1 hour ago, Sleepy Harold said:

I told you guys, you don't mess with the unions in Chicago.

1 hour ago, Sleepy Harold said:

Also, Bill Cunningham sits down with SitB to break down the situation, for those that are interested.

This is a really good interview. It's 40 minutes, but it's a great discussion about the Sox stadium situation. Cunningham provides excellent background on the power of railroads, how ISFA operates, location choices of privately-financed stadiums, and why a huge investment in the downtown area is vital to the city. The last 5 minutes or so are about the Bears stadium situation, but it's almost all about Sox new stadium effort.

6 minutes ago, 77 Hitmen said:

This is a really good interview. It's 40 minutes, but it's a great discussion about the Sox stadium situation. Cunningham provides excellent background on the power of railroads, how ISFA operates, location choices of privately-financed stadiums, and why a huge investment in the downtown area is vital to the city. The last 5 minutes or so are about the Bears stadium situation, but it's almost all about Sox new stadium effort.

The City of Chicago would have to be crazy to object to this project. I remember when JR wanted to build a stadium at the 78. Mayor Johnson said "Show me some skin". Ishbia is showing some big time skin in this projject. I saw an interview with Ishbia where he mentioned the 606 trail in Bucktown. He wants a similar walkway from the stadium into Chinatown. The whole project looks wonderful.

47 minutes ago, 77 Hitmen said:

This is a really good interview. It's 40 minutes, but it's a great discussion about the Sox stadium situation. Cunningham provides excellent background on the power of railroads, how ISFA operates, location choices of privately-financed stadiums, and why a huge investment in the downtown area is vital to the city. The last 5 minutes or so are about the Bears stadium situation, but it's almost all about Sox new stadium effort.

A few notes...

#1, they are very clear that the White Sox want to leave Bridgeport to go closer to downtown. They do not really want to stay put. And since Ishbia is will to spend his own money, there isn't really an effective way to stop him. Even if for some reason the Amtrak facility is successfully stopped, the speculation was that Ishbia will find them ANOTHER location, get it done, and still look to move to the current Railyards facility.

#2, the ISFA debt will be paid off by the time the lease is scheduled to expire in 2029. That debt will not exist when the Sox will be looking to move, and will have zero affect on them moving

#3, when I sat here and told everyone that the power of railroads was absolute when it comes to property rights and doing what they want, this is a State Senator saying exactly that. If you didn't believe me, believe him.

3 hours ago, southsider2k5 said:

A few notes...

#1, they are very clear that the White Sox want to leave Bridgeport to go closer to downtown. They do not really want to stay put. And since Ishbia is will to spend his own money, there isn't really an effective way to stop him. Even if for some reason the Amtrak facility is successfully stopped, the speculation was that Ishbia will find them ANOTHER location, get it done, and still look to move to the current Railyards facility.

#2, the ISFA debt will be paid off by the time the lease is scheduled to expire in 2029. That debt will not exist when the Sox will be looking to move, and will have zero affect on them moving

#3, when I sat here and told everyone that the power of railroads was absolute when it comes to property rights and doing what they want, this is a State Senator saying exactly that. If you didn't believe me, believe him.

Plus Sen. Cunningham made clear that BOTH Reinsdorf and Ishbia want to move the team closer to downtown. I know one poster here has spent many months trying to gaslight people into thinking otherwise, but it doesn't change what is reality.

He also gave a very good explanation of why a South Loop stadium could be good for the city on a MACRO economics level. I was impressed with how well he grasped the big picture on all of this.

After listening to this interview, I'm more bullish on the idea that a South Loop Sox stadium is actually going to happen. It's not 100% guaranteed by any means and there are many ways this could fall apart, but when someone proposes to privately finance a stadium and spend billions on a development like this, there's a good chance it'll get done.

Edited 13 hours ago13 hr by 77 Hitmen

9 minutes ago, 77 Hitmen said:

Plus Sen. Cunningham made clear that BOTH Reinsdorf and Ishbia want to move the team closer to downtown. I know one poster here has spent many months trying to gaslight people into thinking otherwise, but it doesn't change what is reality.

He also gave a very good explanation of why a South Loop stadium could be good for the city on a MACRO economics level. I was impressed with how well he grasped the big picture on all of this.

After listening to this interview, I'm more bullish on the idea that a South Loop Sox stadium is actually going to happen. It's not 100% guaranteed by any means and there are many ways this could fall apart, but when someone proposes to privately finance a stadium and spend billions on a development like this, there's a good chance it'll get done.

The guest knew his stuff really, really well, on a very deep level. If one was listening there was a lot to learn about the minutiae of government.

I watched the interview yesterday and found it very interesting. I already knew the power rail roads had but Sen. Cunningham shared his firsthand experiences. He said jokingly, "You can fight city hall, but you can't fight the rail roads." He also made a very interesting point how Covid started the work from home movement and how it has impacted downtown and taxes.

I would recommend watching the video, good stuff.

2 minutes ago, Falstaff said:

I watched the interview yesterday and found it very interesting. I already knew the power rail roads had but Sen. Cunningham shared his firsthand experiences. He said jokingly, "You can fight city hall, but you can't fight the rail roads." He also made a very interesting point how Covid started the work from home movement and how it has impacted downtown and taxes.

I would recommend watching the video, good stuff.

This was really interesting, and being a suburbanite with a newly expanded passenger rail line, something our town is trying really hard to take advantage of. They are marketing the cheap real estate, hour commute to downtown, and 1% property tax max really hard to recruit.

2 minutes ago, Falstaff said:

I watched the interview yesterday and found it very interesting. I already knew the power rail roads had but Sen. Cunningham shared his firsthand experiences. He said jokingly, "You can fight city hall, but you can't fight the rail roads." He also made a very interesting point how Covid started the work from home movement and how it has impacted downtown and taxes.

I would recommend watching the video, good stuff.

Sox in the Basement podcast in general is one of the better White Sox podcasts out there. They have good stuff.

1 hour ago, HoosierSox said:

Sox in the Basement podcast in general is one of the better White Sox podcasts out there. They have good stuff.

I love the host’s story that as a 9 year old in 1988, he went around and collected signatures on a petition to keep the Sox from moving and he presented those signatures to his state rep!