Let The ‘Games’ Begin
Parmy Olson, 02.11.09, 01:50 PM EST
Forbes, NY
As the economy slides, how much do Chicago, Tokyo and others still want to host the 2016 Olympics? A lot.
Ah, the Olympics — a chance for some of the world’s greatest cities to showcase modern-looking stadiums, warmly welcome a wave of hopeful international athletes and, of course, rack up hefty costs and abandoned buildings. Thursday marks the deadline for a clutch of candidate cities to host the 2016 games, but with London’s bill to host the 2012 Olympics growing to eye-watering heights, one wonders if the enthusiasm from Chicago, Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro and Madrid will be tempered by the economic downturn.
Coupled with the IMF’s declaration that Britain is in the worst economic position of any other advanced nation this year, London has seen its costs for hosting the games in 2012 spiral to around 9.3 billion pounds ($13.4 billion) from an initial estimate of 2.4 billion pounds ($3.4 billion).
…Two-thirds of Chicago residents want the Olympics, according to a Chicago Tribune poll, but the city is also seeing opposition from the likes of blog nogameschicago.com, which thinks its Olympic investment would be better spent on improving infrastructure and transport. Incidentally, Chicago ranked at No. 3 on Forbes’ list of America’s Most Miserable Cities, for its lousy weather, long commutes and rising unemployment.
Patrick Sandusky, a spokesman for the Chicago 2016 committee, said the games still had “quite high public support” and that they would, in fact, act as a mini-economic stimulus for job creation. Some 300,000 “job years” over the course of an 11-year period would be created, while the games would have a $22.0 billion positive economic impact on the city and surrounding region, he said. Chicago would work in tandem with the Federal government’s economic stimulus package if it got the games.
Sandusky, who worked on London’s bid for the 2012 Olympics, said the two cities’ bids were different in their scale, since London’s games are aimed at regenerating large swathes of East London, “an area that’s been poor since the times of Dickens,” he said. “Every game has to be right for the city.”
Here is the full article.
Welcome to Chicago Susan! You’ll get used to our weather by Monday 🙂
I’ve been in Chicago for over 10 years and I still hate Chicago Winters.
You should try some of the Chinese restaurants in Chinatown. They’re yummy good!
Chicago was founded by New Yorkers who liked the crime and corruption, but thought the weather was too nice.
“You should try some of the Chinese restaurants in Chinatown. They’re yummy good!”
Yes, the cat is good this time of year!