Enduring and Emergent Public Opinion in Relation to a Suburban Stadium District: The Case of Truist Park–Battery Atlanta

Abstract

Stadium districts are almost always located in central cities. One exception, and the focus of this study, is Truist Park–Battery Atlanta, a $1.3-billion baseball stadium development that opened in a suburb outside Atlanta, Georgia, in 2017. Empirical material collected from 134 active voters was used to analyze the perceived impact of the stadium development on the region and consider whether public opinion in this case contrasted with questions traditionally raised in cities affected by urban stadium projects. Nineteen preliminary codes and six categories emerged from a combined approach to qualitative analysis. The primary themes were established a priori based on the goal of identifying both universal and regional attributes. The results provide evidence that public interest in stadium projects may transcend proximity to the urban core, thereby suggesting many—although not all—concerns are universal.