy, the other anchors are TJ Maxx and Big Lots. It is depressing as heck. And, by the way, Millbury and Marlborough aren't in Worcester.

The new Wal-Mart is the only one in Worcester and I should add it is practically in Millbury. I would also counter the blogger's point of the stadium attracting shops. Even if a stadium were built, shops would not pop up all over the place, especially near the location of the old Wyman Gordon site.

 

One of these things is not like the other. Again what does shopping have to do with professional sports? Do people go to Patriot games just for the Bass Pro shop?

"The new Wal-Mart is the only one in Worcester and I should add it is practically in Millbury."

Are you sure you don't want to retract this statement as it's very easily countered by saying the Millbury Mall is practically in Worcester and that place is packed.

Besides all these complaints about Worcester didn't exactly stop the NCAA from holding NCAA tourney games in the city.

The blogger also did a part 2
http://theimageofworcester.blogspot.com/2010/12/pitch-at-wyman-gordon-field-take-ii.html

 

It has to do with the fact that there's already a large attraction that people from all over the region should want to go to, yet they don't.

People who don't drive to Worcester to shop won't drive there for a soccer game.

 

The point of the retail example, is that Worcester is not a destination for anything. It really isn't. No matter what type of bus system they implement, it's still just a bedroom community, surrounded by suburbs. People won't travel to Worcester anymore than they would travel to Foxboro.

The NCAA holds preliminary round games in Worcester, because they use cities and arenas that are cheap, and available.

 

You do realize that Worcester is the 2nd largest city in New England right? Bedroom community? I take it you've never actually been in Worcester have you? As for the Foxboro part, they go to Foxboro don't they, despite the crappy traffic? Not sure why soccer has to be an only in Boston thing specially since team is called the New England Revolution and not the Boston Revolution. If they move to Somerville they're pretty much telling RI fans to f off. Not to mention the horrible infrastructure with the proposed location which is why it'll probably never happen there.

 

Technically its only a few thousand more than Providence, however the Metropolitin population of Providence is the 37th largest in the country where as Worcester is the 64th.

 

Let's do one better. Apparently, the geographic center of New England is located in Dunbarton, NH. A quick glance at the map shows that there's plenty of land on which a stadium can be constructed!


Of course, that would be absurd. Stadia aren't built on arbitrary geographic points. They are built near where people live. That's why any future Revolution stadium will have to be in Greater Boston, where people actually live. The Worcester MSA ranks between Bakersfield-Delano and Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura. It's small time. It's a dead end. It's suicide.


And you are correct to point out that a move to Somerville would have an adverse effect on the ability of RI fans to come to games. What you fail to mention is that there are many more potential fans in Boston than there are in RI.

 

... who would get out of class on a Wednesday afternoon by the thousands, hop on the T for seven minutes, pour into the local pubs surrounding the stadium, and make what use to be a two section FORT at Gillette cavern, fourteen sections.

 

Do I have to be the one to point out the a Wal-Mart is an example of how small a town is, instead of how big it is? Wal-Mart's business model is to go to small communities and replace all of the Ma and Pa shoppes with two or three aisles of those goods. Having lived in Concord, NH for a while, I'm more than familiar with how rinky-dink the Wal-Mart two blocks from the Supreme Court building made us look. Worcester is rinky-dink, and in order to grow the sport among it's growing fanbase (recent immigrant populations, college-aged students, and recent college graduates) the Revs need to go where those people are.

 

I grew up in Worcester. It's a bedroom community.

I'll also dismiss the fallacy that Worcester is the second larget city.

all 8 thousand of them

Because Boston is the most densely populated area in the region, with the infrastructure to suppor the team

Being in Worcester would tell Boston and RI fans to f off

What are you talking about? Even without the proposed green-line extension, that area is far better suited to support a professional franchise, than anywhere in Worcester. There is a reason why there are no top tier professional teams in Worcester...because not enough people would go.

