You're right. It's about the tiniest amount more complicated than that one could possibly imagine, but it is more complicated than that.
Why? There are a lot of routes in DC that sound relatively convoluted when you see them written down, but drive them a couple times and you get used to them. For instance, when I need to get onto northbound North Capitol Street from the 3rd Street tunnel via New York Avenue, I take this route, which involves an exit onto M Street, followed by a left turn onto N. Capitol. The way I found that route was on a cab ride from National Airport to Takoma Park. The cabbie exited at M Street, and I was ready to ask him WTF he was doing. But he kept going and hung a left onto N. Capitol. What I used to do before that cab ride was continue to drive another block and a half on New York Ave and make a U turn and then turn right onto N. Capitol. That's because New York is on a bridge that goes over N. Capitol St, and you can't turn directly onto the road below unless you're willing to drop about 20 feet. There are a lot of locations in DC like that - the roads are pretty poorly signed, and the directions are kind of confusing, but that doesn't mean that the route can't be followed once someone shows you how to do it. How do you get to RFK now? I'm assuming you go into lot 8 via the "unnamed road" off of I-395. Until someone actually showed you that route, would you have had any idea it existed? Finally, I contend that if you live in NoVA, driving around the Beltway to get to Morgan Blvd or FedEx Field makes as much sense as driving around the Beltway to get to RFK.
Or leave 395 and get on one of those angled avenues (Kentucky? N. Carolina?) that send you up to Independence ave., then swing around RFK to the E. Capitol St. Bridge and you are on your way.
Or drive across the Sousa Bridge on Pennsylvania Ave, and hang a left on Minnesota Ave SE, followed by a right onto B St SE, followed by a right onto E. Capitol St
yeah, I messed that up all day, I295 goes only south. Been caught in scary neighborhoods trying to get to I295N after that realization before. One of the nicest things about coming in on that un-named road into Lot 8 (which is clearly marked for several miles, btw) is getting to drive past the mile or so of backed up traffic hoping to get to PA ave. The worst is dealing with the 7 cars in front of you waiting for the last minute to illegally merge onto the Pa Ave exit. No thanx. I may try it one Sunday or something. sounds like I should go the beltway Is there an 8th St off of the real I395? There's a 6th street exit on the SE/SW Fwy (or 695?) I used to take to E Cap when we were in Lot 4. I was always going to NC to E. Cap, never really noticed Independence.
Another route is 395 North to South Capitol Street. Check out National Stadium. Cross the Anacostia. Try to figure out where the Poplar Point stadium would have been. Curse at Fenty. Veer left onto Suitland Parkway. Take the big loop onto 295 North.
Maybe my expectations are different here. I'm just thrilled that I'll get to keep having the honor of attending DC United matches for a long time and get to bring my kids (whenever I get around to that) someday. I, for one, cannot wait to see this stadium built and packed with our fans (from wherever they hail) cheering our boys on. VAMOS UNITED!
Umm, I think the last page and a half has been on how to drive somewhere else before driving to one of at least 7 possible sites for the stadium No offense, but there's an awful lot of teeth gnashing for what is now 2 scheduled weeknight league games per season plus probably 2 or 3 USOC games and a couple international games that people leave way early for anyway to tailgate Come on...FINALLY...a stadium of our own...
So I think I can sum this thread thusly: Is not Is to Is not Is to Is not Is to Is not Is to Is not Is to Is not Is to Is not Is to Is not Is to Is not Is to Is not Is to Is not Is to Is not Is to Is not Is to Is not Is to Is not Is to Is not Is to Is not Is to Is not Is to
Worst thread ever. But completely consistent with the collective personality of the WDC area that I know that overreacts to every threat of a "winter storm" by buying the grocery out of water and toilet paper when 1 inch of snow is possible. Calm down. Don't plan your drive route or your tailgate or your ticket protest yet. You have 3 years. They haven't even picked a site or drawn up plans. Good lord.
The funny thing about stadium-building is that, unless it's for your team, it IS corporate welfare. If it's for your team, well then it's community development. Think of it this way, if MacFarlane got the city to help fund the tearing down of RFK and construction of a LEED-certified, state-of-the-art soccer temple with middle-income housing, a walkable multi-use development, etc. on that site, who here would complain?* We would hail it as a dream come true for the city, the team, the fans, and the community. If Dan Snyder got the same deal, I'd bet that most here would see it as corporate welfare on a colossal scale. I haven't figured out a way to rationalize this in my own mind yet. And we shouldn't be so quick to dismiss those with opposing viewpoints. *Other than a couple of suburban autoholics from Virginia.
