SoBo

So occasionally you hear an idea that just drops neatly into place and you say "Dayem! That makes sense!" And in this case the idea involves the ongoing huggamugga about the Seattle Sonics basketball team.

Now, I'm not a big Sonics fan, but I have friends here who are, and I'm good with the idea of keeping the Sonics in town. But the big problem is that I'm NOT a fan of looting the public funds to do so, and the various concepts that have been pitched have been along the lines of "This is the most expensive stadium in history AND if you don't pony up, we're moving to Oklahoma City". Its extortion that would ruffle the feathers even if the Sonics even if they, say, made it playoffs with any regularity.

But a lesser prob is that the locations that have been suggested have been ... suboptimal. You can revise Key Arena as much as you like, but it still involves getting off the Mercer Exit and shlepping overland through the new construction in South Union to get there. And the backup plan, down near the new mall in Renton, adds traffic load to an already stressed chunk of 405.

And then this idea balloon floats up. and I blink, and say "Dayem! etc....". It all makes a modicum of sense. If there is a more accessible location than the south end of Boeing Field, I'm not sure of it. The new Light Rail is coming through it. Major highway nearby - more importantly, major highway that isn't ALREADY a parking lot. Land that is undergoing a development change. It sounds like a plan. We have SoDo (South of Downtown). Now we can get SoBo (South of Boeing Field)

And if you can do it without cracking open the piggy bank, I say we go for it.

More later,