Atlanta Braves stadium moves to more white, affluent neighborhood
In an effort to be closer to the team’s fan base, the Atlanta Braves is moving its stadium. The stadium will be in the midst of more developing restaurants and other amenities, but the move leaves the predominantly black neighborhood that the stadium has called home in bad economic shape.
[The] decision also highlights long-standing disparities over wealth, where people live and transportation — all facets of life connected to race and social class in Atlanta. The Braves will be moving from an area that’s predominantly black and relatively poor compared to whiter Cobb County — where the team says more ticket-buyers live. Although it is long past segregation, the hometown of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. is far from integrated, and the city’s politics, business and even sports teams reflect that gap.
According to team officials, a series of factors came into play when making the decision to leave downtown Atlanta. When the city did not negotiate terms acceptable to the Braves, the team found a suburban government that did. One of the terms was for the local government to pay a nice chunk of the proposed stadium’s cost. The Braves will also own property around the stadium, making it possible for restaurants and other amenities to be built.
How can we attract and keep thriving businesses in predominantly African American neighborhoods?
Should the team just have stayed and invested in the neighborhood where they currently reside?
Sound off below!