Examiner article about emphasizing public transit for accessing arena events.

I'm not clear on the accuracy or meaningfulness of this stat:

this says attendance is regularly over 18000/game

What is not always mentioned is that the average parking space holds between 2 and 3 people (not many people drive solo to sports events). So those 2,900 spots will fit at least 6,000 people, so its the other 12k that have to be split between the double-sized trains, ferries, bikes, walking and ubers/lyfts. I think they will manage just fine.

In some college towns there are 50k, even 75k+ people that go to football games and they manage traffic.

https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfranc...ptWjIifQ%3D%3D

Assuming Uber is around in 20 years . . . .

They used to say the same about Apple... Uber (or whatever it evolves into) will be around for a long, long time.

I hope you are right, but Wall Street is distinctly dubious because nobody, inclduing Uber management, has yet outlined a plan toward profitability.

The better analogy than Apple, and the one everybody who is bullish on Uber sites, is Amazon.com which lost money for years and years. But there the path to make money was fairly clear--raise prices a bit, especially on the Prime memberships which most people believed could be done without much loss of membership numbers. But Uber is different--Uber competes with taxis in several ways but price is one (and it also competes with Lyft, of course and even public transit). The betting is that the demand for Uber services is more elastic than the demand for Amazon Prime memberships and that use of Uber, even among those who continue to use it some, would fall off significantly if it cost more.

Signage being installed. It's nearing completion for its September 6 Metallica opening.

https://i.imgur.com/GrSFc2L.png

The signage is looking nice!

east side

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...ae939008_b.jpg

NE corner

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...f11c6403_b.jpg

It looks like the Warriors banners are being set up too

Here's a sneak peek of the iconic art sculpture designed by world-renowned artist Olafur Eliasson that is said to rival that of Chicago's "Cloud Gate" :

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...f7feafc8_b.jpgchasecenter by gholgado, on Flickr

It's going to be hard to top The Bean in my opinion. But I hope they prove me wrong

Muni will be free to Chase Center events

South St is now 'Warriors Way' (which eliminates the potential confusion surrounding 'South' St being on the north side of the arena)

^^How are they going to pull that off--they can't even get about half the riders on the lines going through the TL to pay at all. Seems like they will have to make the T-line free to everybody or nobody. Please don't tell me they are going to have fare inspectors checking "proof of payment" after the cars pass Chase Center.

Updated look at Olafur Eliasson's iconic sculpture:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...13ffda7b_b.jpgchase2 by gholgado, on Flickr

I'd rather walk North to a far parking lot than get in line with 18k other people using the Muni.

We will see how it goes

Nice!

I wish we could refresh all of MUNI's wayfinding and signage. That weird caution tape lime green for location is nasty. A strong visual identity for MUNI would go a long, long way.

^The wayfinding and signage is a bit silly and random. On the contrary, the branding identity of MUNI is one of the best out there. The classic Walt Landor worm logo and livery is classic and stands the test of time. Why they have such a hard time unifying that with the rest of their info/signage public interface is beyond me.

100% agree with you about the logo. I'd even be happy if they could just get the type and color to play out consistently. :cheers:

I like that the wood on the seating, and the plantings, soften the feeling of the site to a passerby

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...64f5fda9_b.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...4c806dba_b.jpg

nice of the Warriors to build a skate park for the kids

Haha, you can see the barriers on the seats to prevent people from "grinding" but sure, they can ollie down the stairs if they want. I bet they will have security around Chase and at Uber to give them a warning.


Also, my friend invited me over to tour the arena on August 25th as his family has been season ticket holders for over 20 years. I'll take pics and videos and share with you guys

Looking forward to your photos and report gillynova thx! :cheers:

https://i.imgur.com/onHIUvIh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/eMAc0i2h.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/jKLmDHqh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/xdaXJARh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/KH2Ydpoh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/zz1bQX3h.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/G1CNRvQh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/cuBYRrXh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/bJ7kZZ7h.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/MW2qTIxh.jpg

Awesome, gilly!

Thoughts after seeing it in person?

