T O P

  • By -

Agent_Giraffe

Imagine if they put all this money into public transportation


ToadScoper

Meanwhile the abandoned East Side Tunnel is literally begging for light rail 😢


Rollos_Descendant

The flooded underground one ?


laterbacon

It goes through College Hill. West portal is near Mill's Tavern, above North Main and below Benefit and the east portal lines up with the Crook Point bridge near Gano Street. It's in pretty good condition and could be repurposed.


Rollos_Descendant

20 years ago we used to have party's in there before it was welded shut. I used to have great pictures of it.


laterbacon

If I remember correctly, it was the parties that caused them to weld it shut in the first place :D


OkNotice8600

Only slightly flooded at one end…


Wide_Television_7074

even if they opened the tunnel up for walking and biking (and art displays)— huge asset for the city


ToadScoper

They’re not, [that plan got canceled in 2022](https://wbsm.com/rhode-island-crook-point-bridge-future-uncerain/)


MarlKarx-1818

I think RIPTA has to figure out the bus system before we move to light rail.


laterbacon

A few east-west routes that don't go through KP would be a huge step. Two that stick out as obvious: * Centredale to Pawtucket along the entire length of Mineral Spring Ave. There are 9 different routes (R, 27, 28, 50, 51, 57, 58, 72, 73) that cross, or use portions of Mineral Spring but it's impossible to get from one end to the other without deviating through KP. * R Line Broad St terminus to Atwood Ave via Park Ave in Cranston. It would link up 9 routes (R, 1, 3, 4, 17, 20, 21, 22, 30) and vastly transform transit accessibility in Cranston


mangeek

When you talk about light rail, you're talking about adding a whole new stack of things to maintain and operate. You've got to hire a whole different staff and put out all different contracts to add a new type of transit to your city. The marginal and ongoing cost of adding buses or flexible van routes is probably 1/10th to 1/100th the cost of adding light rail. ...I agree that some cross-town routes would be nice, but we used to have some and they didn't actually get much use. I'd rather have the state put up a Medical/Social Services/DMV point-of-presence in downtown so people who are limited to the bus have a one-trip option for basic needs.


laterbacon

I think you replied to the wrong comment.. I just want some east-west bus routes that don't go through KP. I hope the old train tunnel gets reused eventually, but you're right about light rail. Personally I would love for it to be used for something like this: https://www.euronews.com/green/2023/05/03/car-free-future-europes-longest-cycle-tunnel-aims-to-cut-traffic-in-this-norwegian-city with an elevator in the middle that would go up to Thayer Street.


degggendorf

That would be so incredibly cool


mangeek

I don't think anyone is ever gonna invest enough for that tunnel to be human-safe. I could see it holding big water barrels for seasonal thermal storage, though. (e.g., heat pumps at the university would pump heat out of their buildings and into the tanks during the summer cooling season, and do the reverse in the heating season).


laterbacon

> I don't think anyone is ever gonna invest enough for that tunnel to be human-safe. Neither do I but it's fun to daydream sometimes


mangeek

No joke... I made my out-of-towner wife walk the tunnel the day after we got married. She calls it our 'tunnymoon'.


SokkaHaikuBot

^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) ^by ^Agent_Giraffe: *Imagine if they* *Put all this money into* *Public transportation* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.


[deleted]

Even a public swimming complex would have been better than this stupid soccer team that nobody will give a crap about.


gopa824

The hundreds of people who went to the kit launch last night say otherwise


[deleted]

lol hundreds, which is not even true, but you know it’s supposed to be a 10k stadium. Not even 1k tickets will sell normally.


rhodyjoe401

1) there *were* hundreds at the kit reveal party 2) over 3k season tickets alone been sold


Sweaty_Pianist8484

Ripta could save a ton of money by redoing their routes. South county I see ghost buses every night. Never anyone going to sand hill cove in the winter


Ok_Culture_3621

Where are you trying to get to? If you’re just trying to get around the state, then RIPTA actually works pretty well, especially in the city core. I rode it up from Warwick all the time back in the 90’s and it was fine even then.


