There Goes the Neighborhood!
Late last week, it was reported that the Houston Dynamo are entertaining moving their proposed new stadium just south of 610 West Loop right across the street from The Galleria.
The new plans caused more uproar than the health care debate when folks led by Mayor Cindy Siegel of Bellaire City dissented. Folks that wanted the stadium in downtown Houston were equally as pissed at the idea.
It interesting the wording that Siegel used to express her concerns of the stadium proposal. Siegel states, “A stadium would be the final blow to what has been a neighborhood trying to reclaim its quality of life for decade.”
She went on to add that the Bellaire City Council would hold a closed session to discuss “how can we best protect that neighborhood.”
What the hell does it mean that the neighborhood is “trying to reclaim its quality of life?” If that is keyword for the 610 Loop … here is a memo to the City of Bellaire … the 610 Loop is not going anywhere, anytime soon.
Somehow though, there are underlying reasons why Siegel is opposed to the stadium and the best way she can convey it is by “protecting” the neighborhood.
It boils down to: traffic, quality of life and noise.
Siegel would like to make the argument that building a stadium that at capacity would hold a little over 20k folks would somehow be detrimental to the area. Someone forgot to remind Siegel that U.S. 59 that would be next to the stadium is one of the busiest thoroughfares in the state. Add to that fact the most popular mall in the city of Houston and the state of Texas is just across the street. The idea that traffic will get worse seems laughable when the whole area is already a parking lot.
The Houston Chronicle reports:
“Houston City Councilwoman Anne Clutterbuck, whose District C includes the Midway land, said that living near Rice University’s 47,000-seat stadium has not diminished her quality of life, even with traffic snarls on event days.”
So much for the quality of life argument.
Then, there is the noise issue. Somehow it is hard to believe that a stadium occupied for three hours at a time during game days can compete with two major freeways in the noise department.
Even if the freeways were not there though, how awful can the noise get? If one has ever ventured to Robertson Stadium or Rice … one will quickly notice that people live across the street from the stadium. Shocking right?
The original stadium location is not off the table but what would happen to those 12 empty acres in East Houston?
Houston Mayor Annise Parker states, “The public is aware that we’re looking at potential sites for an independent crime lab operation. We’re looking for potential sites for a joint city-county (inmate) processing facility.”
For some reason the “city-county processing facility” does not seem as appealing as a soccer stadium.
For some crazy reason it has to be about the sport ergo futbol, which means more brown people that speak the Spanish and there goes the neighborhood!