Nats Park Area Updates (2012)

[Tim Cullen]

>It's the Oakland Coliseum. Plenty of parking.

And on Tuesdays they offer FREE parking.  That's right...Free Parking Tuesdays.  I was there for a game last year on a Tuesday and it still was a small crowd (AND FWIW...I took the BART from downtown SF).

[comish4lif]

I'm not entirely sure how these types of garages work in cities near sports venues, so forgive my ignorance. But obviously the stores aren't going to want there to be no parking spaces for customers, and then you have the issue of resident parking for the Yards. Bottom line, given the residential + business issues, are all these garages under the new buildings going to be guaranteed to be open to Nats traffic? And if they are, I imagine most of the spots will be reserved for residents at the very least, meaning only a level or two for stadium parking. Then there's the added issue of cost, for me at least. I happily pay the $25 at the Yards every time, since parking there is almost like parking and getting out right at my seat it's so close. But I'm sure that when the Yards is built, they'll have some other company doing the parking, or even if it stays the same, I'm doubtful the price will with the added issue of residents/businesses.

And since I haven't complained about things that haven't even happened yet enough, there's lastly the issue of construction of the Yards. I don't know how long they expect it to take, but the above only covers issues when it's done. At the very least it'll be one entire season, and with all the delays so far, likely two, where the site is under construction and no one is parking anywhere on the future Yards site. So while there may or may not be more parking when all is said and done, and I'm doubtful it's going to be as ideal as it is now at the Yards then, we are guaranteed to lose all that parking while they are building, at the very least for an entire season.

My ultimate point is the Nats really screwed the pooch and should have had much, much, much more stadium run parking. Those ugly towers visible from my seat should have been underground totally, but at the very least should have had all the above ground plus several more underground levels. That they built so little parking that they can charge $40!!! for those lots and fill to capacity (I assume, I never use the due to cost but would assume if they weren't at capacity, they'd have tinkered with the price by now.) is proof positive they didn't handle the parking situation very well. Which is understandable since they assumed most would take the Metro, but Metro has really become a genuine clusterfreak since the stadium was being planned, as bad as it was then, combined with increased price fares negating the savings from not having to pay for gas and reasonable ($25 per game) parking.

It is truly a shame that there isn't someone associated with the team that has a background in construction and development... they could have snatched up a parcel of land and built a state of the art Nats parking facility and funneled money from one branch of the Lerner empire to the other...

[Slateman]

So, where exactly is this in relation to the Navy Yard stop?

[Coladar]

Good lord, it's just like a bunch of suburbanites to want city real estate devoted to parking lots for events that happen on 20-25% of nights during the year.

Yeah, it's real forward-thinking to build a hive of parking lots within a few blocks of a waterfront, rather than developing that land into structures that, you know, PRODUCE COMMERCE or something like that.

Oh, and there were plenty of surface parking lots in Chinatown when Verizon Center opened. I'm sure the stripmall dwellers would have liked them to have stayed then too, rather than having to park in the scary underground lots or, gasp!, take public transportation.

The rest of us are just as happy having had those lots developed into residential and commercial buildings.

Jesus, I was going to quote the poster who posted the Oakland pic, but this takes the cake. I've stated in several posts what I wanted was for more levels in the garages considered Lot B and C, and in my last post even said that the problem is with all the additional parking lots that are on side roads that merge on S Cap St. Having another four or five underground levels in both B and C equals a crapton more parking, and takes up no more space. I don't know where this impression I want a paved city around the stadium for parking, as all along I've emphasized the adding of levels.

And anyone crazy/stupid enough to argue biking as an option obviously A. isn't a full STH and B. doesn't know what having a job means. That's one of the other main reasons I drive and do not use Metro. I hate Using Metro with a passion, but I also get home much, much faster. Weeknight 7pm games, four nights in a row and having this little thing some might have heard about called a job? Uhh, yeah, thanks but no thanks. I do like getting home before midnight.

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

Cervelos are 100% back bacon Canuckistani stud bike...better take a U lock and a kryptonite New York chain with you for that bad boy.