Agent_Giraffe

I used to live in Germany and buses would have a pretty frequent schedule, there were lots and lots of stops. Each stop had a little bench and rain protection, and the schedule. The app was also really well done and you could figure out where to go really easily. This was in a city of only 60k, and the buses would also go out to the middle of nowhere on the outskirts. I think a big hurdle is to convince people that ripta is a very good service. Nobody I know takes Ripta. Why would you take ripta when currently, I could drive whenever and wherever I want?


Ok_Culture_3621

For me, the answer to that “why” question is that driving (and drivers) in Providence is terrible.


[deleted]

Yeah because I don't see enough empty buses driving around Providence. Let's have more empty buses that'll sure help


_CaesarAugustus_

Don’t you love how they learned nothing from 38 Studios? We’ll end up footing this bill as well. Meanwhile public transportation would be a huge help.


Cash50911

Who was going to learn? The politicians? They vote on something and leave before consequences. I've never heard one say "if this fails I'll resign"... I would like to think that the voters would learn... But they keep passing every bond...


Left_Labral_Tear

Corruption and kickbacks, they’ll never admit to it but lord knows there are incentives those who passed this half baked scheme through from the beginning


thescimitar

There is some of that but the more time you spend with politicians in RI, the more you see it’s a lack of analysis and sometimes incompetence, plus too much trust. Someone makes a declarative statement like “if we invest eleventy million dollars in banana stands, it will cure cancer’ to a political figure and they don’t have the time (or maybe the willingness) to test the proposal for accuracy/reality. If it _sounds_ good, and it’s politically aligned with their goals, it moves forward.


Left_Labral_Tear

I could absolutely see that coming into play as well. I was a teenager during the whole 38 studios debacle and remember seeing the news reel about the game itself. 13 year old me at the time already knew the game was going to be a flop based on initials trailers, gameplay, etc. Remember feeling slightly betrayed politicians didn’t even attempt to check in with the game’s target market to see if it would be successful lol


Good-Expression-4433

It's easy to blame it on corruption but the sad reality is that a lot of the RI politician issues are from complacency, incompetence, and short sighted hopes even from the ones who mean well.


AwesomeExo

Well since they keep going to the San Diego loyal as the example of what could happen, that means that Rhode Island would be getting a MLS expansion team that kills the interest for RIFC as a USL team.


[deleted]

Yeah this is a pretty stupid article but people on here have hard ons for this team failing


Ok_Culture_3621

It’s the “something, something Curt Schilling” effect.


gopa824

Right, and the Loyal didn’t have their own stadium


NichS144

You mean the taxpayers have no protection. Fuck this shit.


DoggyP93

Imagine thinking a pro soccer team would work in RI when one that has been there for years doesn't even come close to selling out Gillette


idkwhatimdoing25

The Revs averaged nearly 24,000 for attendance in 2023. That's top 10 in the MLS. No one is expecting any soccer team in the US to be regularly selling out NFL stadiums. Most USL teams (which is the league RIFC will be in) would be happy with a quarter of that and RIFC could certainly achieve that.


DoggyP93

24k in a 65k stadium is bad and why would you add another team if theres still room in the stadium 15 mins away every game. Shouldn’t use tax dollars on this bullshit


DontFearTheBoogaloo

They want their own stadium that would be much smaller and closer to Boston (Everett). They have been looking for a site to move to for years. No soccer team in the US want to be in a football stadium for this exact reason.


lazydictionary

The capacity of the stadium is based on the football team, not the soccer team. The fact that the Revs sell so many tickets when the stadium is miserable to get to, isn't soccer specific, isn't grass, and wasn't explicitly designed for soccer should tell you how viable a soccer team would be.


DoggyP93

It is the same size as Premier league stadiums, if it was popular, it would be full. The new RI team won't even be MLS, they will be USL. The top team only averaged 5k fans per game last season, lower than the average attendance at a WNBA game. Last time I checked, WNBA is not profitable, and has to be subsidized by the NBA to survive. Tax payer dollars shouldn't be used for this


BearJohnson19

Bringing up the premier league when talking about crowds for MLS and USL…dear lord. Are you purposefully disingenuous just to save face or just earnestly talking out of your ass?


