8

So....Sweepstakes. Part of the revitalization effort?

[Edited on May 30, 2012 at 1:13 PM. Reason : ]

5/30/2012 1:13:04 PM

Quote :

"That being said, any new stadium (Houston at 60 million should be our model) to boost downtown raleigh should be applauded in my opinion."

60 million what?

5/30/2012 1:24:29 PM

clearly 60 million soccer fans lined up waiting to buy tickets daily.

[Edited on May 30, 2012 at 2:27 PM. Reason : ]

5/30/2012 2:27:24 PM

Didn't SAS park have an mls team like 10 years ago?

maybe it was womens though or something...

5/30/2012 2:32:29 PM

$60,000,000.00

Houston built a lower budget, fan friendly stadium that has pretty much universally garnered rave reviews from fans, visitors, etc. I know others have spent upwards of $200,000,000.00 but that shouldn't be our benchmark. We could build a great venue for $60,000,000.00ish and have plenty of soccer events, state championships, womens/mens national team games, out of town friendlys, concerts, etc. to support that cost. Especially if its split between private/public funding. Hell, the new courthouse was $300 million, and the proposed public safety center was $190 million.

[Edited on May 30, 2012 at 4:39 PM. Reason : .]

5/30/2012 4:38:52 PM

The Houston Dynamo stadium actually ended up costing $95 million. Still significantly cheaper than say Red Bull Arena ($200 million). It's a good looking stadium, too.

5/30/2012 4:50:03 PM

fiscal responsibility is always good.

5/30/2012 4:54:53 PM

I heard 60 million quoted, but that looks like the amount the franchise paid. The city of houston gave the land, valued at 15.5 million, and it looks like the other 20 million is to be paid by the city for infrastructure improvements creating the total of 95 million.

5/30/2012 6:47:53 PM

any taxpayer money spent on a soccer stadium is fucking moronic.

This is America.

5/30/2012 8:37:51 PM

Any taxpayer money spent on things I don't like is moronic.

CARS JESUS AND BEER AMERICAN FUCK YEAH




(I am not the biggest fan of governments bending over to build things for pro sports teams though I will say)

5/30/2012 9:11:58 PM

If they're considering a soccer stadium, they should try their hand at getting a MLB franchise/stadium first. More than a few dozen people might show up for that.

5/30/2012 9:20:09 PM

^^ no, it's not that I don't like it.

It's that nowhere near enough people like it for it to be anything but a colossal waste of money.

I think hockey sucks too, but obviously there are enough yankee transplants in the area to keep it going.

5/30/2012 9:21:35 PM

100 million plus going into a building to house government workers is a fuckin' travesty. At least the Romans had bread and circus to keep them distracted while the politicians were selling them out.

5/30/2012 9:49:08 PM

^^You could very well be right, but I think you are underestimating the popularity of soccer in the Triangle. If the region isn't ready for an MLS team now, it undoubtedly will be at some point in the future; just a question of how long. I feel like Raleigh could certainly be as successful as Columbus, Kansas City, Salt Lake City or Portland, especially given the lack of other sports options in the summer outside of minor league baseball.

5/30/2012 11:42:00 PM

a downtown soccer stadium would be fucking awesome

5/31/2012 12:14:06 AM

yeah, the city needs some more green space that's never used.

5/31/2012 8:46:11 AM

I don't follow MLB regularly, mostly because I tend to need a hometown team to root for in order to get me involved in any sport. If there was an MLB team/stadium in downtown Raleigh I would jump on that bandwagon sooo freakin' hard.

5/31/2012 11:18:16 AM

It's too bad that US Open Cup game against an MLS team without any of its stars didn't sell out. It's a shame that they added 1,000 seats just to see them go empty.

Oh, wait.

5/31/2012 6:32:15 PM

nobody's saying that soccer has no fans. everyone with sense is saying that a minor league soccer team isn't going to magically make it profitable to create a 3-city-triangular-shaped-light-rail-system over the span of 30 miles. by all mean,s find some sucker to pay 100mil to build a soccer stadium in a region that doesn't particularly care about the sport, knock yourself out. Just don't expect that stadium to also support a light-rail system that connects 3 cities in a triangle

5/31/2012 8:04:14 PM

But it works just fine in SimCity!

6/1/2012 10:58:39 AM

Quote :

"nobody's saying that soccer has no fans."

Multiple people were saying that.

6/1/2012 11:01:25 AM

Ok seriously....Sweepstakes????

6/1/2012 11:02:11 AM

lol poor people need places to entertain themselves too

6/1/2012 11:15:49 AM

I accidentally went into one of those places in Sandusky, Ohio thinking it was an Internet cafe, and was pretty disturbed by what I saw.

6/1/2012 11:19:52 AM

^old men slapping naked little boys with towels?

6/1/2012 11:21:20 AM

Metaphorically, perhaps

[Edited on June 1, 2012 at 11:22 AM. Reason : lol didn't even think of the Sandusky connection]

6/1/2012 11:21:59 AM

Quote :

"But it works just fine in SimCity!"

6/1/2012 12:49:28 PM

Quote :

"a region that doesn't particularly care about the sport"

come on man, stay in your lane

6/1/2012 1:33:43 PM

Quote :

"Multiple people were saying that."

really? show me one person in this thread that says that soccer has zero fans

6/2/2012 4:29:25 PM

The Wake County Commissioners voted against placing the transit plan on the November ballot last night.

