The challenge is that there aren’t enough fields for all teams to practice on concurrently. It’s not about whether they’re turf or grass.
This is from the Crew 2 thread, from back in January: So now that the sports park isn't being built, the club is going to need to come up with a creative solution or it'll increasingly struggle with inadequate practice space at the OhioHealth facility.
Maybe the club can donate to have a bubble put in at Kilborne Run. Obviously not ideal since it is away from the OHPC, but who knows.
In the spring this year the grass fields held up really well. Academy used mostly the stadium turf field. There was occasionally some issues in dealing with field space when two teams were training but the coaches usually managed to deal with it just fine. I still think a 4th full sized grass field, or a second turf field may eventually be needed if the academy ever expands to 5-6 full time teams. Reason being is that academies generally tend to destroy grass fields rather quickly, even when they’re really well cared for. A lot of times only one academy team is even allowed to use the third grass field in a single day because any more than that and the field will really get torn up, the other teams all will end up training on turf. For now, everything is fine as is with the current setup The new park fields will be really nice for when historic crew stadium has an event that ends up forcing the academy to have to train 1-2 teams either at Fortress Obetz or a high school football field. Having full sized turf fields be accessible and nearby will be a huge blessing for the times that we need the extra fields
There’s this kinda weird quote at the end of the Columbus Underground article: “Kristen Bernert, President of Business Operations for the Columbus Crew, also provided a statement, saying “we are excited about the city’s plans and we look forward to connecting more deeply with Columbus Recreation and Parks on programming here to bring the physical space to life.”” By “here” I think she means “there”, i.e., the park. Also, the article says this: “A press release announcing the Kilbourne Run improvements did not provide a specific price tag but said that the city will invest “millions of dollars” in the 69-acre park, which will feature natural and synthetic turf fields, mini-pitches and a “championship field” outfitted with stands, a locker room and lights. Currently the park has grass fields only.” It’s a 12 minute drive between this park and the OhioHealth training center. Personally, I’d applaud the club becoming a visible financial supporter of this park. Based on what Mr. Kerr is saying, it does seem as though it could address the need for more training space for the academy.
The development of Kilbourne run is what’s happening in place of the park at historic Crew stadium. Not sure if the club is involved financially. But considering we don’t have a single soccer facility in Columbus with more than 2-3 acceptable fields for high level teams to train or play on I think it would be pretty beneficial for the Crew to financially be involved in this
When the sports park was announced at the fairgrounds, Dee said she was making a commitment of millions of dollars over a long period for programming for the park. There's been no mention of that being retracted.
For the long-term strategic thinkers in the crowd, the process of updating Columbus' Downtown Strategic Plan is well underway: https://columbusunderground.com/dow...igned-streets-high-density-neighborhoods-bw1/ I post this here, since the previous plan (from 2010) included a bridge between East Franklinton and the Arena District among its top 12 priorities. Didn't happen, of course, though quite a few of the plan's priorities did get built out, and lots of things happened downtown that weren't imagined back in 2010; like the new veterans museum and the Crew stadium/Astor Park developments. Anyway, I've remained curious about improved connections between East Franklinton and the AD as a way to add lots of parking/walking options for Crew fans. And, indeed, the concepts being bandied about now include a new pedestrian bridge that would link these areas far more directly than is the case now. Here's the full presentation: https://downtowncolumbus.com/wp-con...9-Community-Workshop-3-Slide-Deck-LR-v4-1.pdf Page 38 of the slide deck shows the concept for a pedestrian bridge. I'm okay with my Hofbrauhaus walk. But I'd also be very interested in pre-/post-game stuff in Franklinton. It's very accessible for me via 315. Of course, anything in the plan would take years to actually get built, but you have to start somewhere.
I'm minded of the street lighting issue that was intended to light Columbus city streets. I recall voting on it while I was a student at tOSU. That was some time ago, now, and there are still wide swaths of the city without lights, including much of Northland. And they are still trying to build out using early 1980s tech (likely much older, actually, as we're talking the cobra head lights with wooden poles) when the state of the art has changed considerably since then. So I'm not holding my breath.
I'm beginning to wish I hadn't signed up. There's no room for a companion at any of the events, excepting the game, because it is meant to be "exclusive". If you go, as a FST, you have to find a way to dispose of your tickets--or you are ""allowed" to skip what you paid for and sit in your regulars seats. This was not well thought out. I get a "we'll consider that next year", but I really don't have "next year". If Mrs. KG can't go, that's exclusivity I'm not sure I'm interested in. I have no problem paying for it, mind you. But it's not offered.
