Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to occupy the scrambled brains of the NIMBYs complaining about putting the Phantoms arena in downtown Allentown.
On the one hand they’re constantly telling us that Allentown’s doomed, any revitalization efforts you want to try are doomed, you’ll never get middle-income people to come downtown, and everyone should just stick to crying about Hess’s.
But on the other hand, putting a hockey arena downtown would be too successful because it would attract too many people and create a traffic nightmare!
These people are already whining about the problems that might occur if the plan works.
There’s no reason there have to be traffic problems. You could have people park further away and have a bus or trolley run between the parking garage and the arena. Public transportation, parking prices or eventually congestion pricing are all good ways to address any congestion problems that arise. It’s not a valid reason to oppose the arena or locate it elsewhere. Any new development should take place in the core, not the periphery.
Jon -
I don't know where to start with your incoherent babble.
The residentas were not complaining about traffic last night, they were demanding respect. Have you looked at a map of Allentown lately? When was the last time you drove along the Lehigh down by the Neuweiler brewery site?
Perfect site for the Arena, IF IT WERE FEASIBLE!
This plan is defective on so many levels I don't know where to start.
Why you would want to spend MILLIONS displacing actual commerce for the crapshoot of possible income is mind boggling.
Government should not be in this business. They are creating a product for which demmand is tepid at best.
Do you really believe that first class acts will come in to play when there are not any hockey games? And Indoor Football can't draw flies at Stabler, what do you think it will draw downtown? Barflies?
If the Phantoms owners had wanted this, they would have spent their own damn money and built somewhere that wouldn't cost them as much. But because it is OTHER PEOPLE"S MONEY, I.E. the Taxpayers, They will happily take that site downtown, screw the little guy.
I don't mind that you are so wromg on so much, what bothers me is you are so oblivious and so self righteous about what you believe.
It must be tough to go through life knowing everything. I'm grateful I don't have to carry your burden of supreme omnipotence.
Wow! NIMBYs are people who have a back yard. These are mostly minority merchants, many of whom have been in the area for ears. They are being shoved out of their back yards, not for improved gas lines or an expanded road, but for a hockey rink. In other words, one business is shoving a bunch of other businesses out of the way and is using the public tool of eminent domain to accomplish its purpose.
And amazingly, it's using the public's money to accomplish its goal.
This is an outrageous abuse of authority by an arrogant Mayor and a complicit Council.
This is similar to what happened in Kelo v. New London, where homeowners and small businesses were brushed aside for a government economic development project that ultimately failed.
Your analogy tto NIMBYs is flawed.
Allentown's Arena Plans II
I think there is a lot of opposition to this plan (my own included) that has nothing to do with the NIMBY attitude. I welcome this arena to Allentown, and would love to see more major facilities (a football/soccer stadium, perhaps?) brought into the City.
But I absolutely think that using eminent domain to displace the community of small businesses on this square block is a borderline abuse of the law (coincidental that the mayor just dismantled the Redevelopment Authority?), I think this is a terrible site for the stadium, and I think the idea that people opposing this short-sighted potential black-hole are simply naysayers is really not taking into consideration that the City has put forth no convincing evidence that they are doing the kind of comprehensive planning that would be required to turn a venture like this into a success.
Jon,
Your effort to describe the oppostion to the hockey rink fails miserably. Not only do you show complete disregard for the people directly affected, but you fail to bring up any coherent arguments as to why we should have this hockey rink in center city. Your credibility as an analyst and writer of local events is seriously hurt by this poorly thought out & completely heartless post.
Jon's readers on the right have been trying to point out from the beginning of this "independent" screed that he is ill informed and has a poor grasp of economics. glad to see his apologists on the left are seeing it too.
I think Jon is right on this one. The same old crowd thinks Jon is wrong. Big surprise.
For the record, I do not find Jon to be ill informed, or to have a poor grasp of economics.
then you are ill informed and ahave a poor grasp of economics
Ouch!
Must be time to hate Walmart EVEN MORE!!!