RealGM

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2013 ... CFRONTPAGE

Mind you that I'm from Europe and have never seen a Pistons game in Detroit ( ) but weren't there a lot of complaints about the Palace being too far from downtown Detroit? How far is it by car? Is it easily accesible through public transportation?

In any case, maybe the Pistons should look into this?

Again, I'm not from Detroit or Michigan, so maybe the locals can fill me in on why or why not

Gores bought the Palace along with the Pistons. He's not going to separate them unfortunately. I think this will hurt his bottom line though as all the midsize concerts will opt for the new Red Wing Arena and location over the Palace.

Palace is still called state of the art, but that is just a marketing slogan - the new Red Wing arena will be state-of-the-art and will be right in the middle of the sporting district.

The Palace was an elite stadium when it was built 25 years ago.

Nowadays its not, but I still don't see them moving out of it anytime soon.

Yeah, the Palace is owned not leased, so the Pistons won't be moving out of it. The Palace is probably about 45 minutes from downtown Detroit and the rest of the sports arenas.

I really feel that it's now or never for the team to move to Detroit. I cannot see the city offering more money for a fourth Stadium. I hope the new Wings arena can be configured for Basketball too like they have in Boston, Chicago.

I'm really hoping the design is cutting edge.

The Palace has little to do around it. This is why I would hope for a move Downtown, so much to do before and after the game, and its easier to commute.

As much as I would love to have the Pistons downtown...It's highly unlikely. There is nothing wrong with the Palace outside of it's location. I agree with everything said about a move downtown though. There is much more stuff to do before and after. It would definitely see a boost in attendance for sure.

No reason for us to move out of the Palace.

As someone who lived North It was huge that the Palace was built where it was. Tiger Stadium and Joe were hours away but the Palace could be reached in just a few mins. I could attend Pistons games regularly but the Tigers or Red Wings were almost a vacation trip.


I do understand that the population change has realy hurt (Palace was built to attract middle/high income burbs but many of them found they had to move out of state the last decade) but for many people outside the 313 the Palace is about as close to Detroit as one wants to be.

Thanks for the insight guys. Bottom line, most of you would welcome the move to the downtown area, but it's not really an option for Gores?

So some of you live downtown Detroit? What's it like? Cause as an outsider you read all these stories and you start to wonder... Is it really that bad a city to live in?
Not trying to derail the thread, just interested how people who live and work there perceive their own city. If the mods allow it of course

I love it out there. I want to go to Lake Orion at one point.

Sheedpocalypse wrote:Thanks for the insight guys. Bottom line, most of you would welcome the move to the downtown area, but it's not really an option for Gores?

So some of you live downtown Detroit? What's it like? Cause as an outsider you read all these stories and you start to wonder... Is it really that bad a city to live in?
Not trying to derail the thread, just interested how people who live and work there perceive their own city. If the mods allow it of course

It's not a wasteland like most people will make it out to be..the area around the stadiums is quite nice to bar hop around and have a good time. I love it down there, but not many people actually live in the city of Detroit myself included. I get that the Palace is convenient for those to the north but for everyone else its not....sooo yea. I've never once been bothered or felt threatened down there and I feel most people don't give it a chance and buy into stereotypes.

Like the OP, I'm not from Detroit either so this is an outsiders view. From what I understand, when Gores bought the Pistons he also bought the 'Palace Sports Group' (or something like that) as well, and has recently renovated parts of the arena. Whilst I don't know if it financially feasible, I think it's always beneficial to have sporting arenas in the city (or downtown to say it like an American).

I've looked at the Palace on Google Maps before and it just looks like it's in a field off a highway way north of downtown. If it were downtown, attendance would increase. For most people except those living near Auburn Hills it would be much more convenient to travel downtown. It would be more attractive to go downtown where there is much more to do before and after a game. And thirdly, you would get a lot more 'walkups' to the game. I don't believe that Detroit is the dustbowl that it's made out to be, so surely there would be some foot traffic downtown, some of these people might think 'I might just go and see a Pistons game tonight', this wouldn't happen at the Palace.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNcj_l_Klfg[/youtube]

To be fair. Detroit is the dustbowl it's made out to be. There's really only ever traffic or significant business downtown during a game.

Gores isn't going to relocate the team after shelling out for the Palace. No, it's no longer cutting edge or state of the art but it's been relatively well maintained and they've invested quite a bit in renovations/additions. The location is not ideal for a lot of people, but that's not enough to justify the move. I'd actually be surprised if the Pistons weren't still playing there in another 10 years, but who knows. A lot can happen in that amount of time.

Scout Taron wrote:To be fair. Detroit is the dustbowl it's made out to be. There's really only ever traffic or significant business downtown during a game.

I dunno about that. The last few years have really been nice to Detroit, and the quality of the city really shows now. In fact, I'm pretty sure Dan Gilbert is actually playing a big part in renovating apartments for his employees to live in, which is making the city really nice. The area around Wayne State is also top notch. It's definetely not the most spectacular city, but it's making its way back, and people are being attracted to it.

Of course I prefer Auburn Hills because I live closer to it, but it's kind of whatever.

there is a lot being done downtown. dan gilbert and the Illitch family are putting in a lot of money down there and in 5 years it'll look ALOT different. it already looks different now, Campus martius, midtown and around wayne state, etc.

there are still alot of problems in residential detroit but the actual downtown area is doing fine and only going to continue to get better

most of the horror stories are from people who were last in detroit circa 1998 or something or people that have no idea whats going on and just make assumptions

edit:

rock digger wrote:

Scout Taron wrote:To be fair. Detroit is the dustbowl it's made out to be. There's really only ever traffic or significant business downtown during a game.

I dunno about that. The last few years have really been nice to Detroit, and the quality of the city really shows now. In fact, I'm pretty sure Dan Gilbert is actually playing a big part in renovating apartments for his employees to live in, which is making the city really nice. The area around Wayne State is also top notch. It's definetely not the most spectacular city, but it's making its way back, and people are being attracted to it.

Of course I prefer Auburn Hills because I live closer to it, but it's kind of whatever.

didnt see your post but yeah , this basically

The Palace is owned by the team. That is a HUGE moneymaker for an NBA franchise. They will never move downtown for that reason alone.

As far as attendance goes, the Palace sells out when the team is good. The team is not good right now but there is a long history with this franchise that when they are good, they have good attendance no matter where they play. This team used to sell out the Silverdome if anyone remembers that. There is no reason to move the team for attendance purposes.

The only way this team ever moves downtown is if they sell it to another owner with downtown ties..... and boatloads of money because they would be throwing away loads of it to move away from the Palace

Not saying Detroit is a horror story. Certain areas are decently nice like Downtown, but it's not attracting people and bustling like any other major city. It's pretty quiet down there for the downtown of a large city.

Detroit is like the current state of the Pistons... maybe they deserve each other

Once I rented a Loft above a store on Michigan avenue and then rented a house on the west side of Detroit. It is not as bad as people say it is. I still visit hole in the wall bars in scruffy areas downtown like Old Miami n such when I am in town. I don't remember if Nancy Whiskeys is still there, but that was a fun hangout.