Lately, it has become popular, in Chicago at least, to oppose the Chicago bid. It is mostly opposition to the amount of money we would have to spend. Yes, the taxpayers would most likely have to contribute a bit. But it is easy to forget about all of the positive aspects of getting the games. Jobs. Lots of jobs, actually...seven years worth of hundreds of construction jobs to start. Improved housing market. Improvements to the public transportation system. A sharp increase in business for local hotels, restaurants, catering businesses, and taxis. Revitalization of South Side neighborhoods that badly need it. A chance to show that we're cooler than New York and Los Angeles. Maybe they finally complete the Chicago Spire. Increased tourism for years to come. Plus, you get to tell your kids and grandkids about it.
As far as the negatives of hosting the Olympics is concerned, it is no secret that hosting the Olympics costs a lot of money. China has to spend $9,000,000 per year to maintain the famous Beijing National Stadium (the 'birds nest') it built (for $423 million) for the 2008 Summer Olympics, and it only held one event there this year. However, Chicago had nothing nearly as extravagant planned, and many considered the plan's biggest strength to be the fact that so many of the structures needed to host the games already exist. They needed to build a large stadium for the opening ceremonies and a variety of events, but it was going to be a temporary structure needing no ongoing funds to maintain.
Something else to consider is how many of the funds needed to host the Olympics are private funds, and how much of those funds are spent locally. I've had several friends cringe at the $60 million spent on the Chicago bid, but every dollar of that was private donations. A bunch of rich Chicagoans lost a lot of money, but none of that was going to be spent on public projects anyways. Another consideration to make is that a lot of that money was spent on local services anyways. VSA Partners, a local mammoth graphic design firm, was hired to make the logo. Ogilvy Chicago was hired to create the Chicago bid web campaign. I'm sure lots of the money spent to make the numerous banners and bus ads that covered the city were designed and printed locally. Point being: it isn't like we sent $60 million to Copenhagen, never to be seen again.
It is easy to talk about how much Daley sucks, and how much money the taxpayers would end up having to pay, and how all of the mobsters would corrupt the whole thing, and how annoying all of the construction would be. But the fact of the matter is, we just lost the chance to host a once-in-a-lifetime event that would instigate some major improvements to the city and pump a lot of money into the local economy. And that sucks.
It is easy to talk about how much Daley sucks, and how much money the taxpayers would end up having to pay, and how all of the mobsters would corrupt the whole thing, and how annoying all of the construction would be. But the fact of the matter is, we just lost the chance to host a once-in-a-lifetime event that would instigate some major improvements to the city and pump a lot of money into the local economy. And that sucks.
2 comments:
At least this way, if something goes wrong at the games, our country wouldn't get blamed for it.
The boost to the economy would've been nice, if that notion were true. I do wonder because that is generally a myth as far as building stadiums for pro sports teams are concerned. The taxpayers would be far better off if the team owners built their own stadims with their investors. But who knows if the Olympics would've done any better....
I've added to my original post a little bit. It is a bad habit I have....thinking of things I want to add later, but I can never help going back and editing old posts.
Yes, there are a lot of risks in hosting the games, but there are also a lot of potential rewards. I'm happy for Rio, but I really felt Chicago was ready. The bid was smart, and there is enough private money in Chicago that I don't think there would have been a problem with funding.
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