"After games" I guess was rather vague and apologies if I did not list every single crowd drawing activity in that general complex. Anywho, there is plenty to do downtown after the games such as the bars along Bay St., Burrito Gallery , the London Bridge, City Hall pub, and The Landing for starters. I have personally flyered several times for a bar during FL/GA and other events.The "murmurings" are not the result of traffic problems but rather, like most things, Money and Politics.
The reason I am against this system is because it creates a "Cattle Chute" to usher people out of downtown as quickly as possible. This in turn makes a choice for people to bypass the food, bars and culture of downtown. Not to mention hindering further development.
I can understand your point, but there are thousands of people who--to a man/woman--couldn't rattle off all those places you cited, with the notable exception of the Landing venues and maybe City Hall Pub.
Still others wouldn't go anywhere you sent them downtown because of their entrenched ngative perception of the core. Bottom line is, the people who don't want to stay downtown aren't going to anyway, regardless of how easy or hard it is to get the hell out of Dodge and back home.
I still stand by the statement that if the downtown venues want to skim some of those eventgoers, they have to be beyond aggressive, moreso because the city won't help you
and you have the added bonus of a perception problem to overcome. Will any of these modifications prevent someone turning off of Bay St? If the answer is no, then perhaps the onus is on the venues to make people
want to turn off of Bay--or better yet, not get in the car to begin with--right??
Otherwise, we can keep griping over spilt milk and cursing those evil suburbanites whose money the business owners ironically covet being spent in their venues.
As for me, it has nothing to do with perception of nothing to do. I'm well aware of what's there. I'm usually sweaty and feel gross after a game, so I'd prefer to go home and shower before going out somewhere, especially to one of the more trendy places, whose regulars may or may not look too favorably on all us "Neanderthal Jag/sports/whatever band you hate that played at the arena fans" ruining the vibe of their hangouts. I'm probably off-base with that, but I tend not to enjoy patronizing a place I don't feel welcome in unless I run home and put on the right clothes or look the right way; and I'm well aware that's likely my own paranoia.
Furthermore, I have a wife and kid at home, which also limits where I can go and what I can do afterward. Were I still single, I'd probably hang out in a couple of the bars downtown.
