When I was a kid, trips to Dodger Stadium were celebrated and memorable events that seemed larger than life. Watching the Dodgers play shaped my perception of what it meant to find community in sports.
In school, I sparked conversations and met some of my best friends through the “LA” logo on a hat or backpack. As those friends and I became teenagers, we made our own trips to Dodger Stadium. We would coordinate schedules, pickup locations, and split parking fees days in advance. And after all of that planning, we would still find ourselves stuck in traffic leaving the stadium. In those moments, I wondered why so much planning was needed to get to Dodger Stadium. Tens of thousands of people gathering anywhere is bound to cause congestion. Was there no better way?
Discovering Oracle Park
That question was answered during my first Giants game in San Francisco. The interior of Oracle Park, then called AT&T Park, was similar to what I was used to with Dodger Stadium. Both ballparks had covered concourses lined with concession stands and designs that highlighted the beauty of the surrounding landscape. The difference was outside the stadium; mixed-use developments and multiple forms of transit were within walking distance. The streets felt lively. People walked past the stadium, maybe unaware of the game until they entered the area. After the last pitch, thousands of fans walked to the adjacent transit options or the dozens of nearby bars and restaurants. I began to wonder how two stadiums centered around the same game could offer such different experiences for baseball fans.
Dodger stadium’s Origin
Dodger Stadium is a monument representing the priorities of mid-20th century America. In 1957, the City of Los Angeles granted 300 acres of land in Chavez Ravine to Dodger President, Walter O’Malley. The future stadium site was close to downtown Los Angeles but isolated from the rest of the city by mountainous terrain. The Dodgers committed to build a privately funded, 56,000-seat stadium using colors and materials that captured Southern California in the ‘50s. When completed in 1962, Dodger Stadium was a state-of-the-art facility designed for the comfort of Angelinos, and their cars. Sixteen thousand parking stalls strewn across 31 lots were included, to accommodate a rising middle class with access to private automobiles. Cars allowed a fast, efficient, and private connection from jobs in traditional urban cores to newly developed suburbs. Compounded with federal funds to match state highway investments, automobiles consumed more physical space and importance in American culture.
Accessibility Redefined at Oracle Park
While Dodger Stadium was under construction in Los Angeles, San Francisco officially welcomed Candlestick Park in 1960. The “Stick” was a publicly financed effort to attract the New York Giants to San Francisco - the bid was successful. While the stadium was under construction, the San Francisco Giants played two seasons at Seals Stadium in the Mission District, where the site proved too small for a major league team. Reflecting the trend of sports stadiums of the time, the Giants sought a site outside the city center. Candlestick Park was eight miles from Downtown with no major transit connections to the rest of the region. Like their rivals in Los Angeles, many Giants fans found the only viable way to Candlestick Park was the automobile. This continued for 39 years, until the Stick’s harsh weather and deferred maintenance caused the Giants to search for a new home.
Oracle Park was the first privately funded Major League Baseball (MLB) ballpark since Dodger Stadium 38 years earlier.
In the late 1990s, the Giants settled on a site in the up-and-coming China Basin neighborhood of San Francisco, much closer to downtown than the far-off Stick. The technology boom in the late ‘90s created a demand for housing, office space, and amenities in the City. The large industrial lots in the China Basin granted stakeholders the flexibility to meet these demands. Pacific Bell Park, since renamed Oracle Park, opened in 2000. It honored China Basin’s industrial roots through its brick facade, clock towers, and steel field lighting structures. Oracle Park was the first privately funded Major League Baseball (MLB) ballpark since Dodger Stadium 38 years earlier. Still, the project’s conditional use permit ensured a design that enhanced the community even when no games were scheduled.
A Hub of Connectivity for Fans and Residents Alike
Oracle Park transformed a port and warehouse district constructed on landfill into a multi-use venue with publicly accessible plazas and promenades. Several bars, restaurants, and shops are within walking distance. Multiple Muni lines stop at Oracle Park, providing access to other neighborhoods of San Francisco. A ferry terminal behind the stadium brings in fans from the North Bay and Oakland. One block away is a Caltrain station that connects the Peninsula, San Jose, and Gilroy to the City.
This level of accessibility is what separates Oracle Park and Dodger Stadium. Though both are designed around baseball, each stadium offers a vastly different experience. Fans leaving Dodger Stadium regularly sit in traffic to leave Chavez Ravine while fans leaving Oracle Park have a number of restaurants, bars, and transit options within walking distance. The success of Oracle Park and China Basin was replicated in the adjacent Mission Bay neighborhood. Numerous offices and mixed-use housing developments have grown where factories and warehouses once were. The neighborhood’s promise spurred a $1.4 billion investment from the Golden State Warriors in the form of the Chase Center. The 18,064-seat venue opened in 2019 with retail and office space on-site to offset the construction cost. The Chase Center capitalizes on the same transit access and walkability Oracle Park enjoys.
Both Dodger Stadium and Oracle Park are relics of the period when each was designed and constructed. In the late 1950s, the automobile was more accessible than ever. Several local, state, and federal policies made the automobile the best transit option for newly suburban homeowners to access the city center. The automobile was a crucial component of Dodger Stadium’s design. But by the 1990s, owners of sports franchises wanted to return to the urban core - and the Giants led the way in the Bay Area. The stadium was designed to blend with the surrounding area rather than isolate itself. Over time, the neighboring parking lots and empty parcels were replaced with mixed-use developments, further adding to the cohesiveness of the China Basin.
A vision for the future
While modern stadiums have the advantage of refined designs and technological advancements, older ballparks have a charm that is hard to replicate. Dodger Stadium is the third oldest ballpark in the MLB. For 62 years, it has successfully united baseball fans nationwide. But that doesn’t mean the Dodgers can’t innovate. Rather than searching for a new stadium to keep guests entertained, the team should consider diversifying the use of its property. If Dodger Stadium is isolated from the rest of the City, the Dodgers should consider bringing the city to the stadium. Excess parking lots can be transformed and redeveloped with commercial and office space that entertains before and after games. The Chase Center could serve as the blueprint. Surface parking lots can be consolidated with garages to make space for uses that attract jobs and tax revenue. The Dodgers continue to make history in a stadium that has seen so much. Dodger Stadium, and other isolated venues, should continue to develop and foster connections with fans. That starts with a stadium designed to be a neighbor rather than a stranger.
By Jelani Mora, Assistant Planner