Quote:
Originally Posted by Redddog
It's a 'by-right" proposal. They were considerate to ask, but they can do whatever the eff they want.
People are crazy.
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Do you really think any proposal that would involve striking a street from the city grid and reconfiguring access to the city's main transportation hub in order to build an 18,000 seat arena is "by-right?"
The sixers will absolutely need numerous approvals and variances to move forward with this project. The idea that they could just decide to build it without any support from the city is absurd.
This is not to say I'm against the arena at all, but let's operate in reality here.
The fight over this arena is a microcosm of a similar sad fight that is playing out across the city. Because city government is unable or unwilling to create meaningful protections for residents who fear being priced out of their homes, these residents are left to just hope that prices don't go up. Which is basically just hoping that nothing improves. It's truly perverse that people see their neighborhoods improve and rather than be able to enjoy it, all they have is impending fear that it will mean their eventual displacement.
If the city had robust rent control, Chinatown would have nothing to worry about. No matter how much a new arena would bring new demand to the area, existing residents would be assured they would not be priced out their homes or businesses. They could celebrate the improvements in the area along with the rest of us.
I wish the activists in Chinatown would use their leverage to push for these types of protections instead of just trying to kill the arena. They may very well be successful in crushing these plans, they're clearly very organized and have succeeded in the past. But defeating the arena only gives them a short reprieve. Eventually another proposal will come down the road for the gallery and it will actually be a "by-right" development and they'll be powerless to stop it.