Local perspectives on stadium issues..

[OmahaBear]

Just curious what the locals think about the stadium relocating.  I read they are looking at the south lot as a possibility, just curious where people would park then, looking at the current satellite images of the area.  Also what are your thoughts of it moving to Arlington?  

[Alaskan Grizzly]

18 minutes ago, OmahaBear said:

Just curious what the locals think about the stadium relocating.  I read they are looking at the south lot as a possibility, just curious where people would park then, looking at the current satellite images of the area.  Also what are your thoughts of it moving to Arlington?  

Good question. I wonder the same.  Been a while since I’ve been around Chicago so I can only imagine how much it’s changed.  

[Mongo3451]

Moving out to the south lot would be just making something dumb, even dumber.  There would be even less parking and a more difficult egress.  Capacity would obviously be limited like the current stadium, due to the lake choking traffic.  After that, what do you do to make suitable use of the historical portion of the old stadium?

[Stinger226]

They bought the race track and that's where it will be going, all of this side chatter is just posturing to get the country to relinquish its unfair tax increase. The race track was valued at 33 mil and after the Bears bought it , they increased it valuation to 197 mil. It is now just raw land , the bears ask them to keep the base as  it was and then revalue it at what ever its value is once the stadium is built. I dont think that is  a unfair request.

[ASHKUM BEAR]

36 minutes ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

Good question. I wonder the same.  Been a while since I’ve been around Chicago so I can only imagine how much it’s changed.  

It will add a 20-30 min drive to the commute going to Arlington, but they can really develop and make the experience much nicer there.  I will miss the city and lake view, but getting older I am hoping for a roof, retractable would be a bonus. My thought is buy the Mccormick east building and tear it down to build rather than the south parking lot. 

 

[Stinger226]

Call me selfish but its easy for me to drive from the Rockford area  to Arlington Heights than downtown. It has a great skyline view but the rest of the experience isnt pleasant. You cant change Chicago traffic but they will set up the stadium to make it user friendly. New stadium will be cool but the community around it will be an awesome experience.

[Alaskan Grizzly]

2 hours ago, ASHKUM BEAR said:

It will add a 20-30 min drive to the commute going to Arlington, but they can really develop and make the experience much nicer there.  I will miss the city and lake view, but getting older I am hoping for a roof, retractable would be a bonus. My thought is buy the Mccormick east building and tear it down to build rather than the south parking lot. 

 

I get the impression there would be more elbow room out at the Arlington Heights location. And like Mongo suggested, moving things into the lot didn’t make any sense. From my perspective I’d agree with what Stinger said and say that they seem committed to Arlington Heights.  Not sure why else they would’ve bought the property. 
 

Back when I was a kid the drive to my grandparents in Woodstock seemed liked an eternity from Chicago. Nowadays I imagine it’s just become a suburb of the sprawl. Last time I was there for my Grandmothers funeral (about 5-7 years ago) the “edge” of Chicago was a lot closer than I remember.