A connector between Franklinton and the Arena District seems pretty doable. Most of that plan is nonsense though. It's typical urban planner stuff about increasing density and getting people out of their cars to use mass transit or bike. There's nothing in it about reducing crime or improving schools to make downtown a more desirable place to live. And not much about getting homeless people off the street. Most homeless people don't hold steady jobs so the low income housing won't really serve them. And who cares what the color or gender of business owners in an area is? This plan sure does.
The thought is that people are basically good and "equity" will give everyone the same stuff so everyone will be then happy and there will be no reason for crime. I am oversimplifying, of course. Also, that "climate change" is bad (which it may well be) and is caused by cars and the suburbs, so the only solution is to get people in the city and within walking or transit difference of everything. Note--I am not poo-poohing this as much as explaining the thought process. There are ideas in there that may be worth looking at. But I think it is overly optimistic to think that equity will automatically bring bring about safe streets. Even Orwell, who was a socialist, noted that even in those cases where "all animals are equal, some animals are more equal than others". In many cases where this has been tried, the average person truly does have equity--equitably in being miserable (here, I'm noting my personal experience in East Berlin in 1973 and 1978). Without safe streets and good schools, it's going to be hard to get folks to live, work, and play downtown. If equity just brings those things down to the lowest common denominator, it's not useful at all.
Mods (aka stupidfaces): I thought I was in a "politics thread"--if the post above belongs there, feel free to move it. Apologies.
That would be because the plan was put together by urban planners who's job is to plan and develop urban areas. There job is not to reduce crime or improve schools.
Fair enough, but I do think the bridge is realistic. If you look at the 2010 plan, it contained a lot of make believe items, too, but some items did happen, especially related to riverfront and Scioto Peninsula development. Some of that development, in East Franklinton (which wasn't even a term used in 2010), for example, went beyond what was envisioned in 2010. I suspect the same will be true with this plan. As Scioto Peninsula development continues to expand, there will be a greater pressure to increase physical links between it and the AD and downtown. Some sort of a bridge in the vicinity of new Crew stadium is a no brainer.
Yeah, I think the new bike bridge over the Olentangy where I live had been in the planning stages for a year or more, was approved last year and will get built in 2025.
I know it's beyond cliche to say this but what the hell: I think that Columbus needs something like a monorail kind of thing to loop German Village, Downtown, the convention center, the Arena district and the Scioto peninsula. Tying everything together with a quick, cheap method of getting around would light it up.
But we already have this: Screams "world class" as far as I'm concerned. Especially the faux cow catcher attachment.
Totally agree this nonsense that people will ride buses is proven to be a fallacy. There is no consistency to them and to get where you want to go takes a ton of research to figure out the myriad of routes and you might only have the bus you want 1-2-3 times per day. A hard consistent route of a train system with consistent intervals between trains is easier for people to figure out and use. But problem is it won't get you everywhere in city and I think they are avoiding it because no matter what route(s) they choose some will claim to be disenfranchised. Well that and it's expensive to engineer, acquire right of way, build, and maintain. The lack of forethought years ago has made it more difficult now. But if they aren't investing in a rail system of some sort, they are wasting our tax dollars. When I travel I use trains in cities that have them. Those that don't I rent a car or uber and that doesn't help alleviate traffic.
Yet, they want to increase the population of downtown from 11K to 40K by 2040. If they want people to move there, they might want to address some obvious obstacles to achieving their goal. It just looks clueless that they assume away the problem. Columbus had a streetcar system a hundred years ago. Buses were regarded as a big improvement when they replaced the trolleys after WW2 because they could go anywhere in the city instead of being tied to rails and overhead power supply. Yep. People don't like COTA for multiple reasons. This plan proposes reducing major streets to a single lane for passenger cars in each direction. That would mean gridlock which I guess is supposed to convince people to take the bus. Sort of punitive urban planning.
We had CBUS until COVID happened and now COTA can't find enough drivers. They finally brought back the COTA Air or whatever it's called(airport to downtown/Short North hotels) on a limited basis this summer for various conventions. At the cost of free and about 15 mins wait, CBUS was fantastic. Was I a fan of the idea of moving the northbound route to High? Not really, but it was a minor thing.
CMax is the airport route I think. The high street line - The 2 - used to run every 8 minutes, then every 15, now almost 30 minutes. There are two twitter accounts that joke about bringing monorails and canals to columbus as public transport.
CMax is the Cleveland Avenue line, which is intended to make busses more like trains (with "stations" etc. and linking to traffic lights). It's what they call "Bus Rapid Transit".