You GET Classy, Atlanta

This also appears on www.790thezone.com for my weekly article
After I returned from my Honeymoon in San Diego this past Saturday, I turned on the NFL draft and a certain Mel Kiperism struck a chord with me: upside potential. The City of Atlanta has a ton of upside potential. While in San Diego, my new bride and I visited Petco Park and took in a Padres game. The stadium, which opened in 2004 was nice, but hardly breathtakingly better than Turner Field. The Skyline view of San Diego was about the same as the Ted’s view of the ATL and in fact, Turner Field was way more kid-friendly with Tooner Field and the other amenities.
But what made San Diego better was the Gaslamp District. Petco sits right in the heart of this area of remodeled downtown and roughly 200 shops and eateries are within easy walking distance of the stadium. Fans can grab a bite before the game, then enjoy a celebratory spirit afterwards at one of the many bars or clubs.
I wish an Atlanta city official and a Braves official or two could hop aboard a plane, fly to San Diego and study how this remodel was done. The Gaslamp model could be the start of a regentrification movement around the Ted that would certainly boost attendance and get people excited about baseball again. The Padres are terrible this year, but the downtown area helped fill up the stadium on a random Wednesday night. The first step: sell off those parking lots, put up decks and get some bars/restaurants in there. Baseball is NOT a tailgating sport like football. Most people go and park and head in to drink and eat. Build the decks and let people wander past the sweet smelling grills and packed patios and see if they don’t spend some money to benefit local businesses on their way in. I know I would grab a smoked sausage and a brew at one of the new pubs before entering in and cheering on the Braves.
Also, clean up some of those shabby buildings surrounding the stadium and make the area more attractive. We have had callers tell us on Extra Innings that they would take their families to more night games if they weren’t afraid of the area. Turn those rundown looking buildings into brightly lit fun zones and people will come. To paraphrase the voice that talked to Kevin Costner, if you build it, they will come.
San Diego perfected the model, now go get it and GET CLASSY!