The new arena is AMAZING and VERY high quality. My friend and I got a chance to go through the whole arena except the wooden floor and courtside seats due to time constraints. We did, however, got to check out the new suites and THEATER suites which seriously make you feel like you're in a theater. That area seems to be aimed to the rich people. There's a ton of more room now when you enter and walk around in any level, more bathrooms and a TON of food choices.

Seats are VERY comfy, lots of leg room wherever I went to and the views from every angle are nice.

There's a TON of screens to look around, even underneath the jumbotron.

The food, in my opinion, is mostly fairly priced. It was mostly priced from $10-14 which isn't THAT bad for arena pricing. Also, there's unlimited refills on soda now which is a huge plus.

From what I remember:

French Fries: $5
Chicken Sandwich: $13
Chicken Salad: $12
Shrimp Garlic Noodles: $14
Tacos: ??
Popcorn: ??

Burger Dog: $10
Hot Dog: $8

Wine: $12
Beer: $14
Cocktail: $18

I honestly think the new arena is going to be a hit, even for concerts. It's still not finished as some areas are closed off, but this is a HUGE improvement from Oracle due to the amount of room in the concourse. The only thing I don't like it how they downgraded the capacity from 19.5k to 18k.

I'm making a video vlog of the whole experience and I'll try to release it later today. :cheers:

^^I paid $13 for a chicken sandwich on Fillmore St.—nowhere near any sports franchise—on Friday.

Chase Center Video
 

Hey guys! I made a video of my experience at Chase Center. Hopefully you guys enjoy! :cheers::cheers:

• Video Link

Great video, gillynova

1) how was the access to the arena? Did you take light rail?
2) did you get a chance to see the practice facility?
3) locker rooms?
4) the cluster of buildings at the corner at South & Terry Francois?

My friend and I were trying to find street parking but it was reserved for construction workers.

No, I didn't get a chance to see the practice facility or locker rooms. My time was limited there from only 1pm-4pm and I seriously needed more. We could have went to the court and shot free throws and would've been able to check out the locker rooms but the line was REALLY long.

South & Terry Francois exit was closed off to the public from the Arena. There was a nice "Bay Area" mural in that section though.

Well done, gillynova!

Thanks for sharing.

And the $3 Popeye’s sandwich probably destroyed it.

Well, yeah, but you don't get to eat with pretentious yuppies at Popeye's. You probably will at Chase Center though, considering the price of a ticket to a game.

@gillynova were the skydecks closed off?

Off-topic and out-of-touch, but thanks for the insightful commentary.

@gillynova I really dig the videos and inside peek! Keep em coming.

No, they were open to the public. I have some footage of it in my video. The area is VERY spacious and has a bar + food available in the very back.

For sure! My next video is about WeWork's backyard project in downtown San Jose. Other than that, I have other videos of just me going around Point Reyes, hanging out with friends and my dog haha. Not sure if those videos would be aimed towards skyscraperpage other than WeWork's project.

@gillynova these guys?

https://i.imgur.com/x8AJUsRh.png

It wasn't finished yet. The whole arena isn't done yet :shhh:

Construction Timelapse: Chase Center
 

I really dig the view at 2:22

I am not a fan of the exterior cladding of this building now that it's finished. Reminds me of a 1970s era computer punchcard. Some of you may not remember those.

Even with the LED lights at night?

Agree!

I remember when the Bank of America and TransAmerica building would dominate the skyline.

The best thing about this arena is no public money was used to finance it. Sports franchises all across the country are pick pocketing the taxpayers of those cities. In Sacramento, parking meters were installed all over midtown and increased rates up to 9pm and on Sundays, and parking fines were increased to pay for Golden 1 Center arena. In San Diego, residents' water bills were added huge surcharges to pay for the Petco Park stadium. It's pure corruption.
And those are just the cities that I'm familiar.

Day after the Grand Opening Event:

https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/mus...-grand-opening

Traffic "apocalypse" didn't happen:

https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/...php?psid=lJuff

Photo link:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ED1LQ3JU4AAUU0v.jpg

Led lights = FAIL

https://projects.sfchronicle.com/gui.../architecture/

They should have just reconsidered the whole scheme. I'd rather have seen the thing clad in shiny metal (aluminum or whatever).