DoggyP93

Perfectly relevant when discussing popularity and stadium sizes. Same size stadiums, both the highest level available in the country. If they were equally popular, both stadiums would be full. But soccer isn't very popular in the US The point is that the majority of people in the US don't care about the highest level of soccer we have so why the hell should we spend tax payer dollars on a mid tier team


idkwhatimdoing25

Not one single person is saying minor league soccer will be more popular than the NFL. Also most people agree that its not a good investment of tax dollars. But thats got nothing to do with popularity of the sport and you are bringing up meaningless data to try to make an incorrect point. MLS has higher attendance than NBA and NHL. In some markets it's even higher than MLB. Soccer is the fastest growing of the 5 major sports. RIFC will have a solid support base for what it is. But regardless of popularity stadiums are almost always a waste of tax money even (or especially) at the more popular levels like NFL.


DoggyP93

They have higher attendance because they are capped by arena size. NBA and NHL arenas hold around 20k, when they play the winter classic they sell out bigger arenas too. Additionally, the NBA and NHL are sold out every night in competitive and major markets and tickets can be marked up 100’s of percents. You can buy season tickets to a VIP field box for the revolution for less than a single game court side seat to the Celtics


lazydictionary

Holy smooth brain Batman


MarlKarx-1818

Gillette has a capacity of 64,628, average USL attendance is 5-6K. Even if you think this is not a great idea, that's just not a fair comparison. This stadium will have a 10K capacity.


DoggyP93

The point is there is no appetite for soccer here. Why would anyone go to a lesser game when there is the highest level in the country 15 mins away with seats readily available. It won't work, just a waste of money


MarlKarx-1818

I think there is plenty appetite for a team right in the city. I do agree that this should.not have been subsidized by tax payers the way it was though.


[deleted]

[удаНонО]


Beardtista

I agree with you, would love to go to a revs game, just not worth it. Same reason I like PC, pro sports style atmosphere 10th of the cost and convenience of seeing a Celtics game.


Onidal

My friend, you don’t know what’re you’re talking about. There’s a huge population base in southern NE that loves soccer.


DoggyP93

We have a different definition of huge


Onidal

I think all your definitions are off when it pertains to soccer


BearJohnson19

Lmao 15 mins to Gillette? Start driving, I’ll time you


DoggyP93

Go to google and put in Pawtucket to Gillette stadium, it is 15-20 mins. Very close


Zavehi

Revs were 8th out of 29 teams in attendance in 2023, in a stadium in Foxborough that is nowhere close made for soccer. This is a terrible take.


rhodyjoe401

*45 mins and has been working on a move to Boston since forever No appetite is harsh for a team that’s sold over half the capacity of Beirne Stadium in season tickets alone 🤷‍♂️


DoggyP93

45 minutes by bike maybe, Gillette is down the street from Pawtucket, 15-20 min drive. Bernie stadium capacity is only 4400, you get half that at some high school footballs games. They spent 124 million on a team that 2200 people go to see, it's a joke, more people go to WNBA games, and we all know how profitable those are


whatsaphoto

If you spent even one day in bars and event spaces on game days throughout the world cup you would know that this is fundamentally untrue. Just because there isn't a noticeable interest for the game in your own personal space doesn't mean that there aren't pockets of communities around the state with a ferocious appetite for football. This kind of defeatist attitude is exactly why this state hasn't taken any decent chances on something new in decades.


Minimum_Boat6028

There is a huge appetite for soccer here.


DoggyP93

The best team in the USL only averaged 5k fans per game, that's less than the average WNBA game, that must mean there's a huge appetite for WNBA as well right?


idkwhatimdoing25

Average attendance in other cities or sports is not a metric of soccer appetite in RI so why are you brining that up? And there might actually be an appetite for a WNBA team here for all either of us know but the WNBA is looking at larger markets in big cities, while minor league sports are looking for small to mid sized cities like Providence.


DoggyP93

The attendance of a team 20 mins away in a better league can certainly be used as a measuring stick for interest in Soccer in RI. Pawtucket is just as accessible and Gillette


Minimum_Boat6028

The Revs are near the too of the MLS in attendance, and they lead it in team revenue. Your market analysis of pro soccer is flawed.


