South Bay: Lots of jobs
East Bay: Cheaper real estate.

Classic counter commute.

A) The traffic south will be far lighter than the traffic north for a weeknight game, because it is the counter-commute direction. Huge numbers of East Bay folks work in Silicon Valley. Virtually no South Bay/Peninsula folks work in the East Bay. East Bay folks will have a smooth sail to games in SJ, in contrast to the traffic nightmare we South Bay/Peninsula folks currently endure to attend weeknight games at the Coli.

In addition, because of the foregoing, a large number of East Bay folks will not have to endure rush hour traffic at all to attend games in SJ, because they’re already down here for their jobs. In fact, they’ll get to avoid the rush hour traffic they otherwise face on a daily basis. They can work their normal hours, go out for dinner in downtown SJ, and then stroll over to the park. After the game, they can cruise home after commute hours with virtually no traffic.

In contrast, those of us who must cross a bridge to get to the Coli must currently allow two hours to be assured of making first pitch. For many of us, this means leaving the office early, and still does not allow time for a decent dinner before the game.

It makes me laugh every time some Oakland partisan starts rambling on about how Oakland is “convenient for the entire Bay Area,” or Navigator starts blathering about how more season ticket holders hail from Alameda County than Santa Clara County (surprise, surprise).

B) Of course not. At least, not right now. Hopefully within a few years of a new ballpark opening, BART will reach downtown SJ.

But let me tell you, the Fremont BART option is no great convenience for South Bay fans. It’s like twenty minutes off the freeway, plus time waiting for the train, plus the ride itself, plus time walking across the BART bridge. It saves you the stadium traffic, but In the end, it still takes close to two hours. I usually do it anyway because I REALLY hate traffic, but most people don’t bother. ML has posted many times only 15% of A’s fans take BART to the trains anyway, but I’d bet almost anything that number is way lower for South Bay fans.

C) If VTA cuts back service I suspect the overall impact on South Bay traffic will be minimal because, sadly, the rate of ridership is so low to begin with. Plus, the reason VTA and other transit systems have budget problems is because the economy is so bad. Unemployment will likely more than offset any traffic impact due to transit cuts. When the economy improves and more people are driving, presumably more revenue will flow in and cuts can be restored.

Anyway, is it your belief East Bay transit systems will avoid budget cuts? A lot more people ride East Bay transit than South Bay transit, so one can reasonably expect the traffic impact of East Bay cuts to be more severe.

A) If an A’s fan gets in his car near Diridon Station and drives up the 880 corridor to the Coliseum, and the majority of A’s fans using 880 to get to the Coliseum came from the opposite direction, will the traffic south be the same for an A’s fan leaving the Coliseum area to drive down the 880 corridor for a game at Diridon?

B) If a person in San Jose can get in his car and drive to Fremont, park it and ride BART to Oakland, can someone in Oakland walk to BART, ride to Fremont, then get in a car and drive to San Jose?

C) If the current 98 million dollar budget deficit for VTA results in service cutbacks mentioned here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BATN/message/43028, will car traffic in San Jose get worse or better in the coming years? And if car traffic gets worse, will that affect the enthusiasm for building a major traffic generator in the downtown area?

tps–not even sure where to start with your response—the obvious reason as to why the gints are fighting T-rights is because they want one thing—the Bay Area all to themselves. They know that the odds of something happening in Oak are zero to none…regardless of how many potential sights are thrown into the mix…and SJ is the A’s last hope before they pack up their bags and head elsewhere-

I don’t see the “real warts” of moving to SJ that you do–I have and will continue to travel up to Oakland to see games as long as they are there–as oakA’s said–SJ is far superior to Oakland in terms of corporate dollars–key to today’s sports business model–traffic problems—freeways work both ways, as do trains— those that are fans will be thrilled to have a new ballpark so that the team can compete–in a great downtown location.

And btw—-I have never said, nor do I believe the city of Oakland sucks…but they are not a destination city for sports franchises.

It’s all quite simple. The formula is build a ballpark in a kiss ass location (regardless of the city), close proximity to downtown/urban area with restaurant and bars, plenty of parking, quick and easy access to freeway on/off ramps and close enough to mass transit. These are all things which Oakland does have and could be very successful with if the right people who could just show some support for the vision. I really do feel that with all things be considered, this BRC is giving us some serious consideration.

They’ve probably only met with San Jose officials to make sure they don’t miss any cracks with possible “alternate” locations throughout the entire Bay Area (including Giants’ territory) in the event they were unable to determine a suitable site in Oakland. I’m sure they are sticking by their original assessment to first see if they can find a new site in the Athletics’ CURRENT TERRITORY.

I mean if Selig is going to step down in about two years, I’m sure he’s not planning on waiting around for the Giants to battle this out in court for several years before the A’s ever get their new ballpark. Causing a disturbance between the owners is also something Selig is not too fond of doing, so I guess we shall all have to just wait and see what happens?!

They are understandably hesitant to just accept the gamble and say, okay, let’s go along with this and start a 10 year program for convincing A’s fans to become Giants fans, it might eventually work out in our favor–when they’re already doing just fine with things the way they are. This, I think is an especially valid position for them, considering the A’s already cold-cocked them once in 1968, and they just dug themelves out of that hole by building a ballpark and a solid fanbase with the A’s sitting in Oakland. Now the A’s are changing the freaking landscape again!

And from the A’s point of view, come on… Mayor Reed and Mr. Wolff are plowing ahead on a major property development in downtown San Jose. Gee, that’s what they both do in their day jobs, right? There doesn’t have to be any evidence that San Jose is as good or better than Oakland for the A’s, their fans, MLB, the Giants, or anyone. Profit is all either of them need to see to move forward on this 400+ million dollar project. As long as the ducks can be lined up, and the project completed before they expire, they both figure to come out shiny on the other end, from purely the real estate development aspects. This ballpark will immediately become an asset of the franchise and drive up the franchise value before even one fan sets foot inside. And I realize that all this is a selling point for San Jose. I’m not knocking anyone or anything. I’m simply pointing out to you that the real justification for this ballpark is not “Oakland sucks”, like you love to claim, but that Mr. Wolff might have the contacts and right partners to actually get it done in the next few years. Period. Let’s quit bullshitting on the other stupid stuff, and recognize the real warts that do exist here in terms of population questions, traditional fanbase shifting, traffic problems, insufficient public transit, etc., K?

This whole argument that moving 40 miles away is better the Giants is just nonsense in my opinion. Since the Bay Area has two MLB teams, the South Bay market is and will always be pretty much the same distance from SF as it is to Oakland. Our territory is split by a couple of bridges and a large body of water so it gives us an even split. We’re both just situated at the upper half’s of the split.