No way, I'll have enough Surlys and Cervelos to fend for myself if that ever happens. 

[MarquisDeSade]

And anyone crazy/stupid enough to argue biking as an option obviously A. isn't a full STH and B. doesn't know what having a job means. That's one of the other main reasons I drive and do not use Metro. I hate Using Metro with a passion, but I also get home much, much faster. Weeknight 7pm games, four nights in a row and having this little thing some might have heard about called a job? Uhh, yeah, thanks but no thanks. I do like getting home before midnight.

Get off the cross, we need the firewood.

I bike to work (right next to the stadium) five days a week and still manage to work this thing called a job and hit the gym six days a week all while ballin' out of control.  Will I be doing it over 60 games next season?  You bet your ass.  But hey, stay a fatty, what do I care.

Cervelos are 100% back bacon Canuckistani stud bike...better take a U lock and a kryptonite New York chain with you for that bad boy.

Says the guy with the Viking Stove and the Restoration Hardware VIP card.  Next you're going to be saying my Chrome messenger bag and flip-flop makes me a hipster douchebag. 

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

Hey get your Buddy Holly bespectacled hipster ass over here and help me load this Ethan Allen loveseat into the Range Rover

Says the guy with the Viking Stove and the Restoration Hardware VIP card.  Next you're going to be saying my Chrome messenger bag and flip-flop makes me a hipster douchebag. 

[MarquisDeSade]

Hey get your Buddy Holly bespectacled hipster ass over here and help me load this Ethan Allen loveseat into the Range Rover

I'm not sure I can take off from my position as a grant writer for a non-profit working for FOOD JUSTICE® in a renovated walk-up in Dupont Circle.  These spreadsheets aren't going to format themselves you know!

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

Well you had best hurry up, as the DC Solar happy hour starts in half an hour, just look for all the fixies with ace of spades cards in their spokes locked to signs

I'm not sure I can take off from my position as a grant writer for a non-profit working for FOOD JUSTICE® in a renovated walk-up in Dupont Circle.  These spreadsheets aren't going to format themselves you know!

[Obed_Marsh]

And anyone crazy/stupid enough to argue biking as an option obviously A. isn't a full STH and B. doesn't know what having a job means.

I bike to executive meetings often and I can assure you that no one notices as I don't ride like a bat out of hell and plan the route well.

Bike sharing or even utlizing the bike racks is becoming increasingly common. It has been incorperated into LEED programs, city planning, and many building designs. The Metropolitan Branch trail has expanded along the N.E. corridor, a new bike station went into Union station not too long ago, and bike racks are showing up in offices all over D.C. and are part of nearly all the new ones.

The point to biking is not try to ride out to whatever remote locale but rather to provide a pleasant alternative to the throngs of people. The bike shares are a valid way to skip the crowds and get to the Metro line (or bus, train, car, etc.) quickly and pleasantly. If you are not considering automobiles, taxis, trains, subways, buses, walking and yes even those hellspawn bikes than your route planning is suboptimal.

[MarquisDeSade]

The point to biking is not try to ride out to whatever remote locale but rather to provide a pleasant alternative to the throngs of people. The bike shares are a valid way to skip the crowds and get to the Metro line quickly and pleasantly. If you are not considering automobiles, taxis, trains, subways, buses, walking and yes even those hellspawn bikes than your route planning is suboptimal.

Sanity.

[MarquisDeSade]

Well you had best hurry up, as the DC Solar happy hour starts in half an hour, just look for all the fixies with ace of spades cards in their spokes locked to signs

I'm going upstage all of them - I'm going to put the 12" cover of "Ace of Spades" in my Cervelo rear spokes. 

[JCA-CrystalCity]

I'm going upstage all of them - I'm going to put the 12" cover of "Ace of Spades" in my Cervelo rear spokes. 

Lemmy see that.

[MarquisDeSade]

Lemmy see that.

Only if it'll help us all Eat the Rich.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

BTW - Thankfully the Oakland Stadium is a one of a kind in baseball.  I suppose I could have posted a picture of the Big A or Kaufman Stadium if we wanted to see a better looking stadium with ample parking.  probably Chavez Ravine.  That said, for the most part, big surface lots are just a waste of space in urban centers. 

