49ers to leave SF? Good riddance!

Imagine all this pavement and concrete transformed into housing, offices, stores, parkland, schools, habitat... That was the theme of this letter to the San Francisco Chronicle. Let the 49ers leave, good riddance:

November 12, 2006

Letters to the Editor
San Francisco Chronicle
901 Mission Street
San Francisco CA 94103

RE: 49ers Move to Santa Clara

Editor:

The 49ers' departure provides a great opportunity to renew the Bayview and Hunter's Point neighborhoods. ("Lure of Burbs: Like families, franchises can't resist spreading out, starting over," San Francisco Chronicle, 11.12.06)

Instead of a football stadium offering a few weeks of low-paid seasonal employment and abundant beer-swilling motorists jamming neighborhood streets--with ugly expanses of empty parking lots for the rest of the year--we can create a vibrant community with much-needed residential, retail, and office space where Monster Park now resides.

In addition, we can extend the Bay Trail and expand and enhance Candlestick Point State Recreation Area into a "Crissy Field South," which will attract wildlife, bird-watchers, and tourist dollars to southeast San Francisco. Improved natural and urban areas will both provide permanent employment and economic opportunities for neighborhood residents and businesses.

San Franciscans shouldn't mourn the departure of a greedy NFL franchise, which seeks only to maximize its profits. The 49ers have manipulated and exploited the Bayview and Hunter's Point communities for decades. Let those few San Franciscans who actually attend 49ers games--a small minority of city residents--make the trip to Santa Clara.

It's time to recognize the great possibilities for a city without the blight of a football stadium.

Sincerely,

Paul Dorn
San Francisco

See: "San Francisco Gains From 49ers Move to Santa Clara", BeyondChron.org, 11.14.06
Image: Telstar Logistics