San Francisco Giants AT&T Stadium |
1.
It would be broadly popular I imagine but I think you've shown on
other issues that popularity on its own doesn't necessarily translate
into good public policy. Any decision should be based on substantial
supportive data. A multiplex may in fact have a positive economic
impact on Nanaimo but a truly independent objective appraisal should
be sought. At this point neither commercial proponents nor financiers
have indicated that on its own there's a strong business
case for a multiplex. That doesn't mean there isn't a valid role for
the City to play. I assume —and hope —that a multiplex
100% constructed and run by the City is a non-starter politically and
economically. Which leaves partnering with for-profit business
interests and brings me to -
2.
The business end of pro sports. These folks can be expected to be
tough negotiators, to see the business world as a kind of poker game.
They're not averse to playing one city off against another to their
own best advantage. I'd want to be confident that where I and my
fellow tax payers go up against them at the negotiating table, my
representatives are every bit as tough and savvy, prepared to call a
bluff and if need be walk away. I wish I saw more evidence of that
when shopping mall and residential developers apply for zoning
variance and building permits here in Nanaimo. In my view, the City's
role should be limited to leasing a property to the operator with
full security held as any bank would. A percentage of the revenues
generated should be held in reserve to cover considerable
costs incurred at the end of the building's life span when
ownership would revert to the City.
And 3.
This one I consider the most important of all and worry that it won't
get the high priority attention it deserves. When a new building is
built or an area renewed there's the opportunity —
responsibility in fact — to make a contribution to building
community, to enhancing our neighbourhoods. Arenas and stadia
surrounded by hundreds of surface parking stalls are notoriously
destructive to a sense of community, of "place". Here's
a rare example of a major league baseball stadium that contributed to
the enhancement and development of its immediate neighbourhood (the
San Francisco waterfront after an earthquake collapsed the elevated
expressway) including greatly increased property
values. http://www.sftravel.com/sanfranciscogiants.html The
Embarcadero went from an area of derelict warehouses to a prosperous
desirable neighbourhood. Hint: don't come by car. Transit options are
plentiful and high quality and there's much else to see and do in the
area, best experienced on foot. I'd suggest that an ambitious upgrade
to our transit system (Bus Rapid Transit dedicated bus lines north
and south on Nichol/Terminal and along Bowen/Comox supported by
smaller buses feeding into neighbourhoods and key spots like the BC
Ferry Terminal at Departure Bay) should be a deal breaker.
1 comment:
FB comment Feb 6: George, you may already be aware of Canadian Planner and Architect Ken Greenberg. I recommend (as does your Planning Director Andrew Tucker) his book Walking Home. http://www.thesidewalkballet.com/2011/07/walking-home-life-and-lessons-of-city.html. A colleague and friend of Jane Jacobs, this is his look back on a career of bringing innovative approaches to rejuvenating neglected city sites many of them similar to our Wellcox railyards.
http://www.thesidewalkballet.com/2011/07/if-youre-native-of-suburbia-and-many.html
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