YesGood read. It never ceases to amaze me how much that area has changed just in my lifetime. I used to get up there more often with a couple of sisters living in Green Bay, and it is only a 50 minute drive from Oshkosh...but...everytime I do get up there, something else has changed noticeably .... seeing all of those businesses west of the stadium on Lombardi before Hwy 41, essentially gone was an eye opener.
Is the Red Lobster that Wolf and Holmgren took Reggie White to woo him to Green Bay still there?
South Of Lombardi Ave to the east and west of Lambeau has been commercial "for ever." To the south are the houses that have backyards to the parking lot. These the Packers are slowly purchasing to turn into overflow "yard" parking lots. North of Lombardi Ave has been and still is residential. West of the stadium south of Lombardi is where the Packers are concentrating on commercial developments to replace the ones that were there.I don't begrudge the Packers for trying to remain fiscally relevant. But I will miss the unspoiled identity of the neighboring community that has so wonderfully defined the Lambeau setting. The challenge for the Packers will be to enhance that longstanding identity without losing the traditional charm that came along with it. If they make it too commercial then the charm and appeal that has been drawing people to Lambeau will merely be replaced by attractions that they can readily visit in many other places. Hopefully, they recognize and respect what has made the Lambeau experience so pleasantly unique. Being trendy is not unique.
Agree with you on the parking ramp. What an awful ideaGreat topic. My feelings on this, are mixed. I've been going to Green Bay for games since 1982. The mediocre and then terrible teams were not good times on the field (and off the field for a good few of them). However, I absolutely prefer everything else. The old green facade that shaped the stadium ... I do like what they've done to the place, but I much prefer the old way it all was.
As for the neighborhood, well ... it was a hell of a lot better in the 80's, when you could stay at a hotel for $40 a night, without this two-night minimum stay crap. But, that said - we have no rich owner and to sustain viability on and off the field, the team and the city really had no choice but to make everything profit and revenue-oriented. I have no problem with that. However - someone above mentioned a parking garage near the stadium - they better never do that. That would be a horrible eyesore. As long as Kroll's stays right there, everything will be golden.