Received: from hplms26.hpl.hp.com by opus.hpl.hp.com with SMTP (1.37.109.8/15.5+ECS 3.3+HPL1.1) id AA20309; Fri, 4 Nov 1994 15:27:29 -0800 Return-Path: <westes@usc.com-DeleteThis> Received: from uucp2-b.netcom.com by hplms26.hpl.hp.com with SMTP (1.36.108.4/15.5+ECS 3.3+HPL1.1S) id AA02915; Fri, 4 Nov 1994 15:28:38 -0800 Received: from localhost by netcomsv.netcom.com with UUCP (8.6.4/SMI-4.1) id PAA07925; Fri, 4 Nov 1994 15:11:34 -0800 Received: by usc.com (NX5.67d/NX3.0M) id AA01555; Fri, 4 Nov 94 14:50:26 -0800 From: Will Estes <westes@usc.com-DeleteThis> Message-Id: <9411042250.AA01555@usc.com-DeleteThis> Subject: Re: Preserve 3rd Ave. To: wind_talk@opus.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis Date: Fri, 4 Nov 1994 14:50:25 -0800 (PST) In-Reply-To: <9411041710401011315@aol.com-DeleteThis> from "LafingGuy@aol.com-DeleteThis" at Nov 4, 94 02:15:54 pm X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4 PL23] Content-Type: text Content-Length: 3248
'LafingGuy@aol.com-DeleteThis says:'
> Thanks to everyone who reminded me that you need a date & place for the
> Foster City Council Meeting.
> Where: Foster City Council Chambers, Between the fire station and the library
> at the corner of Hillsdale & Foster City Blvd. Parking entrance is on the
> Foster City Blvd. side.
> When: Monday, November 7, 1994. This is a little last minute. The meeting
> starts at 7:30PM.
> Topics for discussion:We are in a position of educating the council that our
> sport can benefit the city both financialy (in a small way) and in name
> prestige (which apparently is one of their hot buttons) Specifically:
> 1)The bay area is known for good wind, 3rd ave could become a focal point for
> wind surfing in the bay area.
> 2)This reputation could result in overall positive growth for FC through a
> safe, low cost concession that takes advantage of the popularity of the
> sport. (The city does not want to spend money just so we can have fun, they
> want to invest in a profitable enterprise.)
> 3)The best way to implement all of this is through good communications with
> the windsurfing community. (This is the real focus point, if they don't
> communicate with us, we're going to have a much harder time keeping our
> sailing site.
As Keith from Vela explained it to me, the amounts of money generated from the
Windsurfing concession are fairly minimal compared to the amounts that VB Golf
claims that it can generate (app. $2 MILLION per year).
I think that the much better economic argument would be that by encouraging a
windsurfing concession, Foster City makes this site very attractive for later
development by a major hotel chain. You could argue that having a world-class
sailing facility literally at the doorstep of travelers would make this location
*the* preferred overnight facility for many European and domestic travelers
coming to San Francisco. They could unpack their bags and literally walk right
out the back door to a fully rigged setup on "the beach". I mean, if *you* were
a traveller in Wisconsin coming to do business in San Francisco, and you picked
up the airline brochure and saw a picture of a Holiday Inn hotel with windsurfing
rigs and guaranteed 15-25 knot winds, how many milliseconds would it take you to
decide where you were going to stay? :)
If you can convince the council that windsurfing might be the one thing that
lets them leverage this site into a 10 million investment by a major hotel chain,
*then* you would have some real economic sway with them. It's a somewhat dangerous
argument to make, because it might have a negative effect on VB Golf, whose
incentive is to stall Foster City's further development of the site. But there
are good arguments to make for VB Golf's short-term use as well. If VB Golf
would build the restaurant it had been discussing on the point overlooking the windsurfers,
this would give them a really unique selling point for diners: being able to watch
the windsurfers from up high on their perch. This would clearly give the restaurant
a unique selling proposition against other restaurants in the immediate area.
-- Thanks, Will Estes Internet: westes@usc.com-DeleteThis U.S. Computer Saratoga, CA 95070
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