Is Comic-Con such a great deal for San Diego? Apparently not.

A key (and quite correct) court ruling now blocks the expansion of the San Diego Convention Center.  This deal involved a hotel tax that — contrary to the requirements of the state constitution — was imposed without a vote of the electorate.

Now the “gadflies” who filed the lawsuit will be blamed for standing in the way of progress (been there, done that).  But whose fault is it really?

It’s the fault of politicians who, over and over, try to bypass the  voter approval of such deals — approval that IS required by the California constitution and our city charter.  Such a deal should have been brought to the voters three years ago.  It was not, and it wasn’t “the naysayers” who chose to violate the constitution.

The driving force behind expanding (again) the convention center was the colorful “Comic-Con” convention.  Theoretically it may have to move to a larger venue to accommodate the crushing, costumed crowd (or raise prices — gee, I wonder if anyone has thought of that?).

But while the NUMBER of attendees is huge, the economic benefit to the city is unimpressive relative to the cost of the convention center expansion. These young folks are largely “day trippers” from all over southern California. They eat at Subway and often don’t rent expensive hotel rooms.

Fortunately the NEW YORK TIMES just did a story on Comic-Con, comparing its local economic impact vs. other San Diego conventions.  Local commenter Chris Brewster best summarized the article:

The underlying question, in my view, is whether expanding the convention center is of value to the community in the first place, which has been a mantra of the hospitality community. I think we’ve been sold a bill of goods on that question. Comic Con and the potential exit thereof is constantly trumpeted as a huge reason to expand, but the New York Times recently reported that Comic Con attendees “spend little” and that this convention of cheapos far outstrips the COMBINED TOTAL of its next four largest conventions hosted at the convention center. Sure, if you’re a hotel owner, any new potential guest base attracted by an edifice paid for by someone else is a good thing, but from a community perspective, the cost/benefit does not seem to be there . . .

Comic-Con is a unique happening. To pull it off, it must be within commuting range of a huge populace.  Currently it draws mostly young “locals” from the 25 million people that live in Southern California. There are not too many places that could provide that populous a base combined with a huge convention center. Maybe Los Angeles.

But the main competitor would be Las Vegas, where the combined convention capacity is unsurpassed.  Unfortunately for Comic-Con, Las Vegas has less than 2 million people within commuting distance — compared to 25 million in Southern California. The convention would lose many of their current decked out attendees.

Besides who would want to wear such elaborate costumes in summer’s 100+ degree heat of Las Vegas?  San Diego’s mild coastal summer weather is an advantage that Comic-Con should carefully consider before moving elsewhere.