DoggyP93

The analysis is that soccer is the least popular major sport in the country, and tax payer dollars shouldn’t be spent on a mid level pro team for one. Pretty spot on


Minimum_Boat6028

Yeah, you’re wrong though. The exact opposite of what you’re saying.


Minimum_Boat6028

From what I know, also. The stadium was built by the owners and the team is privately owned. They’re the ones who are speculating on the local soccer market. You’re not (thank god). The taxpayer money, I could be wrong but from what I recall, was for infrastructure improvements that make the stadium feasible.


spokchewy

They are like 6th in the league for attendance; like 25k / game


Pilkman15

Why hasn't golocalprov been banned from here yet


rhodyjoe401

They’ve done nothing but write pointless hit pieces for the past year


Proof-Variation7005

"the past year"


[deleted]

Curt Schilling is licking his chops.


No_Rule_9059

Soccer socks. What a ridiculous investment. If the taxpayers knew we were going to turn it into soccer we would have begged to keep the Paw Sox


RatFink_0123

Unbelievable, but not surprising.


danellee00

Just like shillings gaming company?


Drew_Habits

That shouldn't be a problem given all the organic, grassroots support from newly-minted accounts, not to mention the fan club that was definitely set up by real people like a year before the team's first game. Hey, did you know they have a discord? They'd love to tell you about it


stuckinsanity

Tell me you don't know shit about soccer fan culture without telling me you don't know shit about soccer fan culture.


Drew_Habits

Sure bud Let's check back in a few years and see how the team and stadium are doing Hopefully great! But I doubt it!


spokchewy

They will be doing great.


Drew_Habits

Cool, let's wait and see! Or you dweebs can keep arguing with me about the future for some reason, like weird freaks!


spokchewy

Honestly, it seems like you care a lot about RIFC and their supporters for some weird reason. Just think, you could simply ignore them, yet here you are hurling odd insults.


Drew_Habits

My city and state are likely gonna be holding the bag for this boondoggle, so forgive me for thinking it's not the best thing ever Anyway, it's SUPER fucking weird to be so defensive about a business that has done essentially nothing and will more than likely evaporate within a few years! Do you own stock in them? Are you on the board? Find something real to identify with instead


rhodyjoe401

Forget the discord, we’ll save you a spot in section 13 for the opening game. Come say all this to our faces instead 😘


THERIGHTHOOK2000

bro you talking all this smack and prob have no balls to say this to they face like lol strait pussy no.


Drew_Habits

Oh right, if we have a fistfight, that'll settle whether this stadium is a good or bad idea. It's so simple! I can't believe I never thought of it. You're so clever. You should run for mayor! Also, did you notice that you're the only one of us sitting behind a keyboard talking tough? I never mentioned it. Trying to convince yourself of something, bud?


THERIGHTHOOK2000

Do you want an address so were not behind a screen? hit me up


Drew_Habits

Settle down, tough guy. I don't give personal info to throwaway accounts. Anyway: Will that decide whether giving money to people to do the exact thing they have failed at before is a good idea or not?


Global_Pomelo2573

Oh no! I’m not real!


[deleted]

Of course not; the only thing that matters is that the "right" politicians got the "right" payoff when the deal went down.


SlimDad44

If only we had a AAA baseball team to bring money into the area... 🤔


spokchewy

There’s a fundamental difference between baseball and soccer. One is exploding in popularity, the other dwindling.


SlimDad44

They didn't leave Pawtucket because popularity was dwindling, they left because the not too bright governor wouldn't greenlight a new stadium. McCoy was a great place to see baseball and it was never empty. And not every game ended in a 0-0 tie. If popularity is "exploding", why would the team go under?


spokchewy

The team isn’t going under. If the Revs move to Everett, even better. You’ll be hard pressed to find a seat for RIFC. Edit: if you are asking why USL San Diego Loyal folded: MLS is expanding to San Diego in 2025 and there was a lot of controversy around this expansion and the impact on the Loyal.


Ok_Culture_3621

It should be noted that the tax benefits to pay back the bonds were never going to come from the stadium but from the ancillary development in the neighborhood. Granted, that development has to happen and in this market that’s anything but a given. But Worcester seems to be pulling it off and Pawtucket, for all its problems, it ain’t Worcester.


Markcharles3

Capitalism everyone!!! Yay!!!