Oh the whole sports stadium scam is a personal annoyance of mine. Like the Olympics, their construction is sold to the city as a big money-making venture, so there is a referendum and the public is convinced to vote for it. I was going to link to all the recent articles about the lack of value these new uber-stadiums actually bring to cities, but a simple Google search of "stadium fiasco" brings up tens of thousands of results. Heck, I remember the Kingdome getting paid off 15 years after the building was demolished and replaced by a new stadium. That's funny, actually. All those tech companies came from somewhere else about 10 years ago. I grew up here in the 1970's when most Americans couldn't find Seattle on a map, and when our industry was logging and being a shipping port. The day Boeing passed Weyerhauser in employees, revenues, etc, was a big shift. 1st Ave through the center of town was known as the most perverted place in the USA, with more strip clubs and XXX rated movie theaters than most states. Shit. I used to ride dirtbikes in the forest where Microsoft was eventually built. Those millenials you talk about? The ones that moved here from somewhere else to work for Silicon Valley companies like Google, Adobe, Expedia, and the others? Ten years ago they were wearing diapers. Yeah, there are a lot of hipster Amazon programmers wandering around like they own the place, but their entire life takes place within a 5 mile diameter circle. Step outside of downtown Seattle, and they simply do not exist. Same as Minneapolis. Or Austin. In actual fact, yes. You're from Seattle, right? A stereotypical liberal haven full of rich millenials and the tech elite?
Did a bunch of conservative business cronies sneak on to the city board overnight and vote for policies to create and support these teams?