Birds do end-run on disabled-parking regs

I'm not going to jump all over the team right off the bat, because I don't know what to think of this situation at the moment. Part of the reason is from this section of the article:

Here's another money line:

"In the past, disabled fans could have used SEPTA's Broad Street line to get to the Vet. But the Linc is about a half mile from the nearest subway exit."

Both the new Eagles & Phillies fields are farther from Broad Street, further discouraging people from using transit. What a stupid design.

I'm not sure how you can fault the teams for being further away from the subway line. Where else were they supposed the build? Across the street at the park?

Actually, I'll give the Eagles a break. There was never any discussion of them being anywhere but in the Sports Complex. I still think it's poor design, however, not to incorporate public transit. Somehow transit should be part of the picture. Where could they have put it? How about in the space between the Vet and the FU Center? You'd have to cut off Pattison Ave., but you could reroute it once the Vet was demolished.

My real disappointment, however, was with the Phillies, too cowardly to stick at it long enough to produce a genuine city ballpark. I was a supporter of the "Liberty Yards" idea (2nd & Girard), which had the potential to create a real, old-fashioned, Wrigley-style ballpark in an up-and-coming neighborhood, with excellent transit connections. But the Phils management chickened out and now their "old-fashioned" ballpark is going to be marooned in a sea of asphalt. That was a huge wasted opportunity.

It's all part of the same trend - kowtowing to the car culture. Everything has to be done for automobile drivers, God forbid we inconvenience them.

Somehow, I don't think building on Pattison was ever an option, if for no other reason than I don't think there's enough room between the Vet and the Spectrum to pull it off.

Secondly, you're making it sound like the Linc and CB Park are out in the boondocks, being so far from the subway station. If it is half a mile to the stadium, it's a 10 minute walk. Granted, I like running and sports, but I don't think most people consider that an excessive distance.

Add in the fact that for Eagles games, tailgating is a huge deal for many fans and it's pretty tough to do if you've ridden the subway to the game.

Don't get me wrong. I'd much rather have a short train ride right to the stadiums, but there are some issues that just make it unrealistic in these cases.

I always take the subway to games and concerts. The Link is not 1/2 miles from the BSL stop. 1/2 is the closest even sounding distance. It's about 3-4 blocks. Maybe that is 1/2 mile, but it doesn't seem it and it is easily walkable, even if you're disabled.

__________________
Jason
Lynn Swann 06'

"Individualism is absent when other peoples' standards, not reality and reason, are ones primary guide."

It is, however, farther from the subway than the Vet. Americans are notoriously averse to walking, and by positioning the stadium farther away I think you're going to discourage a certain percentage of the people from using transit, which means you're going to increase traffic congestion. Tailgaters are different, you're right. They would have to drive.

I recall that when the 30th St. ballpark idea was being tossed around, there were people scoffing at the notion that baseball fans would walk there from Center City - ridiculous, nobody wants to walk that far. It was then pointed out (in one of the weeklies, I think) that the walk from Rittenhouse Square to the 30th St. site was about the same as walking from one of the outer lots to the Vet - only a good deal more scenic.

I will grant that the Linc might have been a tight fit to stick it between the Vet and the Spectrum, though I'm not convinced it wouldn't have worked.

I don't want to beat the dead horse, but again, where were they supposed to put either stadium so it's not further from the subway stop? They're not going to take up a huge chunk of the park to build a stadium, so that's out. And beyond it being a tight fit, I don't see many people accepting a large section of Pattison being cut out for a stadium to sit in the middle of it.

I guess where the Eagles put the practice facility might have worked, but then you have everyone trying to cross Broad St to get from both the subway and the parking, so that probably would have made that unlikely.

Unfortunately, you're completely right about how much people depend on their cars. Especially if/when the city starts growing again, there needs to be a better way of moving people from Point A to Point B. However, mass transit seems to be in the same boat as the power grid, both of which are in the "We'll Deal With It When It's a Much Bigger, and Therefor More Expensive Problem" category.

A more important issue is the number of handicap spots. A lot of long-time season-ticket holders are older now and deserve some consideration.