Continuing the practice of spreading the civic amenities into the suburbs will only add to traffic congestion and continue the planning practice of the 70’s and 80’s. We need to address the issues of not realizing an environmentally friendly city and I feel this is the first step towards that goal. Natomas does not have a light rail link or an Amtrak station or even a bus stop to the stadium. By moving the entertainment facility into the rail yards we can take the first step towards creating a new dense downtown environment that is successful for the environment and the city.

An ARCO retrofit is the least cost option, at a time when we have far more pressing needs than doling out cash on behalf of overpaid players and ostentatious owners who have no chance of fulfilling their 'commitment' announced in the 'land swap' deal...

As for downtown density, this is an amenity??? The downtown needs housing -- not an arena...

If you build it, they will come.
Keep the new arena in Natomas.

Unfortunately, though many cities have done this, this is why it's actually more expensive:

1) You can't expand to add another level of luxury boxes (all arenas these days have 2 rows of luxury boxes - they bring in the most revenue)

2) The walls of Arco are only so wide. The already slim concourse around the arena can't possibly be expanded without knocking down 2 walls and a roof.

3) The dressing rooms for entertainers (whether they are Britney Spears of the Kings) are already way small.

4) The pipes for icemaking are laid in concrete and need to be ripped up

In essence, you'd have to knock down 2 walls and a roof to do this, and you're basically starting over. The Kings would have to play in Oakland for 3 years or Memorial Auditorium (which seats maybe 3000), which would kill revenue. We don't have the luxury of having old arenas nearby.

I'm not sure where people get this "least cost" option. None of this takes in to consideration that you don't want to pay for it either - you'd rather shoot down a great plan that's paid for.

As for downtown needing housing - it already has housing. Not sure you have been to downtown on a weekend or weekday night lately but it's a ghost town (everyone is in midtown). It needs something to kickstart an entertainment district.

The Railyards is where it needs to be. It's next to the train stations, right off the freeway, and oh yeah... it's paid for.

You have no such accurate remembrance of a country you have driven through,
as you gain by riding a bicycle. --Ernest Hemingway, 'Battle for Paris',
1944

I like the idea of people coming to the stadium by foot,bike and train.