Braves ditching The Ted for suburbs

How long before Tim Lee is working directly for the Braves?

 

I would imagine suburban whatevers have been bitching about that neighborhood just as long ... I haven't been there in awhile but as I recall it's pretty damn sketchy.

 

Might take you longer to get to Lake Tahoe.

 

It is sketchy, though I feel compelled to note that I've been to a couple hundred games at the two stadiums combined and I've never had a problem or felt threatened. It's old and run-down but it's not the worst neighborhood in Atlanta.

An interesting side light to all this is that if Georgia State puts much into revitalizing the area, it might shift from being a Braves/white flight flashpoint to being a case point in the gentrification debate.

 

Yeah, granted I've only been there on game days when there were thousands of people (and lots of cops) around, but I've never felt like I was in a bad situation there. There are hustlers and panhandlers like you'd find in any inner-city neighborhood, but no one too aggressive.

And as novelist notes, the stadium belongs to the city of Atlanta and is in the process of being sold to Georgia State. They will play football there beginning in 2017, and also put classrooms and student apartments on the property.

 

I haven't been to that many games there -- maybe 10 or 15 at the old one, 10 or 15 at the new one -- but you're right, it's not the worst neighborhood in Atlanta. And the last time I was there, maybe three years ago, I noticed there was a lot of transitioning going on.

 

In my visits to the Ted and Fulton County before it, which ended in 2004, I never felt the neighborhood was horrendous, just a little down at the heels. But then, I grew up going to Connie Mack Stadium/Shibe Park, located in a North Philly neighborhood one Phillies manager said "is so tough they raffled off a car last week with the cops still in it."

 

Went to one game at the Ted, not the greatest neighbourhood I have ever attended a game in (I had a bigger beef with the insane traffic and parking hassles) but on the way out on a steamy night an enterprising chap was selling ice cold bottles of water for $1, I bought one for me and one for Huggy Jr, the guy said, "Hey, I got beer for you!!!" So I bought a couple of those to drink while we waited to get out of the lot. Mrs. Huggy was driving, by the by. Don't see that in Toronto.

 

It isn't the worst neighborhood in Atlanta, not even close. But I wouldn't want to be walking around there when there weren't 20,000 people there with me. Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on where you live), there is no reason to go that way if you aren't going to a Braves game.

 

The liquor store on Hank Aaron Drive seems pretty popular ...

 

My car got broken into while I was covering a game at the old stadium. Someone smashed out the driver's side window and ripped up the back seat trying to get into the trunk.

 

More like someone ripped up your back seat getting out of the trunk, then broke your window climbing out of the car, amiright??