Bullshit In Washington (Shocking, I Know)

Alright, the vagaries of building sports stadia, while using at least some public funds to do it, is always a matter of political controversy. That is how it should be. Too many wealthy people already get too fat on the public trough. I get that.

What I dislike is the plethora of bullshit arguments that arise along with the more germane financial considerations. The Cupples station warehouses in St. Louis are the perfect example of this. When the Blues were looking for a place to build their new venue to replace the venerable, but decaying and rat infested, Arena, they found a great spot near to the existing Busch Stadium. There was plenty of unused land, the parking and road infrastructure was already in place, and not a single existing business had to be negatively impacted. Perfect, right?

Well, hold on there. Turns out there were old warehouses that hadn't been used in at least a decade sitting on the land. These, we suddenly were told, were of considerable architectural significance. Funny thing is Cardinals fans had been parking next to these things for years without thinking anything about them except, "Gee, that looks like a likely place to get mugged."

So, in the end, the Blues were kept from building in downtown St. Louis. (They eventually found a location and built in midtown...which is O.K. but not really the same thing in terms of adding to the downtown core of the city.)

Another funny thing happened when the Cardinals decided to replace Busch Stadium. They built on the same land the Blues had been eyeballing. Suddenly the Cupples warehouses...excuse me, that would be the still vacant Cupples warehouses, were knocked down without so much as a "by your leave." (I understand a couple of them were rehabbed into offices...but it isn't as if the Blues couldn't have done the same.) In effect, this rendered the earlier Cupples warehouse objection as complete and utter bullshit.

Now, I'm seeing some of the same bullshit in DC United's bid to build a stadium in the District.

A soccer stadium in Anacostia would be a splendid addition to Washington's resurgence as a sports town. But the city has no business paying for such a facility or grabbing riverfront parkland to build it.

...

Poplar Point is a national park, a place of remarkable beauty that could become a gateway to the river, a gathering spot for recreation and exploration of nature. In this divided city, the notion that an irreplaceable riverfront park is the right place for a stadium development would never pass the laugh test over in the affluent, white part of town. Grab a chunk of Rock Creek Park for a stadium and massive parking lots? The ultimate nonstarter. But in poor, black Anacostia, all politicians and developers have to do is keep reciting a mantra of "jobs, jobs, jobs," and maybe they can get away with a land grab of the most cynical kind.

Bullshit...and race baiting bullshit to boot.

I lived in DC for eight years, and Poplar Point is in no way, shape or form part of the landscape of that city's life. The neighborhood was too economically depressed and dodgy for it to be. Now, I'd agree that a soccer stadium doesn't get enough use to anchor a re-development plan (although I believe the writer of this deliberately low balls the actual use such a facility in our nation's Capital would generate.) But that is a larger problem involving the economic plans for the entire Anacostia community. It is disingenuous in the extreme to suggest that it is the role of DC United, or any sports franchise, to solve pre-existing social and economic problems as a prerequisite for building themselves a place to conduct their business.

The fact is, just like the Cupples warehouse in St. Louis, there are no other plans that would benefit the Poplar Point area in the offing. As such, there is no "land grab" as no one else to clamoring to use the area. It certainly isn't being used extensively as a recreation area.

It must also be remembered that there is popular support for the stadium in the affected community.

You know...the race baiting shit really pisses me off. It is easy for the author of a this piece, who probably lives in an area with violent crime stats like the following,



to tell people who live in an area with violent crime stats like this,




that their desires should be ignored, but don't act like you are doing them any favors. The only people who are enjoying the way Poplar Point is today are those rich people who are viewing it from the "right" side of the river.