Here's a quick 10-year summary of Texas Motor Speedway, Ft. Worth/Denton County, TX. The local school district has more than doubled in attendance. New retail and hotel development in proximity. However, much of the retail development is due to Alliance Airport and the Industrial Park development in the area, not the track.
Residential growth is rapid with numerous new subdivisions in the area. Again, it's not because of the track, but rather due to the northwards growth patterns and development around Alliance Airport. No negative impact except for traffic on race weekends. No market resistance, no decline in values as the track is far enough away from the subdivisions that there is no noise from the track. If you're half a mile away, it's no worse during the race than being near an airport flight pattern.
Does it bring growth? TMS brings the equivalent of the Superbowl to the DFW area twice a year. More than twice the number of people that attend the Superbowl (almost 350,000 over the weekend) comes to the track. Then you have the Indy Cars and other events. It's a great boost to the economy with no significant negatives on the local economy. Even the naysayers agree now that it's a great investment in the local economy...especially as there was no govenrment outlay beyond the cost of the land.
The bottom line is that a track in and of itself does not bring retail and residential growth. If you've ever been to Talladgeah, you would see that it is in the middle of nothing. No retail, no growth. However, a major track does generate growth in that it is a large economic engine that brings in major dollars into the overall local economy without the government having to spend a bunch to bring it in. Hotels, restaurants, etc all make money, which works through the economy. However, unlike an airport or other major businesses, a track is a one-three weekend income generator, not a year-round generator that provides income through a major part of the year.
It has taken almost 15 years for the Ballpark in Arlington (home of the Texas Rangers) to begin to bring in businesses into the area, and then only because the Cowboys decided to build their new stadium next to it.
So, the end of this long, rambing story is, stadiums and racetracks in and of themselves do not generate ancilliary development (retail, residential, etc). However, they do generate income which flows through the entire economy. Further, the presence of such facilities do not, in and of themselves, create negatives that adversely affect development.
