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Renaming the 49ers the Earthquakes might be just a bit confusing, considering the MLS (soccer) team from San Jose is already the Earthquakes...

I think the editor is proposing a soccer-only stadium to bring the Earthquakes up the peninsula.

Excellent idea. Not sure how well 'luxury' housing will go here. Nothing is close.

What we really need at Candlestick is a vast government housing project. This would help perpetuate an underclass - children raised in government housing learn helplessness: that their families can only survive on the generosity of the state - and it provides cheap labor.

Please don't misunderstand - I'm not all about money. A permanent underclass makes me feel superior. I can't be upper class without an underclass.

I don't understand how city planners think that they can influence a particular type of industry simply by designating an area as a "greentech industry hub". Industry and commerce develop organically and sure, government can nudge it a little here and there but cannot really control the final outcome. This "greentech industry hub" smacks of marketing hogwash.

How about all of those live-work lofts that were built in the 90s ? Has the city measured the amount of owner-proprietor revenue streaming in from that experiment yet ?

I agree with in-law - where will the slums of tomorrow be if we don't build them today?

'Soccer' (or real football!) in SF?
Yes, yes and yes.
Where do I sign?

"where will the slums of tomorrow be if we don't build them today?"

Right on OneEyedMan, best SS quote of the month.

Dear planners, please remember that Justin Herman didn't set out to build slums either.

>where will the slums of tomorrow be if we don't build them today?

Cubix?

Gov housing project sounds nice. Takes more than some new buildings to attract businesses into that part of town.

"luxurious housing"...in Hunters Point ? This cracks me up.

I guess the definition of "luxurious housing" has changed to include neighborhoods and communities infested with drug dealers, tricks and gang bangers

is it possible to fill a stadium with soccer fans ?

Sure, use tax money to build a stadium for all 9 soccer fans in the city. Nice. Way to think things through.

OneEyedMan wrote:

> where will the slums of tomorrow be if we don't build them today?

Is there even one person out there who thinks that putting a couple hundred poor people without jobs in to one complex is a good idea that will result in a nice clean crime free community?

Below is what San Francisco gets for the ~$250 Million a year that the SFHA spends to “maintain” the slums of today.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/02/03/MNB4RN991.DTL#

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/08/30/BAQ9RRNDA.DTL

reg. number of soccer fans:

I have recently been at a friendly Inter Milan-Club America game at Stanford stadium, and there has been 37,000 fans according to the announcer.
I think if you have decent teams playing fans will come. Decent teams of course want decent stadiums.

Anyhow I am all for a decent soccer stadium in the area. I think 45-50k seating will be a nice balance.

All the ones I have seen were either oddly shaped(Candlestick), smaller then standard pitch(Spartans) or had seating going all the way to the field blocking the view(Stanford).

[Editor's Note: We'd actually shoot for a soccer-specific stadium with a capacity of around 25,000.]

Any business proprieter would have to be out of their mind to set up shop in Hunter's point when it would be so much cheaper (San Francisco taxes, health care, etc.), and also safer, to open shop a few miles away in South SF.

Sounds good to me. I would actually go to games if they moved up the penninsula. San Jose is just too far.

Why can't SF be more like Atlanta and phase out our housing projects?

http://www.sacbee.com/827/story/2060015.html

@Atlanta who asks "Why can't SF be more like Atlanta and phase out our housing projects?"

Well, for starters, we have lovely supervisors like Chris Daly who make sure that does not happen, while buying properties cash down in their baby mama's home town...

the 1,400 homes mentioned above are all housing projects? if so, that's a few thousand more people living off the government?

Has anyone heard if Chris Daly is going to set the poor family he evicted from one of his recent home purchases in free SF housing?

s there even one person out there who thinks that putting a couple hundred poor people without jobs in to one complex is a good idea that will result in a nice clean crime free community?

It can if you achieve critical mass, particularly in a harsh environment, which is why I will continue to advocate for my Montana Nature Preserve Solution.

REpornaddict: I was going to tell you that there IS already real football in SF, but I see that the SF Seals have gone dormant again...

I'm skeptical about whether the 49ers will really move to Santa Clara. I read the Mercury News from time to time (work is down there) and there's a lot of skepticism down there about how much return can be expected from the public investment. Frankly, the whole idea strikes me as a scam - why are public funds being spent to support what is fundamentally a private entertainment business?

When on vacation in Australia and the UK I've made a point of asking people about their local football stadiums and whether there were government subsidies for their construction. They just look at me like I've lost my mind... and point out that they are owned and operated by private businesses.

Saw a good take on soccer in the US a couple days ago:

http://timcrockett.net/2009/07/30/why-i-love-soccer/

:)