Cities Dreaming When It Comes To Sports Arena-Led Development?

Despite an established track record demonstrating little or no profit in building state-of-the-art arenas, cities across the United States continue to build these structures with dreams of urban renewal.

1 minute read

June 23, 2006, 5:00 AM PDT

By Matt Baumann

"Like Des Moines, Iowa, and Little Rock, Ark., Kansas City is among a growing number of U.S. cities taking an 'If you build it, they will come' approach to stadiums, ballparks and particularly arenas. Encouraged by a building boom since the early 1990s in which major cities built new sports facilities for their professional teams, municipalities are raising money by such means as issuing bonds or imposing taxes to finance the building of new arenas in hopes of energizing their economies."

Thanks to Matt Baumann

Read the full story: Arenas of Dreams: But Will Teams Come?

Wednesday, June 21, 2006 in The Wall Street Journal

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