No I wasn't trying to be sarcastic, I really think its a good idea. San Francisco is not like any other typical American city, any big singer/artist on tour will come to San Francisco and this will be the only big event arena in the City. Owners are expecting 200 events/year.. That's a lot days when the streets of mission bay will be filled with 20k people.
I lived by a stadium (where the Sonics used to play), and let me tell you, it sucked. Either the neighborhood was dead or it was crammed with cars and people just passing through. It was never fun.
To echo your thoughts, I lived in Cow Hollow and on the days of big events (blue angels, union street festival) I stayed inside. I don't mind tourists, and I love busy streets, but I'll pass on the traffic and asshats, that generally don't care about the neighborhood, that large events like these invite.
+1. Someone mentioned the Los Angeles Staples Center elsewhere in this thread as a positive example. I live in South Park (the neighborhood that Staples Center is part of) and it is either empty or gridlocked. Same thing with the Coliseum, Forum, and Dodger Stadium.
I used to live at 3rd & Mariposa, right at the edge of the Dog Patch and Mission Bay and ball game days were awful. My commute would be awful especially on public transit; going out would be impossible.
