New NFL stadium complication: Rose Bowl neighbors aren't interested

The downtown facility only works if developer AEG finds an NFL team willing to relocate to Los Angeles. And that only works if the team, along with AEG, finds a place to play for the three or four years it will take to finish the stadium. Coliseum or Rose Bowl, right? Well, there are problems. AEG doesn't want to negotiate directly with the Coliseum Commission, instead preferring to do a deal with the stadium's chief tenant, USC. And now comes word that residents living near the Rose Bowl want no part of an NFL team. From the Star-News:

"If you bring in 10 NFL games, you really put the neighbors in a tough space," said Lee Zanteson, president of the Linda Vista/Annandale Association. "It degrades the quality of life because you live in a commercial area now. Would you buy a house in a neighborhood where the NFL plays?" Too many events, too much traffic and overuse of the Rose Bowl and the Arroyo area where the stadium rests have made the tony section of town less attractive, Zanteson said.

One group of residents won't be enough to kill a deal. But there are other issues:

The Rose Bowl Operating Company's board, the City Council, UCLA and the Tournament of Roses would have to work in concert to allow a professional football team to temporarily call the Rose Bowl home, [Pasadena City Manager Michael] Beck said. And even if all those parties agree in principle, a potential clash between the NFL schedule and the "Granddaddy of Them All," the Rose Bowl, would create a scheduling nightmare, according to Beck. The time to mark the field with the Rose Bowl and rehash the field for the NFL would make it next to impossible to play an NFL game during the run-up to the annual bowl game. The same issue would surface if the professional team held a home playoff game in the same year that Bowl Championship Series National Championship Game comes to Pasadena, Beck added.

Over and over comes the same basic question: Are all these problems worth the time and expense it would take to bring the NFL back to L.A.? Unless you're AEG, the mayor, the City Council, or a few stray sportswriters, the answer continues to be no.