SF Opposition To Warriors Arena No Surprise In 'City That Can't'
KPIX 5 Sports Anchor Dennis O'Donnell offers his unique commentary on the Bay Area sports scene:
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) - Build it and they will come.
Announce that you've got a plan to build and they will come to do their best to make sure you never hammer a single nail.
San Francisco is the city that can't. Seriously, the only thing residents, politicians and activists do is vote no, campaign against, and create scenarios of Armageddon.
The latest doomsayers are called the Mission Bay Alliance. They claim a new arena could potentially disrupt traffic for hospital services. They have hired PR guy Sam Singer to push their message.
"Traffic and the parking from the Warriors proposed stadium and the two office towers that go with it is going to make it impossible to get healthcare services in Mission Bay and create massive traffic jams the likes of which San Francisco has never seen," Singer said.
Let's see. Where have I heard that one before? Oh yes. That's exactly what anti-ballpark activists said about Pac Bell Park when it was built. I run into more traffic on clogged city streets with pot holes and orange flags than I do at AT&T.
Sam should try driving down Van Ness, where a new hospital is jamming the streets so bad I can't get to Tommy's Joynt!
What do you see when you drive or walk to a Giants game? Fans have learned that a walk through the city isn't so bad after all. They'll park blocks away, perhaps a mile or more. They'll take BART or the Muni. Hell, I've walked from KPIX to AT&T several times and the 1.99 mile walk is a reminder of just how great this city is.
Fans learned the same thing at Fenway and the same thing at Wrigley.
We don't all have the "A" lot pass. And comparably speaking, the clearance of the parking lots at a Giants game is minimal compared to what it was at Candlestick.
I'm an advocate of an arena in San Francisco because, well, WE DON'T HAVE ARENA!
It's not just a basketball facility, it's a concert venue, a potential Olympic venue, the rink for the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, the men's and women's tennis tournaments site, and the new convention site for the hospitals and medical research centers of the surrounding area. Sorry, I couldn't resist that last one.
The city isn't the City without the naysayers, I get it. But for crying out loud, look what the baseball field did for redevelopment.
There will be jobs, taxes and enough revenue for the surrounding businesses so that everyone gets a piece of the pie.
And how much taxpayer money is being used on this project? None.
