Reflections on Atlanta article in Conde Nast I: Is it true that the Olympics 'backfired' on Atlanta? (rent, house)

[atlantaATL]

Originally Posted by jluke65780

This isn't the first final four houston has hosted, we've also hosted the NBA all star games as well. Get with me when you start pulling international events like Houston. Houston made it to the finals for hosting Olympics 2012, but the city was considered unattractive and was disqualified. Also, the fact that ATL hosted it has ruined the chance for other southern cities to host the olympics. Don't try to ignore the whole scandal that went on behind ATL hosting the olympics.

is that the


So Houston and Atlanta Have Hosted Many events But Olympics was The Biggest for Us wiether there was a scandal or not i dont know but ill I know is that the games were here.You keep saying a Bid If your city didnt get picked a bid dont matter so lets end this now please thanks

[atlantaATL]

Originally Posted by south-to-west

Knock it off. For some reason, some Texans have a major bug up their arse about Atlanta getting the Olympics. You can say what you want, but we hosted them, we didn't incur a lot of debt, and they helped with our commerce and image. Anyways Athens really turned out to be a disasterous Olympics.

Atlanta didn't ruin the chance for other Southern cities to get the Olympics. On the contrary, Houston hasn't been able to attract them because they don't have the infrastructure in place--namely rapid transit (yes, I know you're expanding your light rail lines). When it's all said and done, the Atlanta Games won't be remembered as being one of the best, but they will also won't be seen as one of the worst. Simply put, we got the job done.

As far as hosting other events, Atlanta has hosted a number of Super Bowls, Final Fours, major conventions, etc because our civic leaders have made huge investments in our infrastructure to attract major events. Not to mention, because of the Olympics, we have the largest fiberoptic network in the country (at least we did at the time of the Games).

Houston has hosted their fair share of large events--unsurprisingly since it's slightly bigger than Atlanta (5.7 million vs 5.2 million). Stop using so much of your energy to hate and instead promote the better aspects of your own city without trying to bring others down.

Not to mentions Our city is 5th in the country for being the most visited citys due too large conventions. Now im waiting to here about Texas Medical center NASA Oil more Diverse people etc

[laser99]

Couldn't have said it better myself. Finally leaving from this hell hole and love every second of it. My ex-wife is Canadian and i'm moving to Toronto which is a real world class city. I remember when I lived in Toronto for a few years then came back to Atlanta not by choice, I tried to do and have the exact same outlook on things, but to no avail. I tried to keep that comospolitian feel and that everyday is an adventure type of attitude, but it was shot down very quickly by the conservative boring vibe and atmosphere.

I have hated on Atlanta in a lot of my threads, but it's ok for other people that like it. Just not for me, I like a more funky open minded place with young people that are carefree but cultured at the same time. Not youngsters being idiots like this is panama city, ugghhh...... And i'm still young and didn't want to waste the rest of my young years in Atlanta frustrated.

I hope that the people that go there do enjoy it though, just not for me.

Originally Posted by luckysnap

Atlanta is a Generic city, no real history(except for the Civil War, and that is swept under the rug),No Character, no real reason to visit, too much traffic, too much polution, too much pollen, too many racial issues, too much crime and too much sprawl.

[mmenomen]

I didn't read this older thread before (started in Jan 2009) so thanks for bumping it up. I have also wondered often about the affects the Summer Olympics has had on Atlanta. It is hard to say how much more international Atlanta would have become in demographics without the Games, but I am sure it brought lots of attention this city. Being a transportation hub certainly has helped, too.

I wish the Games had been hosted better, but despite all, I think the events went OK as Greg mentioned earlier. I did attend a few myself by volunteering and yes, the humidity was just awful to deal with. I used to follow the Olympics more often when I was younger and while I have lost interest, I do think it was definitely a large milestone in Atlanta's history to host the Olympics. Pointing out other large US cities which have not yet hosted the games yet, is very interesting, too.

I have been to Vancouver a few times in recent years and they are all very excited about hosting the Winter games in 2010, I hope Vancouver can pull it off well. Vancouver is a very beautiful and expensive large city, and so different from Atlanta in many ways. I know a lot of people there, so I want them to do well with the Winter Games in February 2010.

[DeaconJ]

Originally Posted by laser99

Couldn't have said it better myself. Finally leaving from this hell hole and love every second of it. My ex-wife is Canadian and i'm moving to Toronto which is a real world class city. I remember when I lived in Toronto for a few years then came back to Atlanta not by choice, I tried to do and have the exact same outlook on things, but to no avail. I tried to keep that comospolitian feel and that everyday is an adventure type of attitude, but it was shot down very quickly by the conservative boring vibe and atmosphere.

I have hated on Atlanta in a lot of my threads, but it's ok for other people that like it. Just not for me, I like a more funky open minded place with young people that are carefree but cultured at the same time. Not youngsters being idiots like this is panama city, ugghhh...... And i'm still young and didn't want to waste the rest of my young years in Atlanta frustrated.

I hope that the people that go there do enjoy it though, just not for me.

Awwwwww...we'll miss you and your sunny disposition. I'm sure you'll carry that same frustration with you to whatever hell hole you end up gracing with your presence.

[msb0810]

Atlanta just didn't measure up!

[RandyWatson13]

It never truly felt like the Olympics were here. It reminds me of why Atlanta is voted so low for being a sports team. I attended and it was nice but never wowed me.

What wowed me was getting a call that some friends visiting here hit by shrapnel from the damn bomb in the park.

I love Atlanta but lets be honest, when people think of cities to visit in America it is hardly mentioned.

[Somoso]

I knew we were going to have problems when , with a mere 4 months to go before the start of the Olympics, I would routinely see ACOG staffers tossing back beers over at Manuel's Tavern at 5 o'clock on Friday afternoon. They were hard to miss as they were quite animated and always made sure to wear their badges so everyone could see them. What were they doing when there was so much work to do ? If you recall they hired bus drivers who did not even know how to find the destinations of the competition venues. The scoring system didn't even work for the first 2 days. I'm betting that at least some of this was due to the 8-to-5 mentality of ACOG staff.

Moreover I spoke to some of them and learned that many members were not even familiar with Atlanta or its history yet there they were mapping things out. No - one did not need be a native Atlantan to accomplish good work but it would have been nice if ACOG workers had been selected on their competencies and knowledge of the local infrastructure and how best to organize and optimize the flow - as opposed to getting the job via family or political connections. Not all ACOG workers were like this - I met a few who did burn the midnight oil , had great ideas, but you could see the look of concern grow on their faces as the opening approached.

Shortly after the Olympics some ACOG staffers would talk up their role as if they were some type of super-duper project manager though there was usually considerable negative feedback - enough that most ACOGers started keeping it to themselves to avoid criticism.

[arjay57]

The Olympics did a number of good things for Atlanta -- Centennial Olympic Park, clearing up Techwood Homes, Turner Field, the shooting range, etc. However, it did seem like sort of a non-event. Maybe it was just that the pre-Games hype was so overdone. I remember friends who were talking about moving out of the city for a month and renting their houses to the Japanese and things like that.

[GrowOldGetWise]

The Olympics was pretty exciting. The mountain biking was very cool, they even opened the track up to the public. We had a bomber on the loose, that was exciting. Looking back, we had a real country/hood Oylmpics when it came to town. It was like the circus. But after the circus left, they had cleared whole entire blocks with new concrete scenery, which looks better then whatever was there before.