School = 100% tax dollar ran. More schools = Higher taxes, with salaries paid by taxes.
Stadium = Partially tax dollar ran, with private investors. Salaries paid by the private investor.

Your school problems are HOW the money is being used. Adding more tax dollars to situation is basically adding more fuel to the fire.

see my point?

If its BmoreEducaded as in “be more educated”, I guess you need a basic economics class.
If it’s BmoreEducaded as in “baltimore educated”, I guess they really do need to fix the schools.

DelMarVA United? It just gets worse and worse.

I lived in No. VA for about 14 years, including the life span of the NASL Diplomats. Marylanders in general — save some who live within the 495 Beltway — do not hold DC in high regard. A team playing in Baltimore with a DC moniker will not be appreciated.

Baltimore sports fans tend to be very passionate like Philadelphia fans, just with less vitriol. Except for DC United fans and Redskins fans (although that’s changing due to the Redskins awful ownership but that’s a whole other topic), Washington fans tend to be incredibly fair weather. Kind of like New York fans. It would be a great place for an MLS team. Hopefully not United. They deserve their own.

Charles, it’s not that we don’t like RFK. Actually, we love it. It’s got a great location and decent sightlines. The problem is that since United doesn’t and won’t ever control the stadium, they will never collect revenue from concessions and parking. The parking isn’t as big of a deal since half of the fanbase takes the Metro anyway. The concessions is huge. We buy a lot of beer . Consequently, is not possible for them to ever break even there.

On top of that, the stadium was opened in 1960. Stadiums, especially the modernist concrete kind like RFK have a 50 year life span. At that point, they either need to be torn down or renovated. The stadium is literally starting to crumble. RFK stadium was built by the federal government before the District of Columbia had home rule. In the late 1950’s when RFK construction funding was being passed through Congress, the District had no self-governance whatsoever. It was literally a fiefdom of Congress. After the District was granted home rule, Congress agreed to let the city manage the stadium. The stadium and all land underneath the stadium and its related facilities are still owned by the federal government under the National Park Service. Part of the agreement to let the District manage RFK is that once the stadium is either vacant or condemned, whichever comes first, all land reverts back to the National Park Service and Congress. It would require a subsequent Act of Congress to do anything else on that land. Consequently, the District of Columbia has absolutely zero incentive to put any money into renovations since they will never own it. That is why RFK has always been a temporary home.

While I wish it was as simple as trading geographic places with the Redskins, reality isn’t so clean. The stadium situation is a quagmire and looks to stay that way for the foreseeable future, for reasons I briefly alluded to in my earlier comment. If Mr. Chang and the league decide to bite on moving to Baltimore, I get it. I wouldn’t even be upset with them for it. I would get it. I’d be sad but I’d get it. I’d still go to weekend games. It wouldn’t be the same and it would never feel like my team anymore but I’d still go and cheer because it would still be an excellent value for my entertainment and soccer dollar.

Charles, it has most certainly worked in DC, except for the stadium. Years before there was an MLS Seattle Sounders, there was the great fans for DC United. There still are. Your organization would not be so successful without the DC Uniteds and Columbus Crews and Chicago Fires etc. that laid the foundation and provided a canvas for you guys to make your own mark on. An attendance in the 15-20k range is plenty to be profitable if you control your own revenue streams. Just ask RSL, FC Dallas, the LA Galaxy, and the other teams with SSS’s. I ask that you don’t act like you’re the sh*t just because you are a model expansion team.

I’ve really learned that it’s pretty much impossible to explain all the twists and turns of the DCU stadium saga to people who aren’t from the east coast. The politics are a completely different animal. Just ask NYRB fans about all the red tape and nonsense they had to go through to get ground broken on Red Bull Arena. Add on to that a region that is politically unique with three unique jurisdictions plus the federal government thrown in and you get this quagmire. I dunno. I guess we’re just frustrated enough about it that we really don’t want to hear johnny-come-lately Sounders fans telling us that our team “just isn’t working.” All MLS fans are ecstatic about your success out there. However, the only thing worse than a sore loser is a sore winner.

United needs to remain in DC, whatever it takes. I have a solution: do a trade with Daniel Synder. I heard he wants to build a uber-dome of some sort for the ‘Skins at the RFK site, so maybe he can give DC United FedEx Field. Knock the upper deck off and bam, instant(more or less) SSS. As someone who has lost an MLS team, I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. I feel bad for SuperSonics fans in Seattle the way they got robbed. Keep DCU in DC!

TG, I have to ask, “being for both moves “, although you don’t really seem that way…..you still a Colts fan?

Maybe it doesn’t work in DC, they have had the same attendance for many years now and no one likes their stadium,

BUT, that would be a shame, IMHO.

But MD has been looking into weekend MARC lines for years. The problem is Amtrak and CSX own the lines and don’t want the state cutting in on their profits. Maryland should really do what Massachusetts recently did and just purchase the rail lines.

And although I am glad that you would trek to Baltimore, I really worry many won’t. Lets face it — the clientele in DC is night and day from Baltimore. And many of my friends and friends’ friends who live in DC rarely come to Charm City because of the (bogus) stigma about the city’s violence.

On another topic, with regards to the team name and history, it would make the most sense to keep the “United” name, just change it to “Baltimore United.” Keep the history intact.

I highly doubt that DC would get an expansion team any time soon if they lose United so there won’t be any confusion. The stadium situation would salt the earth for any new MLS team for decades. What new owner-investor would want to try to wade the murky political waters in the region after seeing how United was treated? Virginia is a total no-go for anything other than McMansions and strip malls because they have no state level stadium authority like Maryland to consolidate and manage regulations and bonding. Their rules are also very NIMBY-friendly. The second anyone complains about “traffic,” the local elected officials back down, regardless of what the economic study says. We already know about the double-crossing cheap political grandstanding in the District and Prince George’s. That leaves Montgomery, which while feasible, could take years.

As far as fanbase, United would be successful in Baltimore. They’d lose most of their Virginia fans and a few District fans. Most Maryland-based fans would still show up since while Baltimore is another region, it’s not far and we don’t equate it with being on the opposite end of the universe like the exurban Virginians. Those lost fans would be more than made up for by new Baltimore fans. Baltimore is a major city with a very long history and vibrant soccer community. They can support their own sports teams no problem.

The whole thing is sad. While I live in Maryland, I’m a Washingtonian. I live in Silver Spring. Where I live, we regard Baltimore as our neighbor, not as our home. I’ll still go to United games but it won’t be the same. Not necessarily worse, just not the same.

However, everyone must be aware that if DC United move here, it’ll effectively be the end of what we know of DC United.

A HUGE point that most people are missing is there is no MARC Commuter Train travel on the weekends from DC to Baltimore, so the DC crowds will not use Amtrak (which is often twice the price) and thus not be traveling up to Bmore.