The substation is part of a 13-acre lot along Montgomery Street from San Fernando Street to Park Avenue that the city is eyeing. The city paid PG&E $25,000 to conduct a study to determine how much it would cost to relocate the utility station located south of the Diridon Caltrain station.

"We're willing to provide the information that they have requested," Jeff Smith, PG&E spokesman, said.

There are nine parcels on the 13-acre lot being considered for the stadium site and the city has already begun negotiations to purchase several of the properties. The city approved Nov. 8 purchasing a one-acre lot that is home to the former Stephen's Meat Products.

Despite the city inching forward, District 6 Councilman Ken Yeager said that the city has not hit a home run just yet. Plans for a stadium are nowhere near finalized and, if a ballpark doesn't work, the city could use the property it has acquired for high-density housing.

"We're just trying to keep our options open," he said.

Before the city decides to move forward with a stadium and spend money on the facility, it will need to voter approval, he added.

Yeager said a stadium would bring economic benefits, similar to the way hockey has boosted the city.

"It brings more people downtown, more businesses, more activities," he said. "We've invested so much in the area anyway."

But some residents already oppose any talk of a stadium in the proposed location. Yolanda Reynolds, a member of the Ballpark Tax Watchdogs group, is worried about traffic, noise, and unwanted crowds in her Shasta/Hanchett Park neighborhood that a stadium may bring. She said she is also concerned that taxpayer money is already going to acquiring property that could go to a ballpark.

"I have been very concerned over any attempt to build a ball park or sports facility without first a vote of the people and a full understanding of its cost, which includes every aspect of its construction," she said.

San Jose resident Kathryn Mathewson doesn't think a stadium would bring economic vitality. Instead, she said, a stadium would do the opposite and suppress the liveliness of the Rose Garden neighborhood.

"I'm not opposed to a ballpark," she said. "I'm opposed to the location. The stadium is active, then it's dead. It is not a lively space, except when something is going on. It creates dead space."

Mathewson, a garden designer, said that her business in the South of Market neighborhood suffered when SBC Park opened. Baseball fans were not the type of people who would go into her garden store, located blocks from the stadium, and after 20 years in San Francisco, she said she had to move her business. While SBC Park is close to a train station, she said traffic was still a problem.

"Being close to the train station sounds good from a planning perspective, but the traffic was still incredible," she said.

She said she fears the same traffic impacts and loss of community would happen if San Jose puts a stadium near the Diridon train station. She suggests the area near the Santa Clara County fairgrounds as a more appropriate site for athletic grounds.