Posted on 02/13/2022 10:48:24 AM PST by RandFan
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — First, the Lakers and the Kings abandoned Inglewood for a shiny new arena in downtown Los Angeles in 1999. Several years later, the horse racing track shut down. In between, there was the financial crisis, which sent home values plummeting. Things got so bad that the state took over the local school district.
“The only thing that was left, effectively, was a Sizzler and a big doughnut,” said James T. Butts Jr., the mayor of Inglewood, referring to the gigantic steel sculpture that sits atop Randy’s Donuts near the airport, long a strange welcome sign for visitors to Southern California.
Now when you fly into Los Angeles, the first sight to grab your eye is the gleaming, futuristic football cathedral called SoFi Stadium that sits on land left vacant by the horse track. It is one of the priciest sports arenas ever built at more than $5 billion, and lured professional football back to Los Angeles with the Rams and Chargers relocating from St. Louis and San Diego. It opened in the pandemic year of 2020, hosting games but not fans. On Sunday, it will be crammed for the Super Bowl, and Inglewood will command the nation’s attention. The fact that the hometown Rams are in the game makes it even sweeter.
For Inglewood, one of Los Angeles’s last communities with a substantial Black population, the Super Bowl is perhaps the fullest expression of a transformation that has been underway for years. Over the last decade the economy improved and crime fell, making Inglewood attractive to outside development. The old Forum was reopened for concerts, and people came. A new home for the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s youth orchestra opened in a building that was once a Burger King....
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
A football stadium should never have an art collection, like Jerry World does.
Nothing wrong with Marching Bands, neither.
Yes, exactly. Me too.
Did jaguar john Arnette or “hop a long” Cassidy come too. My memory only goes back that far.
I’m no talking about room. I’m taking about what they paid.
Can’t speak for you. But I’ve grown very weary of politicians making deals, most of the time in secret, on behalf of the residents.
And then the residents have to deal with their taxes going through the roof to pay for the infrastructure upgrades needed, that they had no say in and the company/team/whatever is relieved of all those bills and gets generous tax relief for some time.
Too understated. This is the NFL. It’s gotta be a SHOW. Pretty soon they’re gonna launch actual space ships from the stadium.
Flobble-de-flee!
“Did jaguar john Arnette or “hop a long” Cassidy come too. My memory only goes back that far.”
I don’t know. Now I want to look it up.
The problem is that they are trying to appeal to the billionaires who would buy all those suites. So it's no longer about Joe Six Pack.
i can remember when i worked on a production hoist in Inglewood...there was a very large oilfield right next to The Forum...that was in 1972 ..no idea if the oilfield is still there in some shape or form
I looked at the 45 roster. Does not seem so. Only player I recall on that roster was Bob Waterfield, the QB.
My bad, I said Hopalong when I meant Crazy legs Hirsch. He started in 46 with the Rams.
I clicked on the link and there was no pay wall.
“The problem is that they are trying to appeal to the billionaires who would buy all those suites. So it’s no longer about Joe Six Pack.”
Yep. Sport is now about wealthy people, not Joe American. The cheering Joe Americans are for effect.
Your guarantee isn’t worth sh*t. Kroenke bought the land and paid for the stadium.
The cost to the taxpayer was minimal.
Over the last decade the economy improved and crime fell, making Inglewood attractive to outside development.
The claim is as the economy improved crime went down. Is this what happened in this order?
If crime did go down with investment there must have been an effort to reduce crime first. Businesses don't invest in crime-ridden neighborhoods and people don't move into crime-ridden neighborhoods. Gentrification only succeeds if crime is reduced.
This article has all the earmarks of a narrative; that investing millions in minority communities will turn things around. I have a nagging feeling something is being left out; namely, was there an effort to reduce crime to make Inglewood safe for people and businesses before the turn-around began?
Yeah, people act like a new stadium would bring a slum out of
poverty. As if...
I remember going to a Dallas Cowboys game in 1966.
There seemed to be slums right up to the stadium doorstep.
“And then the residents have to deal with their taxes going through the roof to pay for the infrastructure upgrades needed, that they had no say in and the company/team/whatever is relieved of all those bills and gets generous tax relief for some time.”
I wish some company would pay the fee and name the stadium “Taxpayer’s Stadium”. The sad part is the press and TV would bury the name.
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