St. Petersburg, as we well know, was once the land of green benches and the butt of “God’s waiting room” jokes. That was then; this is not. Not even close. Today’s St. Pete is increasingly trending hip as a city of the arts with a world-class waterfront and residential real estate buzz.
And yet.
There’s this time warp. A poorly-located, obsolete baseball facility occupying blatantly underutilized real estate and a city council that can’t take one for the team. As in Team Tampa Bay or Team Enlightened Self Interest.
Instead of working with Mayor Rick Kriseman and the Rays on a compromise that would let the Rays also consider Hillsborough County sites for a new stadium location, council members are still holding out for a St. Pete-only solution. They might as well also be holding out for Busch Gardens, the USF main campus, TIA and the return of the Lightning to the Thunder Dome.
This makes no sense. The Rays are last in the league in attendance despite being competitive. There are reasons. Tampa Bay is an asymmetrical market with no mass transit and fewer commuters within a 30-minute drive than any other MLB franchise. St. Petersburg–on the western fringe of the regional market–will continue to not work as the home of the Rays.
The ultimate alternative is across the bay–or outside the Sunshine State. Everybody knows that but the hardcore, tortious interference crowd on St. Pete City Council.