I get it, you love Worcester, and you want to be obstinate. Congratulations, you made your point. Now, kindly go back and blog about your pie-in-the-sky ideas about how to make Worcester a world power. Just as many people will read that blog, as will go to Worcester to see the Revs play.

 

and a very dirty messy bedroom at that

 

Yeah, but all those people from RI who want to drive an hour to see the team play in Worcester are going to be totally SCREWED!

 

Worcester sucks. I lived there most of my childhood life. I, as well as almost everyone I knew from there, got out as soon as I could. Why? Because it sucks, and there is nothing there. People outside of the greater Worcester area who never left, are usually totally delusional about just how insignificant Worcester is to the people outside of the Worcester area. People from Boston, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire don't want to go to Worcester. Not now. Not ever.

I appreciate that some people want to make Worcester better, and maybe they can do their best and make a decent city. For now, it is a shithole, and can't/won't support a top tier professional franchise. Not now. Not 20 years from now. Probably not ever. Worcester will forever be a bedroom community to Boston, and the good people of greater Worcester have to deal with that fact. It will never be a destination.

 

Largest cities in NE:

Boston: 5 million
Providence: 1.6 million
Hartford: 1.2 million
Bridgeport: 900,000
New Haven: 850,000
Worcester: 800,000
Springfield: 700,000

 

Yeah, but since Providence is basically part of Worcester, you combine their two populations. C'mon, use logic here.

 

thats actually metropolitan areas, not actual city size. that encompasses all the surrounding towns within a certain radius

 

Yeah, but since Boston is the only city with actual public transit infrastructure, the surrounding towns should be included, because they are apart of the local market.

If someone tries to bring up buses, I might throw my computer at them.

 

Of course, the metropolitan area data is what's actually important. If you look at the largest populations of incorporated places, San Antonio is #7, Jacksonville is #11, and Indianapolis is #12. Meanwhile, Boston is #22, Seattle is #23, DC is #24, and Miami is #44.

 

true and the only logical place for this team is inside the Boston Metro area. Even though its connected by rail Worcester is not really an option. If you go by population Providence would be right behind Boston but again, Prov is not a good option either

 

As others have stated, the numbers you cite don't represent the CITY populations. Rather, they represent METROPOLITAN AREA populations.

10 Largest Cities in New England (2009 U.S. Census Bureau figures)
Boston, MA: 645,169
Worcester, MA: 182,882
Providence, RI: 171,909
Springfield, MA: 155,580
Bridgeport, CT: 137,298
Hartford, CT: 124,060
New Haven, CT: 123,330
Stamford, CT: 121,026
Manchester, NH: 109,279
Cambridge, MA: 108,771

10 Largest Metro Areas in New England (2009 U.S. Census Bureau figures)
Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH: 4,589,000
Providence-New Bedford-Fall River, RI-MA: 1,601,000
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT: 1,196,00
Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT: 901,000
New Haven-Milford, CT: 848,000
Worcester, MA: 804,000
Springfield, MA: 699,000
Portland-South Portland-Biddeford, ME: 517,000
Manchester-Nashua, NH: 406,000
Norwich-New London, CT: 267,000

 

i see alot of people have been talking about worcester as a spot for a stadium.... but to be honest if it wasnt in/around/near boston i think the next best spot would be providence..... T.F. Green airport is nearby in warwick, the providence train station is there which is connected to the T (i think). Minor league teams thrive here, the Paw Sox always get good crowds. just imagine if there was a major league team here.

Due to the number of people around providence it would have to be the second choice IN MY OPINION. Boston > Providence > Worcester.

 

"Shhhhhh, I'm gowing afta da kwayzee wabbits who think da Kwafts would bwuild in Wuss-sta or Pwahvadence! Dat's not hapwenning."

 

Thanks for enlightening me. [sarcasm]

I know what I posted. I listed the "largest cities in New England." I judge city size by metro population (MSA) or combined statistical area (CSA) (the only relevant statistics).

 

if you look at what i said i said only if boston is unavailable. im not suggesting building one in providence over boston.... what im saying is that providence would make more sense than worcester

 

I think that depends on the infrastructure of the metro area.