2 hours ago, Mouthsider said:

A BNSF stop would print money. That line’s demographic is supposed to be one of the wealthier groups among Metra lines, if I’m remembering correctly. Also provides the highest ridership.

2 hours ago, ron883 said:

Riverside, LaGrange, Hinsdale, Downers Grove, Western Springs, Naperville, Aurora, Brookfield, Berwyn. Some wealthy and highly populated towns/cities.

Yep, it's Metra's busiest line. The Route 59 and Naperville stops are by far Metra's 2 busiest stops outside of the downtown terminals and I think Lisle and Downers Grove are up there, too. A Metra stop right there would be pretty cool and could service a lot of passengers. Maybe they could especially justify it with a Northwestern Medicine campus there and if the rest of Amtrak/BNSF/78 properties includes residential development.

Of course, I don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves. There's still several significant hoops to go through before a ballpark there could happen. It's far from a done deal, especially if the Amtrak move gets delayed or blocked, and a stadium might be 8-10 years away even if everything ultimately gets approved.

Why would we want to make it more accessible for Naperville

1 hour ago, Green Line said:

Why would we want to make it more accessible for Naperville

Why not?

19 minutes ago, Paulie4Pres said:

Why not?

Because it's 80-85% Cub fans?

9 minutes ago, caulfield12 said:

Because it's 80-85% Cub fans?

Who gives a f***? It still makes it easier for Sox fans to get to the game. Now look at every other city along the BNSF line...

P.S. Naperville is 150k people. Even if we go with the worst case of your estimate, that's 22,000+ potential White Sox fans?

Edited September 5Sep 5 by Paulie4Pres

1 hour ago, caulfield12 said:

Because it's 80-85% Cub fans?

I don’t think this is true. I lived in Downers Grove and Darien and there are a lot more Sox fans in the area than you are proposing with your Cubs fan percentage.

1 hour ago, WhiteSox2023 said:

I don’t think this is true. I lived in Downers Grove and Darien and there are a lot more Sox fans in the area than you are proposing with your Cubs fan percentage.

It doesn’t matter if it’s true, you always want more access to possible fans, not less because of perceived fandom percentage

44 minutes ago, Kyyle23 said:

It doesn’t matter if it’s true, you always want more access to possible fans, not less because of perceived fandom percentage

Right? Lol. Fucking weird ass takes.

2 hours ago, Kyyle23 said:

It doesn’t matter if it’s true, you always want more access to possible fans, not less because of perceived fandom percentage

[Ding]

19 hours ago, Mouthsider said:

Here’s a fresh article by Josh Nelson regarding the recent developments in the process:

Amtrak's planned maintenance facility next to Rate Field...

What seemed like a creative solution that would be promoted as a unique and beneficial public-private partnership between Justin Ishbia and Amtrak is becoming more contentious.

Not much different from the most recent Crain’s article, but still worth a read. The biggest new piece of information in this article seems to be that Amtrak will be releasing final designs soon:

Outside of that, Illinois comptroller and Chicago mayoral candidate Susana Mendoza has chose to ally with the Bridgeporters, although (imo) this is a strategic move to garner support for her campaign. Like southsider2k5 has said, Amtrak can just federally supersede any resistance put up by Chicago anyways, which Mendoza most likely knows.

Good info

https://chicago.suntimes.com/white-sox/2026/09/05/new-sox-park-future-owner-announces-proposal-for-riverside-stadium-at-the-railyards

https://chicago.suntimes.com/white-sox/2026/09/05/new-sox-park-future-owner-announces-proposal-for-riverside-stadium-at-the-railyards

Interesting that they show the ballpark built partially over the tracks, with the Northwestern Medicine buildings connected by pedestrian bridges on the other side. Even combining the BNSF land and the Amtrak land, it's still a tight squeeze.

Edited September 5Sep 5 by kba

Is it going to be called The Railyards??

8 hours ago, Paulie4Pres said:

Who gives a f***? It still makes it easier for Sox fans to get to the game. Now look at every other city along the BNSF line...

P.S. Naperville is 150k people. Even if we go with the worst case of your estimate, that's 22,000+ potential White Sox fans?

6 hours ago, WhiteSox2023 said:

I don’t think this is true. I lived in Downers Grove and Darien and there are a lot more Sox fans in the area than you are proposing with your Cubs fan percentage.

If we ever get to the day that the Sox are such a huge draw that we can be selective about where in Chicagoland we want to draw fans from, I'll consider that an overwhelming success for this franchise.

Just Naperville and Aurora alone have 350k people - that's more than live within the Pittsburgh or Cincinnati city limits. The area is definitely majority Cubs fans, but I don't think it's 80%. After all, this isn't the North or NW Suburbs, so people aren't bound to the Cubs by geography. Heck, Naperville goes as far south as 111th St.

Edited September 5Sep 5 by 77 Hitmen

I hope this is done. The sooner the better as far as I'm concerned. It will be a tremendous addition to the franchise.

7 minutes ago, Kyyle23 said:

I know it is a blue sky rendering, but I love it. They seem to have learned from history

From the Crains piece

Another Ishbia-led entity, City River Holdings, is seeking $1.8 billion in low-interest federal loans through the Railroad Rehabilitation & Improvement Financing, or RRIF, program which offers friendlier lending terms than the private market. The program — which finances rail projects and transit-oriented redevelopments — would likely help fund the transit-oriented district.

Ishbia has told people he would privately finance a new stadium, according to multiple sources familiar with the plan. It’s unclear if the project would call for public financial support for infrastructure, though tentative plans include a new Metra station, according to an Ishbia spokeswoman.

Edited September 5Sep 5 by Sleepy Harold
Added the top paragraph for more context

8 hours ago, caulfield12 said:

Because it's 80-85% Cub fans?

You couldn’t be more wrong.

20 minutes ago, Sleepy Harold said:

From the Crains piece

Yep, figured this was coming.

Here's some more rendering pics for those that aren't Crains subscribers.

18 minutes ago, Sleepy Harold said:

Here's some more rendering pics for those that aren't Crains subscribers.

Those renderings look incredible. As @kba pointed out, it looks like the very western edge of the stadium (plus an access road) would be built over the active train tracks. It looks like short segment of upper deck seating in RF plus a scoreboard in CF. I know seating and scoreboards have to go somewhere, but I hope their architects are making very sure that their design is not blocking the skyline view.

Edited September 5Sep 5 by 77 Hitmen

This looks great! The layout of the development looks pretty realistic, especially with the inclusion of pedestrian bridges. I know it’s early, but the lack of pinwheels does concern me…

Great way to start the weekend.

This one also has the potential layout of the 80+ acre site

9 hours ago, caulfield12 said:

Because it's 80-85% Cub fans?

That didn’t used to be true and could change again.