An analysis of Petco Park's impact on downtown San Diego after 10 years was released yesterday by the National University System Institute for Policy Research (NUSIPR). It showed that the number of employees working in the area remained essentially unchanged, but the area was revitalized by new construction and more than 15,000 new residents in the area.
PETCO_Park_10_Year_Analysis.pdf
Employment remains essentially unchanged, with 64,689 workers employed at 92101 businesses in 2004 and 64,718 working in downtown in 2011.
A difference of 29 jobs, but employment for those working in bars, restaurants and hotels did grow.
San Diego Source > Petco Park's first decade marked by flat economic growth ($)
"While there are developments moving forward that offer the chance to add to downtown’s employment base, the region still has been unable to accelerate job growth downtown or to diversify the economy…," said Erik Bruvold, who drafted the report based on data collected from the Census Bureau and other sources. "The ballpark’s promise has yet to be fulfilled."
But the new job growth in hospitality and tourism was balanced by the loss of white collar jobs that left downtown for more suburban areas.
One reason for the flat job growth is that the creation of restaurant and hotel jobs around the stadium has been offset by an exodus of lawyers, accountants, consultants and other professionals for the suburbs, such as University Towne Centre.
The recession too can be blamed for the sluggish economy in the East Village and it could be argued that it'd be worse without the ballpark.
Study: Results Mixed on Petco Park Impact | NBC 7 San Diego
Kris Michell, CEO of the Downtown San Diego Partnership, said that’s not necessarily a bad thing. "We have been through the worst recession since the great depression so the fact that we've stayed even is good," she said.
The study also shows that there was a bump in attendance but it didn't last long.
Study: Petco Park scores big for San Diego’s East Village | FOX5 San Diego
When it comes to the Padres, the study found Petco’s opening did not radically transform San Diego’s relationship to baseball. The Padres inaugural season saw an initial spike of interest with 3 million in attendance for the 2004 season. Since then, there has been a decline in average attendance levels of about 2 million.
*They surely meant a decline of 1 million.
Attendance levels have now returned to post '94 strike levels at Qualcomm Stadium. Here's the attendance data for Petco Park that I calculated from Baseball-Reference over the past 20 years. You already know that the first year of the Padres playing in Petco Park was in 2004.
|
Year
|
Attendance
|
Games
|
Wins
|
Losses
|
Win %
|
|
1994
|
953,886
|
117
|
47
|
70
|
0.402
|
|
1995
|
1,052,995
|
144
|
70
|
74
|
0.486
|
|
1996
|
2,207,918
|
162
|
91
|
71
|
0.562
|
|
1997
|
2,089,333
|
162
|
76
|
86
|
0.469
|
|
1998
|
2,555,964
|
162
|
98
|
64
|
0.605
|
|
1999
|
2,523,538
|
162
|
74
|
88
|
0.457
|
|
2000
|
2,423,142
|
162
|
76
|
86
|
0.469
|
|
2001
|
2,378,148
|
162
|
79
|
83
|
0.488
|
|
2002
|
2,221,230
|
162
|
66
|
96
|
0.407
|
|
2003
|
2,030,084
|
162
|
64
|
98
|
0.395
|
|
2004
|
3,016,752
|
162
|
87
|
75
|
0.537
|
|
2005
|
2,869,787
|
162
|
82
|
80
|
0.506
|
|
2006
|
2,659,732
|
162
|
88
|
74
|
0.543
|
|
2007
|
2,790,074
|
163
|
89
|
74
|
0.546
|
|
2008
|
2,427,535
|
162
|
63
|
99
|
0.389
|
|
2009
|
1,922,603
|
162
|
75
|
87
|
0.463
|
|
2010
|
2,131,774
|
162
|
90
|
72
|
0.556
|
|
2011
|
2,143,018
|
162
|
71
|
91
|
0.438
|
|
2012
|
2,123,721
|
162
|
76
|
86
|
0.469
|
|
2013
|
2,166,691
|
162
|
76
|
86
|
0.469
|
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