Milwaukie Residents Sound Off on Baseball

On October 27, the City of Milwaukie hosted the first of three Listening Lounges to solicit opinions of Milwaukie residents about a possible baseball stadium in their community.  Milwaukie mayor Jeremy Ferguson was there, along with all but one of the Milwaukie city council.  Approximately 40 people attended the event, and everyone was allowed a minute or two to voice their opinions.

It seemed to me before the meeting started that pro-baseball supporters were in the majority, simply by the number of baseball caps and jackets being worn.  But opinions pro and con were voiced.

From those who were for a stadium in Milwaukie:

• Milwaukie's current image sucks.  People think of the Acropolis (a strip joint) when they think of Milwaukie.  A baseball stadium could revive the city's image.
• A stadium and a team could build community pride.
• A stadium would spur other economic growth in the area, along with the new Max line coming in.
• We shouldn't be afraid of progress.
• Noise and light levels will affect only a few people.  The stadium will be good for a greater number.
• (Concerning noise and light issues) "Ghost towns don't have airports and ballparks."
• A stadium offers benefits that can't be measured.
• (From the mayor) The stadium site (currently an ODOT facility) would add land to the tax rolls, and perhaps be incentive for other stores to locate to the area and provide more taxes.

From those who had concerns about building a stadium:

• Studies show that bringing in minor league baseball doesn't aid in the economic growth of the area.
• A stadium would add noise and light pollution to the neighborhood.
• Additional infrastructure would be needed (sewer, water, larger fire trucks, etc.)
• Why spend money for this when streets need fixing, education funding is needed, and children are going hungry.
• How is a stadium that hosts only 40 games a year going to be profitable for the city?

One interesting concern was the orientation of the stadium.  As planned, it faces east, into the community, as opposed to west, toward McGloughlin Blvd.  One person asked why it couldn't be switched so the noise would be toward the highway instead of the community.  I pointed out that the rules of baseball strongly suggest that stadiums be laid out generally to the east, so that batters aren't blinded by late afternoon sun.  But another person also noted that most of the noise of a stadium is caused by PA systems, not by crowd noise.  In the current configuration, crowd noise would be aimed at the community, but the PA system, would be aimed back at the crowd, toward McGloughlin.  Thus the current orientation is actually better for noise control.

All in all, a good meeting, and, in my opinion, positive for baseball.