Reds add nursery to GABP

[wvu_man]

Reds build infant nursery lounge at Great American Ball Park - CBSSports.com

This is really awesome! I'm a brand new Dad (4 week old) and my wife is breastfeeding our little gal. We wanted to go to some Reds games this summer and this just makes things a LOT easier on parents with infants. It's funny how things change when you become a parent. I used to worry about the price of beer and how much I could drink. Now I'm excited about a nursery haha Kudos to the Reds organization for accommodating every fan!

 

[Redsfan1507]

Enjoy the little one- they grow up way too fast.

I think the Reds have done a good job with creature comforts at GABP, convenient parking on opening day excluded of course.

 

[wvu_man]

Thank you sir. I didn't know that you could love something or someone so much until a month ago. She is the most precious thing ever. I don't want her to grow up! I want her to stay young and innocent forever

 

[Hit-n-Run]

I second 1507 sentiments. Most of the posters on this board are probably into round two with grandchildren.

The old ballparks weren't as family friendly. The modern MLB has recognized that to attract a broader fan base they have to make going to a game a fun experience. Fan zones, light and sounds of the jumbo scoreboards, the wave, and multiple concession options are all a big part of the fan experience today. Give me a bag of Jim Shelton's peanuts and a cold beverage and Crosley would still be OK with me.

For anyone that has never tried to park downtown on OD.....The parking for OD will always be a problem as long as it's a weekday game played downtown. Hamilton County owns GABP and the city or it's outside parking authority control the rest of the parking. Most daytime parking downtown is by permit. Weeknights and weekends those spots are available and no one notices. Baseball is played downtown 81 days a year with OD being the only day parking is a big issue. The opening of the Banks and the "Block Party" have really added to the problem. The city will never build parking that is unused the other 364 days a year.

 

[JohnU]

I don't live there now so I have been asking a friend who lives in Hamilton about public transit options to the stadium, mainly because I like to explore those methods anytime I can. I take the train into Chicago and the CTA rails out to Wrigley, so that's a nice way to go there without parking hassle. If you know Wrigleyville, walking is always better. Public transportation in D.C. and S.F. is a great way to get around.

I am generally told that the city provides very little public transit to the GABP.
Years ago, I recall they used to have shuttle buses you could catch at Northgate or some such place ... evidently not now. It would seem that the OD issue could be resolved quite easily by having people park a couple of miles away, hop on shuttles to the stadium ... and in fact, if successful, used for other venues downtown.
If you aren't from Cincy, it's a real tough town to map. I love the place after I am there.
Last time in, I took US 50 from Lawrenceburg -- not the best idea if you are in something of a rush.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

The City of Hamilton is in Butler County and has a different enity providing it's transit system than Cincinnati in Hamilton County. Neither county funds their respective public transportation systems.

The Butler County Regional Transit Authority is run by the county commisioners, but is mostly payed for by Miami University in Oxford and grants. It originally was the Miami U. bus service running between Oxford, Hamilton, and Middletown and only serviced students of Miami's main campus and two satellite campuses which lack public parking. Now it's a public system that is adding routes as ridership grows. My father-in-law lives in Fairfield, Ohio which is a neighbor of Hamilton and he told me last Christmas that ridership has quadrupled this past year.

In Cincinnati you have the Metro bus system which is operated by the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority. It is funded by the City of Cincinnati and it's primary service routes are concentrated in the city as such. It has routes that run into the outlying County neighborhoods such as Northgate, Tri-County and such. The BCRTA and SORTA have worked together to provide hook-ups for people in Butler County to get into downtown Cincinnati. Tri-County and Westchester are two I know of and there may be more.

The biggest problem in Cincinnati with public transit is the same as it's always been since WWII. Once people were able to afford cars they stopped riding public transportation. The numbers you see for ridership indicate that only 4% of the regions population use the public transportation in Cincinnati

People will say the lack of parking killed Crosley, but that was really the end result caused by vanishing public transportation due to declining ridership. The streetcars were gone by 1951 and Union Terminal followed suit. Individuals would rather complain about the lack of parking than to seek a solution that would include a little planning and relies on a alternative means of transportation. I applaud you John for your use of public transportation.

Most people don't realize it, but Union Terminal still has a couple Amtrak trains that pass through it. I may be wrong, but I think they link to Chicago. The other option for out-of-towers is the Greyhound. Both Union T. and the bus station are roughly 2.5 miles from GABP.

 

[JohnU]

I can drive to the city and don't have a real problem driving to the stadium. What I look for with public transportation is the experience. There's a nice part about getting into a commuter train car with 60 other people who are doing the same thing as I am -- going to the ballpark.

I was on the CTA in Chicago going to see Reds-Cubs and met a family from Winnipeg, Canada. We got to talking about baseball and ended up, they were Goldeyes fans, the team that is in the same indy league with Gary. They were talking about having won the title the year earlier and we laughed about it. I think they were amazed that anybody actually had HEARD of the Goldeyes. Oddly, the chances of meeting anybody who cares about indy baseball is next to zero. I happened to actually meet real Winnipeg fans. Of course, in the 'Peg, that's the only game they have and the people there really get into their minor league team.

Anyway, digressing ... I recall the yarns about how parking at Crosley sucked and experienced it myself. We'd park off the way and some little kid would say '50 cents, I'll watch your car.' Paying the 50 cents was worth it, even if the kid didn't protect anything. It was just worth a half-buck to see that the kid had some moxey! Of course, we were from Brookville and really had only one way to get to the ballpark -- US 52 straight through Cleves.

I will look into some city transit to the game but spending an hour on the bus isn't productive either.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

It's been along time, but I've taken the Greyhound when I was younger. Didn't fall into the enjoyable experience category. The train on the other hand sounds better. I've never taken the train as a mode of travel, but I think I would enjoy it much more.

 

[JohnU]

Not much inter-urban train travel these days. The commuter line from South Bend into Chicago is reasonably dull, quite a lot like a noisier version of air travel. But it stops a zillion places. Years ago, I took Amtrak. Can't recall much about that. When I visited Russia, took the train most places, a couple of overnights. That's an experience.

I haven't even seen a Greyhound bus in more than a year, did see a couple on the Toll Road up by South Bend one day. I made it a point to call somebody and tell that I'd seen them.