All 12 mayors have pushed for a vote as well most of the city councils and polls have shown overwhelming support for at least putting the issue on the ballot for the public to decide even by those who are against the transit plan itself. There was two hours of public commentary pushing for the vote. All four of the Republican commissioners declined to have any comment on the subject and voted 4-3 against the referendum along party lines. All it took was a few dinosaurs to block any progress in this city. What a joke. Durham and Orange counties are moving forward, though.

6/19/2012 11:12:01 AM

Guh fuck the Wake County Commissioners. Are any of those clowns up for reelection this year?

6/19/2012 11:43:32 AM

yeah, all three democrats

the four republicans are in through 2014

smh

6/19/2012 12:04:42 PM

hmmph

6/19/2012 12:24:01 PM

They will regret not proceeding on light rail when I-40 looks like the 405 in Los Angeles.

6/19/2012 12:31:08 PM

To be fair, transit is unlikely to solve congestion. Induced demand shows that anyone who is actually taken off of the road will just be immediately replaced. It would, however, improve growth patterns for an area that is on a pace for a spectacular Atlanta scale level of sprawl given its rapid population expansion, and begin to offer at least some limited form of mobility for those who cannot afford to drive a car, cannot physically drive a car, or simply do not want to drive a car.

6/19/2012 12:40:46 PM

^4 lame

6/19/2012 1:43:55 PM

Welp, that pretty much does it for me. No guarantee that I was going to be sticking around this area long term but I have no interest in a city with leadership so opposed to progress. It's a shame considering how much I like the area. Taking my ball and leaving

[Edited on June 19, 2012 at 1:51 PM. Reason : ]

6/19/2012 1:50:57 PM

Yeah, it's frustrating. I left Raleigh to move to New Jersey so I could go to a planning school with a strong transportation program in the NYC area for a masters degree. My long term goal has always been to return to Raleigh eventually, which will always feel like home to me and is where I started to develop my interest in cities and transportation, so that I could work on improving transportation in the region. Seeing stuff like this makes me a little wary of rushing back though when political will exists up here to actually do transformative projects and there is still so much resistance to change course in Raleigh from a pattern of sprawl and a totally car-centric mentality.

6/19/2012 3:21:55 PM

I ate at Oro last night and found it to be very disappointing. Under seasoned is really the number one gripe. I'll go back and give them another chance with some other dishes but I was just really disappointed.

6/22/2012 11:18:44 AM

Cantina South is closing, but that place sucked so hard...I'm surprised it lasted 1 year. Sounds like a new concept is coming, with potentially new ownership.

I am still anxious for the Ale House w/rooftop bar.

6/22/2012 11:23:22 AM

^^ I had lunch there for the first time yesterday and thought it was pretty good.

^ Awesome news. That place is horrid.

6/22/2012 11:27:05 AM

Quote :

"I ate at Oro last night and found it to be very disappointing"

yeah, disappointing would be putting it lightly for me

6/22/2012 12:25:20 PM

Where was Cantina South? I'm guessing Glenwood?

6/22/2012 12:26:52 PM

I think it is the place that used to be Red Room or something. According to their website...

Quote :

" Cantina South Will Be Re-opening In Summer 2012 Check Back For Updates On the Re-opening & New Ownership "

[Edited on June 22, 2012 at 12:29 PM. Reason : ]

6/22/2012 12:29:00 PM

Cantina South is in the back where Bogarts used to be. It's barely visible from Glenwood Ave, which makes that spot a bad location.

Krave opened recently and took over the former Red Room space on the corner of the same building.

I've seen lots of people at Oro since they opened a few weeks ago. I don't know if it's a sign of their food or just being a new place. One thing I've heard from lots of people is that the Oro owners (Chris and Cara I think) are very cocky and not genuine. They used to run Mint and ran that place to the ground.

[Edited on June 22, 2012 at 1:03 PM. Reason : k]

6/22/2012 1:02:18 PM

I thought Oro was really good and could give Buku a run for their money in the whole tapas thing. I did think that the beer was a bit expensive though. As we left, we actually met the owner and spoke with her for about 5 minutes on how the food, service, and atmosphere was. I even told her about the beer being overpriced. To me, she sounded very sincere and grateful and even said she was going to look into their drink prices.

6/24/2012 11:20:15 AM

I'll have to give Oro a try. Buku has been disappointing for me on the last dinner service I went to, but their weekend brunch is amazing although expensive.

6/24/2012 10:34:54 PM

Quote :

" One thing I've heard from lots of people is that the Oro owners (Chris and Cara I think) are very cocky and not genuine. They used to run Mint and ran that place to the ground."

Ahh if it's the same folks that did Mint I don't need to waste my time. I always thought that place was incredibly overrated.

6/25/2012 9:12:37 AM

Quote :

"Welp, that pretty much does it for me. No guarantee that I was going to be sticking around this area long term but I have no interest in a city with leadership so opposed to progress. It's a shame considering how much I like the area. Taking my ball and leaving"

I doubt it's entirely that they're opposed to progress. It could even not be that at all. The simple fact is that any effective rail system is outrageously expensive and one large enough to be useful to a large part of the population would never turn a profit, break even, or even cover it's operational expenses. It's a matter of money and unfortunately the economy isn't turning around any time soon.

It's not to say I know the solution..fuck no I don't, lol. But I do know that just adding lanes to I-40 won't work.

6/25/2012 1:25:10 PM

^ That's fine if they think that way, but put it on the ballot and let the people decide if they're willing to pay an extra tax to get the ball rolling.

6/25/2012 1:29:16 PM