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Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2009

San Gabriel Valley Tribune: Knocking on the door

"If you build it, they will come." That prophetic line in the 1989 Kevin Costner movie "Field of Dreams" led to a baseball stadium miraculously being constructed in the middle of an Iowa corn field.

The building of the 75,000-seat NFL football stadium proposed by Ed Roski Jr., CEO of Majestic Realty Co., in the hills just west of the 57-60 freeway juncture in the city of Industry will not be that simple.

So far as we know, there are no dead sports legends whispering in Roski's ear to take that charge and bring in a team and stadium. In fact, even after Roski got clearance from the governor and the state Legislature to build the stadium last month, he vowed to wait until after he lures a team to play there before a shovel hits the dirt.

That will take at least a year, say sports business experts, if it happens at all. And the team first will play in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena -- certainly our preference -- or the Los Angeles Coliseum for two seasons until the stadium in Industry is ready in 2013.

But the one-step-at- a-time approach has not stopped corporations and potential fans from putting in their bids for season tickets. Majestic says it has received requests for 105,000 season tickets from pro-football hungry fans across the Southland. This is for a 75,000-seat stadium in which only 58,000 seats will be allotted as season seats. John Semcken told our reporter that Majestic has received many more requests than what would be available once there is a stadium and an NFL team playing in it.

This substantial show of interest -- and right now in this preliminary stage it is just that, a show of interest rather than a guarantee of ticket sales -- is testament to the tremendous appeal of a stadium in the east San Gabriel Valley. Of course, the sooner Roski gets a football team, the sooner the 18,000 new jobs can be created to go along with the $800 million stadium complex, which will also include retail and other uses. The sooner as well that the San Gabriel Valley would attract more jobs, more industry and more federal dollars as well. It is estimated that the economic impact of the project will be $760 million every year.

These folks who've reserved their spots on the Majestic Web site for season tickets will have to wait awhile. And they could change their minds before it comes time to put their money down. But it's still a lot of interested fans whispering in the future NFL team owner's ear: "If you build it, we will come."

San Jose Mercury News: Street trees are worth the time and trouble

There are 242,000 street trees in San Jose, according to a recent inventory by the city arborist -- and room for 90,000 more in the public right of way.

What an opportunity.

In this economy, the city has no money to invest in street trees. It's up to residents, who sometimes worry more about sidewalk damage than the need for a better tree canopy.

But trees are an excellent investment. It's no coincidence that homes on tree-lined streets sell for more than comparable homes on a barren block. Besides adding beauty, trees can lower the temperature of a neighborhood by 10 degrees, making life more pleasant and saving energy costs. You know this instinctively. Would you rather walk down a tree lined sidewalk or an unshaded one? It's important to start filling those tree vacancies because the benefits of trees are cumulative. The more complete the canopy, the greater the benefit to the community as trees cool the air, absorb carbon dioxide and give off oxygen.