Threads where someone mentioned Phillips as unsafe?

[HawkItus]

I admit myself and others have said in various threads over the years that the area around the arena is not safe because, well, it simply is not. I have driven family and friends to games there and going through some of the downtown to get there is in fact driving through bad neighborhoods. There's simply no other way to put it.

The area immediately around the arena is relatively safe but getting TO the arena? Hell no it is not safe. I mean what major city's downtown area is going to be safe as, what, the suburbs? Is that we are comparing it to?

Oh so much safer than suburban malls or movie theaters, or hell even buckhead a few years back.  Have you ever been the victim of a crime down there?  Ever?  Or is just how people look.  Because you seem to imply that a lot.  Sorry if everyone doesn't look like Andy Griffith.  And if you drive through and under privileged neighborhood its not going to look like country club of the south.  Sorry.

[macdaddy]

Oh so much safer than suburban malls or movie theaters, or hell even buckhead a few years back.  Have you ever been the victim of a crime down there?  Ever?  Or is just how people look.  Because you seem to imply that a lot.  Sorry if everyone doesn't look like Andy Griffith.  And if you drive through and under privileged neighborhood its not going to look like country club of the south.  Sorry.

 

I've been a victim of a crime down there.   I've paid full price for a ticket.

[HawkItus]

I've been a victim of a crime down there.   I've paid full price for a ticket.

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[Sothron]

Oh so much safer than suburban malls or movie theaters, or hell even buckhead a few years back.  Have you ever been the victim of a crime down there?  Ever?  Or is just how people look.  Because you seem to imply that a lot.  Sorry if everyone doesn't look like Andy Griffith.  And if you drive through and under privileged neighborhood its not going to look like country club of the south.  Sorry.

If you are trying to tell me driving through areas of Atlanta where you can see drug deals on the corners and homeless people trying to get you to pay them to wash your window at a red light is a good part of town then you have a funny definition of the term.

I didn't imply anything other than the some of the areas getting TO the arena are in fact bad parts of town. That is just the truth.

[HawkItus]

If you are trying to tell me driving through areas of Atlanta where you can see drug deals on the corners and homeless people trying to get you to pay them to wash your window at a red light is a good part of town then you have a funny definition of the term.

I didn't imply anything other than the some of the areas getting TO the arena are in fact bad parts of town. That is just the truth.

I'm calling bullshit on drug deals unless you are taking some pretty off track routes.  And even so, I stay in unincorporated Fulton, many of my community members have chickens and cows, and others have 700-800 thousand dollar houses.  I've seen drug deals at the local gas station.  Ish happens, but that doesn't make it unsafe.  The local stoner get a little weed from his guy is not killing anybody.  

[mrhonline]

This thread reminds me of a funny moment when I was on a tour bus in the middle of a summer day in San Francisco...The tour guide was adamant that it was safe in what was clearly a rough area. He claimed you would only have a problem at night. As he was making his plea, we were stopped at a red light, so I looked away at the surroundings. Within five seconds, I saw a homeless man being kicked repeatedly and a not-so-subtle drug transaction (at least turn away from the road, right?) taking place. Not exactly helping the guide's argument...

 

Regardless, the point Levenson made is that the *perception* is that the arena is in a rough part of town, at least according to the kind of suburban, upper-middle, white fans NBA teams like to have attending games. Those kinds of fans are likely casual NBA fans, yet enthusiastic sports fans, meaning they aren't going to go out of their way to attend Hawks' games if they're not comfortable. It doesn't really matter if it really is too "black" in and around Philips; if that's the perception, it is going to hurt attendance with a certain demographic.

 

Levenson doesn't need or even deserve defenders, but it has to be frustrating trying to market the NBA in Atlanta. If it's not the racial "perceptions," it's the traffic jungle, the transplants who refuse to support an Atlanta team, or the fair-weather fans. Other NBA cities have similar problems, but many somehow manage to sell out games, so I imagine it's the combination of factors that's making attendance and fan support such issues in Atlanta.

[DJlaysitup]

I'm calling bullshit on drug deals unless you are taking some pretty off track routes....

 

Drug stuff is B.S.  Last time I tried to buy some weed in that area the fella had to have the money first - promised primo stuff - then never came back.

[Sothron]

I'm calling bullshit on drug deals unless you are taking some pretty off track routes.  And even so, I stay in unincorporated Fulton, many of my community members have chickens and cows, and others have 700-800 thousand dollar houses.  I've seen drug deals at the local gas station.  Ish happens, but that doesn't make it unsafe.  The local stoner get a little weed from his guy is not killing anybody.

You can call it whatever you want. I was there. I had to deal with my Methodist mother going completely insane with freaking out over having to drive through that part of town where we could see drug deals and homeless people coming up to cars at red lights. That was the last time I ever brought my mom to a Hawks game because she flat out refuses to ever go unless they get a new arena out of the downtown area.

[CODHAWKSFAN]

Sorry but this has been discussed many times before 2012, I remember seeing this topic several times and there were people saying that it is unsafe. I find that funny because the Braves stadium is in the center of the Atlanta ghetto, and no one has a problem going there, and you also don't hear these silly excuses like traffic, danger etc.... during falcons games, big concerts, when LeBron or any other celebrity is in town. These are ALL LAME excuses.