Camden Yards works OK because a lot of the parking is under 395, it shares its parking with M&T, and it is on the fringe of the downtown.  Honestly, what development or neighborhood improvement has it generated south and west of the park?  I'll leave it to smarter people and urban planners, but it looks to me to be more or less a hard border to Pratt Street and the inner harbor rather than a stimulus for development on all sides.  My guess is DC wanted something different, much closer to what happened between Penn and Mass, with the Phone Booth as its center.  It did not happen right away due to the 2008 banking crash and the real estate bubble, but it looks like it'll happen in the next 10 years given the building going on.

I think what will end up is probably a good balance between car access, which works for larger groups, and alternative access (pub trans / walk / bike) for smaller groups and those closer to the stadium.  not to say that there might be a pinch while the build out goes on.

[Obed_Marsh]

Another part of the rather unique problem is there is not a contract requirement for the team to pay towards WMATA service. In past seasons the city paid for late night trains, I doubt that will continue although I don't remember hearing anything since they traded barbs in the press with Tommy Wells. It ain't cheap, $90,000 per hour.

[Baseball is Life]

JDLand @JDLand
Fairgrounds, a food, market & events space coming to Bullpen site by #Nats Park: http://bit.ly/zUsCqK To be open daily Apr-Sept. (ICYMI)

[hammondsnats]

which bullpen spot will it be taking over?  the one right next to the park (the original) or the beer garden spot?

[Baseball is Life]

‘Fairgrounds’ planned near Nationals Park http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/capitalbusiness/capital-buzz-fairgrounds-planned-near-nationals-park/2012/02/16/gIQAArT1NR_story.html

[Baseball is Life]

which bullpen spot will it be taking over?  the one right next to the park (the original) or the beer garden spot?

The beer garden one near the Metro. The Das Bullpen. The Post article make it sound like it's the one closest to the Park but JD says Das Bullpen.

[CALSGR8]

which bullpen spot will it be taking over?  the one right next to the park (the original) or the beer garden spot?

From the link, it looks like both

[OldChelsea]

‘Fairgrounds’ planned near Nationals Park http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/capitalbusiness/capital-buzz-fairgrounds-planned-near-nationals-park/2012/02/16/gIQAArT1NR_story.html

...looks like it's going to be curtains for the street vendors* in Half street once that opens - pity because that means no more $2 bottles of water before going into the ballpark (so nice to have during the summer heat waves - one of them was even selling smaller bottles for $1 last season). I'll also miss the packets of crisps I'd buy off them from time to time - a snack item that has pretty much completely disappeared from sports grounds.



*the ones that sold food and drink, that is - unfortunately the $#!@!?#!! ticket touts will no doubt still be with us.

[Baseball is Life]

...looks like it's going to be curtains for the street vendors* in Half street once that opens - pity because that means no more $2 bottles of water before going into the ballpark (so nice to have during the summer heat waves - one of them was even selling smaller bottles for $1 last season). I'll also miss the packets of crisps I'd buy off them from time to time - a snack item that has pretty much completely disappeared from sports grounds.

Maybe on Half Street, but they will be there just a block or two away. Not to worry.

[jdland]

...looks like it's going to be curtains for the street vendors* in Half street once that opens - pity because that means no more $2 bottles of water before going into the ballpark (so nice to have during the summer heat waves - one of them was even selling smaller bottles for $1 last season). I'll also miss the packets of crisps I'd buy off them from time to time - a snack item that has pretty much completely disappeared from sports grounds.

*the ones that sold food and drink, that is - unfortunately the $#!@!?#!! ticket touts will no doubt still be with us.

No, the street vendors will still be on Half Street. But they have to be in the street itself this year (which of course is closed during game days). Not on the sidewalk.

[OldChelsea]

No, the street vendors will still be on Half Street. But they have to be in the street itself this year (which of course is closed during game days). Not on the sidewalk.

Fair enough.