DPatel304 wrote:I don't have an issue with their beliefs or religion at all. I guess I'm just confused why there needs to be more convient parking here. If convenient parking is what the people want, then it would seem a suburban location would be more of a win-win, no? Perhaps I'm missing something about this particular location though.
If people are walking, biking, or taking the DART to this church, then fantastic, I welcome more people like that. If people drive to this church, but then go somewhere Downtown for a meal afterwards, then that's great too. If people are literally just zipping in and out of Downtown as quickly as possible, then wouldn't it make sense for those people to find a more convenient church? I suppose they have their reasons, otherwise they would have done so already, I'm just curious what the logic is behind it. Also, don't mistake this as me saying those people don't belong Downtown, but I'm just curious why they would want to.
This doesn't just apply to this chuch either. I have a lot of friends out in the suburbs who hate coming anywhere near Downtown, and that's fine, so they just frequent restaurants/shops in the suburbs.
Also, sorry if I offended you or anyone else with any of my previous posts. I didn't mean to come off as unwelcoming towards anyone based on their religion or beliefs.
I didn't mean to come off as harsh (not to you, at least
), it's just annoying to see others in this thread talk about revoking a church's tax-exempt status because FBC advocates for things they dislike when those same forum members support all sorts of secular tax-exempt organizations that are just as pushy about how people should go about their lives.
FBC is not a "new" church - the original building dating to the 1800s is still there (albeit dwarfed by new construction all around it), so I'd imagine there's some level of connection to the original location.
As far as the parking question, I think the mental calculus is different for a family going to church vs. parents considering their individual commutes to work. When I worked downtown, I had several coworkers who also attended FBC (they weren't shy about telling you that) and would take DART to work because 1) traffic is worse on weekdays and 2) they only needed to buy 1 fare, and usually it was through the employer pass program and a lot cheaper. When you add a spouse and 2-4 kids on a Sunday morning, it means extra fares for the family, plus traffic isn't that bad, and they may run other errands along the way, so driving (and parking) is a no-brainer for most.
I think muncien is right that FBC has added a lot of activity to downtown in the last decade, and it's pretty clear that FBC isn't crowding out the sort of developments that Matt777 and others would prefer (as evidenced by the numerous other vacant buildings and surface lots that have been that way at least as long as 505 Ervay has been vacant). Downtown just isn't at the point where we can be choosy about who is developing what and throwing up roadblocks to anything that doesn't fit with someone's personal vision.