Suntrust Park Begins To Take Shape

[goldfly]

The author makes the faulty assumption that crowds were diverse at Turner Field.

crowds aren't that diverse through out baseball

not just Turner Field

[goldfly]

An Atlanta area urban planner critiques Suntrust Park/The Battery:

http://deadspin.com/the-braves-new-b...are-1797593063

Attached to SunTrust Park like a Cinnabon-scented goiter is the Battery Atlanta, a $550M mixed-used development that looks an awful lot like a New Urbanist project, the widely criticized school of planning that is equal parts social engineering and neoliberalism. New Urbanism is city planning as Truman Show, attempting to humanize and rescale the misguided master planning concepts favored by designers like Le Corbusier. Cities like Seaside, Fla.,—where the Truman Show was partially filmed—and Disney-designed Celebration are attempts to urbanize the suburbs by integrating venerable concepts like transit-oriented design into communities cut from whole cloth. What many of these inorganic communities lack, however, is true diversity. Studies show that homes in New Urbanism communities are often expensive and the communities are more racially homogeneous than urban neighborhoods. “New Urbanism takes seriously many challenges of America’s current suburban landscape with an attention to the human scale, historical references, and architectural character,” says Ashley Bigham, a Walter B. Sanders Fellow at the University of Michigan’s architecture school and co-founder of Outpost Office. “However, many critics of New Urbanism have noted that relying on a historical understanding of urban spaces limits, if not excludes, more contemporary aspects of the city including individual expression and economic diversity.” Planting a project like the Battery in the middle of Cobb County (62 percent white at the last census, compared to 38 percent for Atlanta) only serves to amplify those issues.

[...]

SunTrust Park is an evolution of that “otherness” that the Atlanta suburbs originally represented, a stadium that wants as much to do with its team’s namesake city as the county that’s paying its bills. It still remains to be seen how tight that embrace will be when the team eventually becomes relevant again. As Jason Henderson noted in our conversation, “If the Braves win a World Series, where are they having the parade?”

[...]

Givens also laments the potential lack of diversity at games now that transit options are meager. “When the Braves were at Turner Field, it would have been one of the few opportunities for people from largely-white Cobb to mix face-to-face with people of color and people in lower economic classes,” he said. “You didn’t need to own a car. You could take a MARTA bus there, or even walk if you lived in Summerhill, Peoplestown, or Mechanicsville—all neighborhoods where most residents are historically black and lower-income.”

[MENTION=108]jpx7[/MENTION] [MENTION=4]Julio3000[/MENTION]

said it better than i can but hits home to when people ask me what i feel about the spot and i said "it's too polished and feels fake"

give me a local dive bar near by that has people pissed about the team in there day drinking and eating wings that might not be able to pass a healthcode as opposed to these "fake" restaurants. it's just has a weird feel at times.

[CyYoung31]

said it better than i can but hits home to when people ask me what i feel about the spot and i said "it's too polished and feels fake"

give me a local dive bar near by that has people pissed about the team in there day drinking and eating wings that might not be able to pass a healthcode as opposed to these "fake" restaurants. it's just has a weird feel at times.

I'm glad you said "fake" restaurants. When I hear plan developed restaurants, it just screams tourist trap to me. A bunch of sparkling new looking places that serve overpriced food for people without tastebuds or better options. I guess I'll have to see for myself though.

[CyYoung31]

The author makes the faulty assumption that crowds were diverse at Turner Field.

I've only been to a few other MLB ballparks, but Turner Field had a far higher percentage of black people than any of the other ones I've attended.

[DirkPiggler]

crowds aren't that diverse through out baseball

not just Turner Field

Exactly. The location of the stadium has little if any to do with the lack of minority attendance.

In around 20 games at Turner and Fulton County I might have seen 30 African-Americans total inside the stadium that weren't employees or players.

[Southcack77]

You really do have to be an insufferable douchebag to write for deadspin.

[dak]

We're vacationing in the South this week, and Tuesday was my first trip to STP. The ballpark itself was nice and made for a good experience. The Battery development in general though just seemed generic and cheaply built. I'll admit that I'm a little biased against the idea of suburban sprawl ballparks, but even leaving that aside . . . the whole complex just seemed like a concept that wasn't executed to it's full potential.

[GovClintonTyree]

We're vacationing in the South this week, and Tuesday was my first trip to STP. The ballpark itself was nice and made for a good experience. The Battery development in general though just seemed generic and cheaply built. I'll admit that I'm a little biased against the idea of suburban sprawl ballparks, but even leaving that aside . . . the whole complex just seemed like a concept that wasn't executed to it's full potential.

...perhaps because it's only a third complete?

[smootness]

said it better than i can but hits home to when people ask me what i feel about the spot and i said "it's too polished and feels fake"

give me a local dive bar near by that has people pissed about the team in there day drinking and eating wings that might not be able to pass a healthcode as opposed to these "fake" restaurants. it's just has a weird feel at times.

Give me the best pizza and burgers anywhere in or around the city, which is what the Battery offers. But to each his own, I guess.

[Tapate50]

They got fox bros BBQ. Strong

[sturg33]

Oh... now we need to ensure and force diversity at baseball parks.

[thethe]

Oh... now we need to ensure and force diversity at baseball parks.

Braves are making a lot more money. Therefore the move was a great decision. That's the only thing that matters but of course you know about the powers that be

[smootness]

They got fox bros BBQ. Strong

Oh yeah, and the best BBQ in the city.

