Several Measure J postmortem articles have been flying around the internets over the last 24 hours. The tone of the newest article by SFGate’s John Wildermuth may have the most foreshadowing, since in five months we may be seeing déjà vu. Incredulous? Take a look at the following paragraphs:
But Mayor Gavin Newsom and other supporters of a proposed San Francisco home for the 49ers said the election was the expected triumph of the team’s $4 million-plus campaign effort, arguing that, in the mayor’s words, “the stadium plan is built on shaky economic ground.”
The city, meanwhile, is moving ahead with plans for a 69,000-seat stadium as part of the Hunters Point Shipyard redevelopment project but will hedge its bet with alternative plans to put housing and commercial development on the site if the 49ers flee to the South Bay.
“When the Santa Clara plan falls apart, San Francisco stands ready to welcome its 49ers home,” Newsom said. “But we will not wait forever.”
Now let’s take out the proper names.
But Mayor ___ and other supporters of a proposed ___ home for the ___ said the election was the expected triumph of the team’s $__ million-plus campaign effort, arguing that, in the mayor’s words, “the stadium plan is built on shaky economic ground.”
The city, meanwhile, is moving ahead with plans for a __-seat stadium as part of the ___ redevelopment project but will hedge its bet with alternative plans to put housing and commercial development on the site if the ___ flee to the South Bay.
“When the ___ plan falls apart, ___ stands ready to welcome its ___ home,” ___ said. “But we will not wait forever.”
See, SF and Oakland? You aren’t so different after all.
newballpark.org 
The same financing problems in Santa Clara would exist at Hunter’s Point.
* Where do the 49ers come up with their share of the money, when the NFL no longer has a stadium-financing program?
* PSLs are a risky proposition.
* Stadium naming rights are not selling.
SF has at least found a spot (Hunter’s Point) for the 49ers. Oakland, meanwhile, is just pulling locations out of a hat, without having acquired anything. “You can put it here. Or here. Or here. We don’t own those properties, have no idea if the owners sell and of course we have no money to buy those properties. But you can put your ballpark in any of these spots.”
Should construction of the 49ers stadium move forward and they begin selling PSL’s and eventually season-tickets, it’ll be interesting to see how the 49ers advertise themselves. Granted, a region’s relationship with their football team is different than that of their baseball team, the 49ers (like the A’s) will have to promote themselves as simultaneous members of their old and new community. The 49ers can probably get away with still calling themselves the San Francisco 49ers, but they’ll share the same marketing dilemma as the A’s who will want to retain their East Bay fanbase while making nice with their prospective South Bay fanbase.
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If the 49ers campaign effort cost more than $4 million, that means that they paid close to $400 for each yes vote.
Impressive, huh?
If the Niners move to SC, I don’t think they’ll have any problems retaining their fan base. There are a lot of Niner fans in the South Bay, and along the Peninsula.
The A’s on the other hand would have a much more difficult time. They will have to have a two pronged attack. First, try to retain as much of their East Bay fanbase, and second, to convince the casual fan in the South Bay to embrace the team. Hope they see the importance of this and seek out a good marketing/PR firm.
BIG CITY and SUBURB fill in most of the blanks in your word-replacement game, right?
Like Lew Wolf, you’re suburban – not urban – and that’s okay, i guess.
I’m not so in love with the suburbs, myself.
But if that’s the ring around the waistline, let’s get honest: rename them the Santa Clara 49ers, the Santa Clara Raiders, the San Jose A’s and get on with it.
Um, the A’s new ballpark would be built in the heart of San Jose’s urban downtown core, not the burbs.
San Jose is one big bland suburb with a cutesy little downtown I would call semi-urban. Boring skyline for a city of a million.
I’d have to second that. San Jose is a pretty bland suburban sprawl with a cluster of high office buildings they call downtown. However, it’s worlds more interesting now than when I was going to high school there a decade ago. With the possible ballpark and revamped Diridon Station, it could become a pretty interesting place.
For the most part, San Jose and those surrounding cities (Milpitas, Cupertino, etc.) has lacked a center of gravity to attract art and culture. The best bars, museums, show venues, record shops, restaurants, etc. are in SF or Oakland/Berkeley. Whether or not you’re into those things is besides the point. It’s the combination of interests and activities that can really give a city an identity. However, SJ could be a pretty cool place in its own-right in 10, 15 years. Having a ballpark that brings people together 81+ times a year would be a big help.
San Jose: The Suburb So Big That We Don’t Know What To Classify It As Anymore!
SJ’s downtown definitely lacks height, but there’s a lot more to a city than how tall the buildings in the CBD are. I was in downtown SJ a couple of weeks ago and was quite impressed with the street-level ambiance of the place. It’s really come a long way in the last decade or so.
The South Bay is mostly suburban, that’s true. But there are many great commercial centers in the valley: Willow Glen, Saratoga, Campbell, Los Gatos to name a few. Not to mention all the great towns at the southern end of the peninsula. I think the whole area gets a bum rap from those of us in the rest of the region.
re: San Jose is one big bland suburb
What makes it a bland suburb? Would big-city crime and violence help make it a “big city?” I’ve got a lawn I need to mow, neighborhood cats that won’t stay out of my yard and a bunch of shopping malls two exits down the highway, along with an NHL hockey team 5 minutes away that hopefully will be joined by an MLB team in a few years.
Does it get any better than this?