It’s too early to tell whether the team was bluffing when it said Arlington Heights has competition and introduced Naperville to the stadium game. Were the Bears angling for an Arlington Heights tax break?
  • 1337@1337lemmy.comMEnglish
    5·
    1 year ago

    Naperville was an obvious bluff. Adam Hoge has been saying that his initial reaction was to think the Bears were being greedy, but after researching he said that Cook County was trying to almost triple the taxes on that property from what the race track paid… so in that sense it does seem like Cook County trying to take advantage of the Bears. This article seems to make it sound even worse than that… $2.8m to $16.2m? The politics and finances are all above my head.

    I personally never minded the long walk from the L to Soldier Field, but at this point I don’t care where they play. I just want the team to be competitive for NFC North title season in and season out. Except for Gary, IN… god no.

    • thirdorbital@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      As a Bears fan that doesn’t live in Chicago, I love Soldier Field being downtown in the loop with all the touristy stuff. It makes flying in to catch a game a ton of fun and definitely something that I will miss. But my opinion is definitely secondary to those that will wind up living with the traffic and tax consequences of the decision every day.

      • jimrob4@midwest.socialEnglish
        2·
        1 year ago

        I googled “Naperville Bears” and it showed some massive lot between an interstate and a four-lane road near Metra tracks. Granted, that’s a generic description. Lol.