[Hawk]

...perhaps because it's only a third complete?

Gov, another Jamba Juice, another spin studio, and 'the greatest' froyo in ATL ain't gonna change much.

[GovClintonTyree]

Gov, another Jamba Juice, another spin studio, and 'the greatest' froyo in ATL ain't gonna change much.

LOL

I flew threw ATL last week. Missed my chance. I'll check it out next time through. I'm expecting a planned urban neighborhood that happens to have a ballpark in it.

I think I still prefer the sterile prefab stuff to the liquor store with bars on the windows and doors, panhandlers, and paying a young entrepreneur $20 to "secure" my car on a vacant lot.

[Hawk]

LOL

I flew threw ATL last week. Missed my chance. I'll check it out next time through. I'm expecting a planned urban neighborhood that happens to have a ballpark in it.

I think I still prefer the sterile prefab stuff to the liquor store with bars on the windows and doors, panhandlers, and paying a young entrepreneur $20 to "secure" my car on a vacant lot.

Did you happen to catch a glimpse of Mercedes-Benz stadium on approach? Now that is an impressive looking stadium (especially from above). And not just because of its spectacular roof, 100-yard bars, creative seating concepts, and technological wonders ... (for extra oohs, read up on what they've envisioned for the old Dome site)

But ... behold ... this:


Think about that when you are choking down your $20 Antico pizza or $13 H+F burger at the WASPiest ballpark in America.

For all of the negative things that I've said about Atlanta's urban design/development, the Centennial Park area does give me a small glimmer of hope for the future of the metro area.

I still maintain that with just a little bit of cooperation, public input, and, um, transparency, the same type of plan might have been hashed around the Turner Field area.

[Julio3000]

Did you happen to catch a glimpse of Mercedes-Benz stadium on approach? Now that is an impressive looking stadium (especially from above). And not just because of its spectacular roof, 100-yard bars, creative seating concepts, and technological wonders ... (for extra oohs, read up on what they've envisioned for the old Dome site)

But ... behold ... this:


Think about that when you are choking down your $20 Antico pizza or $13 H+F burger at the WASPiest ballpark in America.

For all of the negative things that I've said about Atlanta's urban design/development, the Centennial Park area does give me a small glimmer of hope for the future of the metro area.

I still maintain that with just a little bit of cooperation, public input, and, um, transparency, the same type of plan might have been hashed around the Turner Field area.

Blank and Co. seriously outclassed the Braves in just about every way imaginable.

[smootness]

Did you happen to catch a glimpse of Mercedes-Benz stadium on approach? Now that is an impressive looking stadium (especially from above). And not just because of its spectacular roof, 100-yard bars, creative seating concepts, and technological wonders ... (for extra oohs, read up on what they've envisioned for the old Dome site)

But ... behold ... this:


Think about that when you are choking down your $20 Antico pizza or $13 H+F burger at the WASPiest ballpark in America.

For all of the negative things that I've said about Atlanta's urban design/development, the Centennial Park area does give me a small glimmer of hope for the future of the metro area.

I still maintain that with just a little bit of cooperation, public input, and, um, transparency, the same type of plan might have been hashed around the Turner Field area.

It's pretty much a guarantee that food is going to suck. Don't get me wrong, it's a great idea from the Falcons, and the Braves considered doing something similar. But it is likely that the cheap food is going to be pretty crappy and that they will eventually increase those prices.

And yes, I honestly would rather pay extra for Antico and H&F than get whatever that $3 pizza slice ends up being. Plus, $3 for a pizza slice is $24 for a whole pizza. So you're not saving money there vs. Antico.

[chop2chip]

Did you happen to catch a glimpse of Mercedes-Benz stadium on approach? Now that is an impressive looking stadium (especially from above). And not just because of its spectacular roof, 100-yard bars, creative seating concepts, and technological wonders ... (for extra oohs, read up on what they've envisioned for the old Dome site)

But ... behold ... this:


Think about that when you are choking down your $20 Antico pizza or $13 H+F burger at the WASPiest ballpark in America.

For all of the negative things that I've said about Atlanta's urban design/development, the Centennial Park area does give me a small glimmer of hope for the future of the metro area.

I still maintain that with just a little bit of cooperation, public input, and, um, transparency, the same type of plan might have been hashed around the Turner Field area.

As a California native who is a fan of the Falcons and Braves, I'm rooting for whatever makes each team the most money.

But aren't you leaving out the part about PSLs with the Falcons? From what I understand the prices of food at that stadium are almost any empty gesture meant to overcompensate for the ridiculous price to attend a game.

[Julio3000]

I don't really have time to address the topic right now, but the public financing hustle in general and the Cobb County thing in particular have really curdled my affection for the Braves above the dugout level. I've been to a Braves game every year since I was a kid, but this year my sports entertainment $ will be spent watching ATL UTD.

FWIW, I'm an admitted chauvinist in the urb vs suburb ATL debate. I spent nearly a quarter of my life there, mostly living in and around the same areas that people cavalierly dismiss as undesirable. I didn't go outside the perimeter if I could help it, and I don't think I missed much. Atlanta urban development has been generally pretty bad (with a lot of recent positive developments) but sprawling out into the burbs and flooding the world with monoculture and exhaust particulate hardly seems like an answer.