Why Every City Wants a Wrigley Field

10 000 people is about 7000 cars or about 10 trains. Building stadiums with assumption of car commute is just plain stupid.

Just pointing out, why completely build a new Sox stadium? Just de-convert half (or more) of the parking lots into residential and business districts. You have the red and green lines, as well as the Metra, right there. You have pretty vibrant neighborhoods around there to support them, with Bridgeport to the west and north. You have IIT and Bronzeville to the east. The problem with the new stadium has never been the location, it was the attempt to have the acres upon acres of parking lots. And the city doesn't need to pour money into the stadium, it can be fixed by just selling the lots.

almost every baseball stadium used to be like wrigley, but over time they were moved out of neighborhoods in the city and into the suburbs

It's insane public money is used to help build these stadiums.

The Rays are currently pulling the same card, "we'll leave if you don't pay for our stadium". Their mock-ups and promises say that they'll build a vibrant and inclusive mixed-use development around the stadium, but the written deal itself allows them to get out of building anything beneficial to the city.

It baffles me why a city would help build a stadium, especially when it is surrounded by parking lots. It is like saying, “We are willing to spend millions of dollars for the worst possible value.”

I've been saying, as a Southsider and resident of the southwest suburbs, that the simplest way for the White Sox to boost attendance would be to build a Metra stop west of the field where the Southwest Service line runs. That's a lot more economical than building a new stadium and they would have fans from Manhattan, Orland Park, Palos, Oak Lawn, etc... that would be able to easily get to the stadium for $10 round trip, could responsibly have that extra beer and with bathrooms on board the train you're not racing on the Dan Ryan to get to a safe bathroom once all that pop catches up with you. They could then remove some of the parking lots to enhance the neighborhood and surrounding area. That being said, I believe Metra is working on moving the Southwest Service line to use the Rock Island line which stops at 35th - Lou John's just east of the field. Perhaps the White Sox should hold off on their new stadium plans until that happens so they can see what attendance looks like once 130,000+ people have an easier time getting to games.

I'm a Mets fan, and while I enjoy the team playing in Queens, it'll always be true that one of the many sins committed by Robert Moses as planner of NYC in the 50s-60s was his insistence that a new ballpark be built off a highway and surrounded by parking lots, instead of the old jewel box style neighborhood-integrated parks that were lost when the Polo Grounds and Ebbets Field were torn down. I know they're planning to build an "entertainment district" and park around Citi Field now, but man, what I'd give for an authentic neighborhood surrounding the ballpark ala Wrigleyville.

"Pay for our billion dollar home, taxpayers, because we don't like the last one you paid for anymore or we'll go somewhere else" is a disgusting mentality sports teams have.

You should consider doing a video on the Caesar's Superdome in New Orleans. While most other NFL teams are building brand new, monstrosities of stadiums, New Orleans continues to renovate the Superdome, which has saved countless millions and ensures that the Superdome will be relevant for years to come. The Superbowl will be in New Orleans this year. Also, the Superdome is so well strategically placed for fan access, being at the far end of the Central Business disctrict, with the historic streetcar lines running from the area around the Superdome to the river. The fan experience is second to none. I haven't seen a well made video from a channel such as yours discussing the Superdome.

I'm a systems admin for my local minor league baseball stadium, in a greater city area of ~250k people. It was moved to downtown in 2019, as a central part of a broader revitalization effort, with a new $55M ballpark (a public/private split, like usual). The difference that I feel has made it much more palatable to nearby residents, is that it's open to the public year-round to enjoy its walking spaces, vendors, and playgrounds. It was named Ballpark of the Year in 2022, and the impact on our downtown spaces has been dramatic, immediate, and overwhelmingly positive. Obviously, long-term upkeep will be crucial, but it's not difficult to see that it will absolutely bring in enough economic activity to justify the initial costs. Like with most public projects, the devil's in the details, and long-term execution will determine the true value of the new park. Coincidentally, the team is a double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox, so I have to engage with my nerd counterparts at Wrigley Field from time to time.

As a Chicagoan, im all for the 78 project, i just don't want to pay for it. Reinsdorf is rich enough

I think the commercial area around Wrigley Field is also a huge part of what makes the area work. Clark and Addison street are chock-full of bars, restaurants, and shops that are packed throughout the year, even when the Cubs aren't playing. And the owners of Wrigley field are quite creative about using the field during the baseball off-season to make still make it a revenue source. Every winter they have a Christmas carnival on the field, and they've been hosting outdoor hockey games for decades.

The ironic thing is every city did have a Wrigley Field. All of the Jewelbox ballparks were well integrated into the neighborhood. Now Fenway is the only other one left. The idea of trying to give new ballparks a classic retro feel and incorporate them into some kind of development area, is really an attempt to bring back what was lost with the concrete donut cookie cutters.

The point you made about how Wrigley Field and Wrigleyville changed together slowly is key. People are forgetting the Cubs for decades were the “lovable losers” and stayed in Wrigley Field because they couldn’t afford to go elsewhere and barely renovated the park. Also, it took a billionaire family to buy up most of what surrounds the stadium and the team to get where it is today. The area is DRASTICALLY different from what it was even 10 years ago.

💕 I love living next to The Wrigley Field. 💕 Yet, I would love to see the whole area get redesigned for pedestrians ONLY all yearlong. Fans & visitors can ride the red line or designated busses from & to miles away parking lots.

Wrigley also offers a free bicycle valet service. After getting used to that, driving to a stadium feels especially insane. Just left Wrigley before seeing this video actually. It really is a special place.

You could do a whole video on how stadium design philosophies have changed over the years (Including the dreaded "multipuropse stadium"). We are now in the "stadium land is valuable real estate, so owners want to make them retail and hospitality destinations" phase of design.

Gotta love huge buildings that are empty half the time.

My husband and I lived two blocks from Wrigley before they won the World Series. The changes have been INSANE but I’m glad it’s still very walkable. We visit the area occasionally still, and love the Christmas market!