Re: the announcement Q: Where are you with respect to your new stadium? A: We still have the three options: build in Bridgeview, build next to U.S. Cellular, or stay in Soldier Field. We have a meeting in Los Angeles this week, and we continue to talk to all parties. As soon as the next two weeks go by, or the next month, we will make a decision on what direction to go. From an interview with Peter Wilt in 11/19 Daily Herald.
I'm not from chicago and havent been anywhere in chicago other than Downtown and Naperville so I'm not too familiar with this Bridgeview site. I looked it up on the map and it doesn't seem as far away from Downtown Chicago as some of you make it seem. What is the economic health of this city? Can it hold an MLS team, can it create an atmosphere rivaling that of Naperville? And most importantly, will the die-hards that made the Naperville trips make the Bridgeview trips?
Whether Bridgeview is too far from downtown is what an individual perceives it to be.Historically city people don't want to go the suburbs. Bridgeview is a typical "blue collar suburb" if it was Winnetka it wouldn't have to offer the fire a great deal. More importantly is whether the die hards who wouldn't go all the way out to Naperville will go out to Bridgeview. Only time will tell if the crowds and atmosphere equal naperville or SF.
In my opinion there's almost no chance the atmosphere won't be as good as Naperville. As for proximity, it's close enough that Chicago and Bridgeview are considering an extension to the public rail transportation to reach (roughly) the proposed site for the stadium. It'll have closer mindshare than Naperville.
Where does this theory come from. For at least the 20 years since the Orange Line reached serious planning stages, there's been talk of extending the line to FORD CITY. That's really nowhere near Bridgeview, and this small extension with a substantial payoff to the city in shoring up/resurrecting a major shopping area, and with the likelihood of major ridership, has never made it near the top of the city's/CTA's planning agenda. There are currently at least rail expansions that the transit agency is is looking at more closely -- the Yellow Line in-fill to add stations, the "Circle Line", which would run more or less along Paulina to create a SuperLoop of business residential development circling downtown, and the Red Line Extension to 130th. In addition, the "Gray Line" proposal to create el-style rapid transit on the Metra South line through the South lakefront emerged out of nowhere to make the priority list of CATS, the regional transportation planning agency(some citizen made the mistake of taking public input seriously, and then lo and behold, they actually accepted his suggestion) . There's just no chance of el service to Bridgeview in our lifetimes. Somebody on these boards must have gotten confused about the proposed Orange Line Ford City extension, and since then, everyone's been repeating it till finally it started to sound real. But it's not.
article in Trib http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/southsouthwest/chi-0311200402nov20,1,3941408.story
Re: article in Trib 1,445? That's some number to point out?! That's not very many people to be taken into consideration when shopping for a stadium host. I wonder if Wilt's ever been to waukegan? He'd be ready to build Azteca2 here. It just seems silly to hang your hat on such a small number, in the Tribune no less.
16,800 a year? I hope that's mistaken, and it's per game. Even though it's Columbus, and Columbus is in Ohio, I've gotta hope for what's best for the league here.
Re: Re: article in Trib 1) That's just Bridgeview, nearby suburbs not included. 2) Think long-term son. That figure shows > 120% population growth over 10 years. Good trend to ride. 3) Near neighbors will probably be more inclined to go to games. With a small stadium, it becomes a game of arithmatic adding a hundred here and a hundred there.
My only worry was that Naperville was a VERY, VERY large suburb. I was of the opinion that a lot of the Fire's success in getting people to games in Naperville was in successfully tapping into the population of 150,000 or so out there. They were as much the Naperville Fire as they were the Chicago Fire. Won't have that advantage in Bridgeview. My worry is that the Fire are thinking that they'll combine the advantages of Naperville with the advantages of Soldier Field, and then it turning out they're combining the disadvantages of each instead.
I'm afraid ths is possible. That we won't get the people that live near Bridgeview to go to games and that we will lose the non- driving suburban hating city dwellars. Oh well we will just have to see what happens. Despite what was written in the papers that there are still 3 options I think they have decided on Bridgeview and are just waiting to have the deal signed before announcing it.
The immediate suburbs right outside of the city limits of Chicago are by no means isolated communities. Whereas Naperville is pretty isolated, in that it is surrounded by lots of open space, this is just not the case at Bridgeview. And believe it or not, people do tend to travel from one place to another. Hell, I've been doing it for the last 6 years to get to Fire games, and will continue in the future. The suburbs-hating city dwellers drive me up the wall...
i think that the suburb hating city people think very differently of bridgeview and naperville. naperville is rather far out, has very many well to do's and is very up tight (see ysa). i just think that bridgeview is much more down to earth, closer and more attractive to city types. the two suburbs are so different, i don't think you can compare them. it's like comparing lake forest and calumet city. however not that extreme of a difference. it would be a shame if city folks won't go there. i bet the cops are a little more understanding too.
Don't let them get to you. I was once one of them. Once you live in the city you have the mind set of if it isn't within 5 blocks it's a pain in the butt. Alot of them don't have cars and that compounds the pain. We will lose the casual city fan, but will gain SW burbs fans and probably retain alot of the soccer Moms etc. We'll have to see it play out, but I feel if you build it, they will come. This is where I think section 8 is key. People see that on TV and understand that going there is far different, and will want to come. Section 8 and a good team provide that atmosphere.
I am an example of that rule, in that, yes, if it's even 5 blocks away it's a bit of a pain. But to prove that I'm a hardy individual, I still make it to practice on foot, though it's 10 blocks away. And I find someone to carpool with to make it to both my team games and Fire games. The important things in life are worth the extra effort.
I know we're working on a fixed budget, but would expecting something along the lines of the Home Depot Center be too much wishful thinking? The Frisco stadium doesn't seem to as nice. And the rest of the stadium designs don't seem to have that monumental feel that the HDC does. I'm hoping that with the better financial package we're getting from bridgeview, we'll be able to build a true "cathedral of soccer" or whatever they are calling it. I'm just afraid that won't be the case.
I'm sure the new Soldier Field is a heck of a lot nicer then Giants Stadium, but I will say this... I would rather watch the Metros at Crew Stadium then GS. I don't even care if the damn stadium has seats, as long as its our own. My point being, fans should be happy about getting a stadium and not b!tchin about Frisco field.
I could care less about the Frisco stadium. I don't care if they play in a cardboard box fort. Then again, I hate the burn. I care what my stadium looks like. I was just inquiring as to what I should expect it to be. I know no one on this board has seen the plans for the stadium, so I was basically inviting informed speculation. I suppose the stadium will be good enough for me if it doesn't have two gigantic dogs sticking out of it.
If peter wilt has anything to say about it, the stadium will have a roof and be more like HDC than frisco. Garber at the soccer summit said although bridgeview is basically the front runner they hoped to get daley to help in putting it still in chicago. Another rumor was that the city wanted the stadium but couldn't get the state to kick in enough money. We will see what happens.
So there's a possibility that the City will step up to keep the team. It'll be a Christmas miracle! However unlikely it is.
I still think it is but until a deal is actually signed, considering politics in Illinois, anything could happen.
At the rate we're going Toyota Park will be our final stadium after Nelson "hot air" Rodriguez shuts us down.