[Roughneck]

Originally Posted by SebC

Directing development towards the inner city and away from the surburbs has monetary value to the city of Calgary, because inner city developments are more fiscally lucrative than suburban ones.

I don't disagree, but to me a suburban arena is a complete red herring. The Flames want and need an arena downtown and any talk of building in Balzac or even the industrial park is just a bluff, and a bad one at that. I'm sure the owners have been to Kanata or Glendale and seen how undesirable a non central arena can be.

Having said that, I'm not convinced the arena would spur development in the West Village (at least not better than an East Village-style plan). It may simply displace the development that would otherwise take place on its footprint, and also it may split focus between the East Village and West Village (whereas I'd rather saturate the East Village, then move on to the West Village).

I like the North Victoria Park area for the arena. No LRT transfers for anyone and it's not using prime riverfront real estate. The closer it is to the CP tracks, the better.

Completely agree. The Vic Park spot may be a longer walk from City Hall than the Dome is from Victoria Park (just a 600m vs. 400m difference) but is at least on both lines Plus would be next to a future SE LRT/Transitway stop. It's better for the Stampede but still gives the Flames access to parking revenue and puts a high value location next to those terrible tracks.

The West Village is extremely inaccessible for pedestrians though does have better driving infrastructure (even if it is extremely flawed infrastructure). Plus even if the pedestrian issue was fixed, the tracks being where they are and all the other borders around the area it really limits further development opportunities as a result.

Vic Park is the best spot and I really hope that's where they choose to go.

Originally Posted by shutout

For the owners a new building is a clear win from a business advantage.
Especially if you build an entertainment district in the area as well.
Have a new arena and a new stadium that are in the same west village location.
Both venues are equally situated to the train, transit, and parkades that will go in to handle parking.

But the crown jewel would be having an entertainment district with a dozen different bars and restaurants that would handle all of the pregame and post game requirements of the fans. And would be trendy and convenient enough for people to go to on weekends and after work even when there is no games going on. That is before you even factor in the potential to build in convention space in the area as well.

Public money for the project will be for more than a new hockey arena. It will be for developing a whole area that will generate jobs and taxes.

The dream is for Stampede Trail to actually happen, and an arena in Vic Park would certainly help with that. However the city shouldn't need to pay for this to happen, with the increase in development in the East Village, Victoria Park and east side of the Beltline plus arena traffic you'd have a hard time keeping private money away. No need to use taxpayer money for anything other than the greenspace developments around the area.