[DJlaysitup]

You can call it whatever you want. I was there. I had to deal with my Methodist mother going completely insane with freaking out over having to drive through that part of town where we could see drug deals and homeless people coming up to cars at red lights. That was the last time I ever brought my mom to a Hawks game because she flat out refuses to ever go unless they get a new arena out of the downtown area.

 

Braves didn't go to Cobb County because they have better ice cream and pretzels up there.

 

(this is evil but you know the Cobb County Execs said this behind closed doors  "we got no MARTA up here and we got a river in-between...and you know them "reverends" ain't very good swimmers")

[Sothron]

Braves didn't go to Cobb County because they have better ice cream and pretzels up there.

 

(this is evil but you know the Cobb County Execs said this behind closed doors  "we got no MARTA up here and we got a river in-between...and you know them "reverends" ain't very good swimmers")

Yep. People can act like the area you have to drive through to get to the arena is fully of rainbows and unicorns but let's at least be honest. The area immediately around the arena is safe but getting TO the arena you have to go through some rough parts. That's just how it is. It is like that in most cities as well.

[CODHAWKSFAN]

Yep. People can act like the area you have to drive through to get to the arena is fully of rainbows and unicorns but let's at least be honest. The area immediately around the arena is safe but getting TO the arena you have to go through some rough parts. That's just how it is. It is like that in most cities as well.

And yet, people still showed up to Braves games for years. There was no excuse of traffic, even though there is more traffic going to a braves game coming from both directions and it being a worse area than Philips Arena.

[Sothron]

And yet, people still showed up to Braves games for years. There was no excuse of traffic, even though there is more traffic going to a braves game coming from both directions and it being a worse area than Philips Arena.

Where did I say it was an excuse for anything? I just said it is like this in most cities. Most cities have their sports arenas in downtown areas that have some rough ie bad parts of town somewhere around it. That is just how it is. I don't understand why this is even up for debate. Atlanta is no different than any other city in the country in this regard.

[CODHAWKSFAN]

Where did I say it was an excuse for anything? I just said it is like this in most cities. Most cities have their sports arenas in downtown areas that have some rough ie bad parts of town somewhere around it. That is just how it is. I don't understand why this is even up for debate. Atlanta is no different than any other city in the country in this regard.

The topic of this thread is talking about Philips (or the area around Philips) being unsafe, which is being used as an excuse, or a reason why people don't want to come to hawks games. You are backing up the claim that it is unsafe by claiming that you see drug deals and people try to wash your windows (which I call bs on). I used to drive downtown EVERYDAY for at least 8 years and I have never seen anything of the sort, however someone will ask if you have some extra change. What I am saying is that excuse has NOTHING to do with it, because people still show up to these same "unsafe" places or areas for Concerts, football/bowlgames, baseball games etc...

[AtLaS]

And yet, people still showed up to Braves games for years. There was no excuse of traffic, even though there is more traffic going to a braves game coming from both directions and it being a worse area than Philips Arena.

 

Not really.  Braves are usually around #20 in attendance, and ~60% capacity.  Hell we had problems selling out playoff games.

[AtLaS]

The main point is F Levenson. He's making a group of people out to be racist based on scant evidence. But more importantly, that prick is trying to pass off his failures as a business owner to his f***ing customers. I hope NO ONE bids on the Hawks and that prick takes a loss.

 

The Hawks have always had attendance problems.  I could only find once in 30 years (87-88) where we were in the top 10 in attendance.  We are typically in the bottom third.

 

I almost think it's the Southeast in general.  We just don't support our teams the way the rest of the country does.  Miami is a very comparable size to Atlanta and they can't put anyone in their seats either except for when the Heat recently loaded up on stars.  But looks at the Marlins, Hurricanes, Dolphins.  I've seen more people at high school games.  Tampa Bay has been dead last every year recently in MLB attendance, they are typically low in the NFL  Carolina is low, Jacksonville (understandably) is low.  But these are their cities ONLY professional teams, but they aren't supported as well.  

 

I also think it has to do with the fact that Atlanta's population has virtually doubled since the Olympics.  A lot of people have flocked here and they still root for their home teams.  As their kids are born and raised in GA we will have a lot more Atlanta fans IMO.  

 

Right now it's something like 60% of Atlanta's population is not from Atlanta.  

[EazyRoc]

Yep. People can act like the area you have to drive through to get to the arena is fully of rainbows and unicorns but let's at least be honest. The area immediately around the arena is safe but getting TO the arena you have to go through some rough parts. That's just how it is. It is like that in most cities as well.

lmao not if you know where youre going.

[Bahamut]

I've been a victim of a crime down there. I've paid full price for a ticket.

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[Bahamut]

A lot of the Phillips area being unsafe narrative came from NASCAR of all places. Back when they were deciding where to put their Hall of Fame, Atlanta and Charlotte were the two finalists. Some old school NASCAR muckity muck said "Would you want to be out down there after dark?" And it took off from there.

Meanwhile, the NASCAR Hall of Fame is struggling with attendance and the Centennial Olympic Park area is more popular than ever. Sweet irony.

[Bahamut]

It's the wrong place because the Hawks fans live in Cobb and Gwinnett.

This stood out to me too. Cocaine is a hell of a drug.