Which is why I typed: Moving to MD will discourage some of those people from coming as often, if at all. Moving to VA would have done the same for some of those people in MD. Hyperbole much? I was pretty clearly just passing along some anecdotal observations. I think any person with a few brain cells to rub together can figure that ANY move from the central location most fans have been hoping against hope for years for would benefit some fans and inconvenience others. It's been my observation that a lot suburbanites, for whatever reasons, regard driving too far out of their comfort zone as some great challenge. Which is why I typed: Moving to MD will discourage some of those people from coming as often, if at all. Moving to VA would have done the same for some of those people in MD. I don't live in Maryland, I live in Virginia. If I lived in Maryland, there's a very strong probability that I would be hearing the same comments if the stadium were being moved to Virginia. I honestly don't understand what your problem is. Other than responding to what you thought I was saying instead of what I actually said. Life is not always a zero-sum game. I made an observation that this move will most likely deter some casual fans from my neck of the woods from attending as often, if at all. That's it. You chose to interpret as an attack on, or a dismissal of, people in Maryland. Where you got that from is a complete mystery to me. Seriously. FFS, that's all I was saying. Getting a stadium--Good. I think we all get that. I think some people here on BigSoccer assume that every DC United fan follows this stuff on a daily basis like we do. I'm sure many of those over-the-top comments are coming from people who honestly don't yet understand all the backstory. They'll come around. Agreed. The problem is, a lot of the people in the outer burbs just don't drive them a couple of times; they plan to come Yes, to all of the above. You're right; but that doesn't mean that many of these casual, one-or-two-games-a-season fans that I'm talking about will ever find that out. FWIW. PS: I think it depends on whether it's a weekend or a weeknight. It may be wrong, but plenty of people who don't do downtown DC on a regular basis are very skittish about rush hour traffic. You forgot to whine about people whining. But completely consistent with the collective personality of the WDC area that I know that overreacts to every threat of a "winter storm" by buying the grocery out of water and toilet paper when 1 inch of snow is possible. Calm down. Don't plan your drive route or your tailgate or your ticket protest yet. You have 3 years. They haven't even picked a site or drawn up plans. Good lord.[/QUOTE] Again--the comments we're referring to aren't IN this thread. They're in the Wash. Post. I don't recall anybody here saying that this is a huge problem for any of us. For the umpteenth time--it's a GOOD thing that the team finally has a home of its own in the pipeline. And I'm pretty certain that everyone in this thread will continue to support the team in person. I know that for myself, as long as the team is in the metro area, I'll be there. [I noted that if the stadium were being built in, say, Greenbelt, that would make weeknight games very troublesome for me because my wife often gets home close to 6 o'clock or even later on those nights, and someone needs to be home to either watch our son and/or take him to practice. It's not "whining" to point out that getting to Greenbelt by 7:00 or 7:30 from Woodbridge on a weeknight if I leave at 6 or 6:30 is just about impossible. That's just reality--I already miss games every year due to youth soccer/family committments so that really wouldn't change much. Other than this caveat, no move out of DC is going to stop me from attending games, so let's just put that to rest right now.] From that, and from comments I've already been hearing from people in the "soccer community" out here, I extrapolated that some casual fans from this area will be discouraged from attending as much. "Thamlin" and I have been pointing that out because, you know, we live here, so it's what we know. People in western Maryland most certainly might feel the same way. There's going to be good and bad in this move. The good--the team having a permenant home right here in the DC area--outweighs the bad (no tailgating, and a different-and in some cases more inconvenient--commute for some), no question about it. In the meantime, let's all focus on the season at hand and hope we get to see United win a few more trophies while still playing at the dump on the Anacostia we all know and love.
Because you keep talking about losing people without acknowledging the possibility of gaining new ones. All this reply did was reinforce that you can't see beyond your own self-interests in this because you still refuse to acknowledge that they might have new, fertile ground to draw upon. And if the people from VA coming to games now didn't feel so superior/couldn't stand a little longer drive/whatever other reason they come up with, the team would be looking at attendance gains instead of possibly treasing water because some people can't get over that Kevin won't be grilling for them in their own backyard. And, yes, that's hyperbole because the people complaining can't come up with much more than, "But WHAT ABOUT MEEEEEEEEEEE?"
Never been said. The people against the project are taking a small quote from Victor (about tehre not being a "sea of parking lots") and turned it into some sort of cause celebre by blowing it out of proportion and acting as if cars and tailgating won't be allowed. Don't listen to them. Listen to Kevin Payne.
but thing is that there are many of us in Montgomery County that are in same situation as Virginians and I didn't notice us sayin anything if stadium was in Va it would be closer to us heheh
Are you just itching for a fight? I made an idle observation--that some people in my neck of the woods might stop coming to games. That doesn't preclue other people being more likely to come, nor does it really "mean" anything other than--Hey, the demographic mix might be little different. Wow, that's really worth getting pissed off about. Oh, I get it--you've decided that people from Virginia suck, and I'm a handy punching bag. What "self-interest" did I refer to? How are random people in my neighborhood MY "self-interest". My self-interest, as far as that goes, is attending DC United games. And finding a permenant home for the team is the most important step towards making sure I get to continue to do that. Quit projecting your irrational hostility onto people you don't know. How the ******** do you know why some people may or may not attend games in the future? And, for that matter, why do you ********ing care so ********ing much? How ********ing pathetic is your life that you're actually offended that some people you don't know and have never met MIGHT quit attending DC United games? And how ********ing pissy and bitchy and petty do you have to be to get angry with me--someone else you don't know and have never met--merely for passing along an anecdotal observation? There's been a lot of whining about whining on this thread, that's for sure.
It's one thing when monster is too pissy and too dense to see that I actually acknowledged that, don't scare me and jump on that bandwagon! Yeah, I get that. I admit that this thread--where the focus was on the comments in the Post from some over-the-top VA fans rather than on a broader discussion of the myriad pros and cons of this move--was maybe not the best place for my comments, but FFS please respond to what I say and not to what other people who are not me said.