Is it really that racist? I live here and don't witness much racism.
As a whole it’s not racist. It isn’t.
But there is underlying racism - as in saying offensive things in private that they wouldn’t have the balls to say in public. As in buying into ignorant stereotypes etc. But it’s not a racist city on the whole.
Sorry to that at one point there was a disproportionate amount of racists in this area for a northern city but it has diminished greatly in the last few decades (thankfully)
Why would a large domed stadium complex in south Boston be better than Foxborough or Fenway?
It wouldn’t. At least on the Red Sox side of things.
Fenway has been renovated DRAMATICALLY since the early 00’s. When they were planning a new Fenway in the late 90’s (to be built next door from the current one). There is no doubt that the park will reach a point where it simply has run its course. I’d bet that happens around 2035-2040. But the renovations to it have made the park economically viable and comfortable enough for the fans.
Now the Red Sox are trying to build a major development around the
park which would really spruce up the area (although to be fair the area around the park is 10000x what it was 20 years ago)
As for the Patriots and Foxboro. This is a different story. The new stadium should never have been built in Foxboro. Yes a lot of NFL stadiums are built in the suburbs because they’re only used so many times a year. But a proposal in the late 90’s to build Gillette Stadium right on the Seaport area waterfront would have been (to borrow a baseball reference) a grand slam. That stadium with the atlantic ocean and partial skyline view in the background of the “lighthouse” endzone. With the skyline in the background of the other end zone? The whole built up modern seaport neighborhood developments surrounding the stadium. With direct highway connections to the Massachusetts turnpike (I90) and I93 both a mile away, a 5 minute tunnel drive to the airport. And most critically the mass transit: the areas largest commuter rail hub just a 6 minute walk away and Bostons second busiest subway station just a 4 minute walk away. It really would have been as good as it gets. Almost surely would’ve resulted in Boston landing a Super Bowl once cold weather cities started being considered in light of NY’s host in 2013.
The reason it never got built there? Speaker of the House Thomas Finneran refused to work with Kraft. He was willing to let the team walk to Hartford at first until pressure got to him. But it appeared to everyone he wasn’t getting kick backs enough so he was blocking the move - a terrible display of NIMBYism
And Foxboro? It’s a mess. It feels like it’s in the middle of nowhere. Eastern Massachusetts is extremly dense but they found a location that feels like you’re in the boonies. It’s a full half an hour from Downtown Boston. It sucks and yes the stadium sticks out massively when driving up route 1.
And there is only a few lanes getting out of the area after a Patriots game so after the game you can sit in traffic for almost 2 hours before you can get onto the highway 3 miles down the road. It gets so bad they’ve started paying fans to park in a lot that doesn’t allow cars out until 2.5 hours after the game.
They’ve tried to spruce it up with Patriot Place. Which if done right would be a nice project but essentially it’s just an outdoor strip mall surrounding the stadium. Nothing special at all. It was actually was a FIRST. It was the inspiration for Green Bays Titletown district and for the battery in Atlanta.
They’re just finishing up a $300M renovation of the North Endzone. It enclosed the stadium - tore down the small lighthouse structure. Replaced it with a much taller lighthouse (that will be the tallest in New England), built the largest outdoor video screen in America and built yet another game day club for the elites. Announcing the renovations Robert Krafts son Johnathan said “It’s our goal to never have to build a new stadium” which was not a popular statement - because most fans other than those from Rhode Island and the Cape - hate the location. Hopefully (and likely) that’s just PR shenanigans to justify the raise in prices to fund the renovations.
Although the Krafts have horrendously allowed the value of their MLS team to stay a lot lower than it otherwise would because they haven’t gotten their act together on a new Revolution stadium. Despite there being plenty of locations that would work with mass transit etc and soccer loving communities in the Boston area. So who knows.
