John Lopez discusses the team in his column in today's Houston Chronicle: Club shouldn't be treated like a second-class citizen
That article pretty much calls for a leader to step up and get things right from the start. I can promise them that there are too many pitfalls that can be had out there in marketing the beautiful game. My biggest concern is that there is the nieve connection that if el Tri or Interliga matches pull well than a 15+ home season package and Open Cup matches will pull from that same futbol crowd. The Latino market is there for the taking but there has to be a line in the sand drawn to state what direction this Houston franchise will head. Lopez is spot on about getting things ironed out immediately after the back slapping is done!
Well if my old urban studies books are any indication, downtown Houston, with its seas of parking lots, looks like it has a lot of space for a stadium development.
H-town will get this done. I believe that the city will step up to the plate and wants to be considered on the world stage
Well, there's been a lot of development downtown over the last five years. We still probably have more lots than we really need, but they're not so contiguous anymore. Many of the old lots now have recently-built condos and hotels. The George R. Brown Convention Center has also expanded recently onto space that used to be parking lots. Of course, Minute Maid Park and Toyota Center, along with some new parking structures, have also taken up a lot of previously under-developed land downtown (although your maps may already show them). UH Downtown also owns some of the undeveloped lots and plans signficant expansion in the next few years. That being said, I thought this part of the Lopez column was very interesting (emphasis added): We've been assuming that the most likely long-term venue would involve a partnership with HISD, probably at the Delmar site at the intersection of the Loop and the Northwest Freeway. But if there's available city and/or county land adequate for a small stadium on the north side of downtown, then that would be even better. I disagree with Lopez that the long-term venue has to be downtown. I think anywhere inside or near the Loop would be just as good. Anywhere inside the Beltway would be adequate, although not as good as being inside the Loop. Once you start getting outside the Beltway, then I agree with him that the location becomes more of an issue. In any event, it's a very, very good thing to have John Lopez beating the drum on the Chron's sports pages about getting a long-term venue in a decent location.
A downtown stadium would be bada$$. Downtown, midtown, the convention center/chinatown areas have all been growing and developing into a real city feeel, unlike the Houston of the 1990's and earlier, when the city shut down right after 5PM. A downtown venure would be an awesome addition to the city's landscape and location to younger, money spending professionals that work anywhere from the Med Center to Greenway to downtown. Good luck on that.
Much of this long-term stadium effort will depend on Bill White. He's the most popular politician in Houston and just won re-election without serious opposition. Houston has a strong mayor system and White controls city council. He has a business background and is well supported by the downtown business establishment. He's also fluent in Spanish. At some point in the near future, he's expected to run for statewide office as the Best Democratic Hope of Our Time. Of course, Harris County Judge Bob Eckels is probably the second most popular politician in the Houston area and intends to run statewide as a Republican at some time. A stadium deal could play out any number of ways in local politics. Fortunately, Oliver Luck knows the landscape as well as anyone.
Oh well. Lopez is a general sports columnist, so, well, you know, at least he's trying. He's also been blogging about the World Cup draw and the MLS news on the Chron's online sports page.
He bring up a lot of good points and I did like the enthusiasm he has for the team so I'm not trying to down him. Its a well written line for the general population that knows nothing about MLS history, I just find it to be a funny statement. Good luck with everything this year.