Quote:
Originally Posted by OldDutch
Anyone who went to the Flames games in the 80,90, and early 2000 knows what Vic Park and East Village was like.
It was sketchy as heck. There was basically Ribtor, Orange lofts, parking lots and dilapidated drug houses.
I walked home from Orange to the Riverfront in 2004 and my girlfriend freaked out I would do that at 1AM. She was right too, just a sea of parking lots and sketch bags in the pitch black.
How they turned it around in frankly less than 10 years is nothing short of amazing.
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100% agree...The saddledome didn't do anything to revitalize that area. Some times I wonder how many areanas/stadiums people have gone to in their lives, as typically the buildings themselves create enormous dead zones around them. Those dead zones can turn nasty quick.
The best stadiums I've been too integrate into their surroundings. If Calgary built an "Eats" area with that land that operated 300+ days a year and had 20 boutique restaurants running out of shipping containers with two big bars that had live music and a 3000-5000 seat "concert hall". Indoor / outdoor spaces with heaters, and good public transit...that's the area you put an 18000 seat arena in, with shops on the ground level.