Since Wednesday, when news of the Dodgers takeover was announced, it's been a media tornado. But even as news stories are whirling out, a more complete picture of the recent Dodgers vis-a-vis Echo Park is starting to coalesce, as seen from Chicken Corner's perch.

A couple of broad strokes:

When the Dodgers raised parking fees and opened the Scott Avenue gates -- AKA the Billy Preston Gate -- to let stadium outbound traffic leave the parking lots more quickly, it seemed like a purely local issue, with the neighborhood around the stadium being forced to pay the price for a concession that benefitted the city. Who cared about the thousands of cars coming through narrow residential streets in the neighborhood? The benefit was baseball. Community members who complained about garbage, partyers, an increased number of people parking on side streets to avoid paying at the lots, and traffic were treated with condescension by Dodgers representatives. The picture then was one of nimby-prudes, whose interests were in opposition to a baseball-loving Los Angeles at large. Now, when Chicken Corner steps back to look beyond the foreground, what I see is a logical outcome -- where an organization that showed disregard for its closest neighbors becomes one that fails the greater city, and their own patrons/fans, as well, through cost-saving measures that have lessened the safety of the stadium and through an anemic commitment to traffic management/transportation issues.