Bait and Switch

It was once very fashionable to sell publicly-funded stadiums as vehicles for urban development. That’s what the White Sox and their pals in the Illinois General Assembly did back in the 1980s. More than thirty years after the ball-mall opened, the surrounding area is still needs developing, assuming the powers that be were talking about something other than paved parking lots. Now, I see the Orioles and the Camden Yards stadium authority are doing some kind of dance over a new lease agreement. If I’ve read the news reports correctly, Camden Yards and environs are in line for something like $600 million in updates. Nice money, if you can get it. Public officials are hoping the infusion of cash will facilitate, you guessed it, development around the stadium. And here I thought the very presence of Camden Yards back in 1991 was going to spur that very same development. What do I know? About as much as the people who put these deals together.