2024 Olympics plans = Large-scale ethnic cleansing (Boston: rent, condo, universities)

[bohemka]

Walsh and company were trying to put financial safeguards in place to protect public funds from potential financial catastrophe, and the USOC demanded they sign to move forward before those safeguards could be put in place. Terminating the project was the only decision the mayor and the city could make. Anything else would've been horribly irresponsible.

It has nothing to do with cosmopolitan vs. provincial. When you gamble, you have to be willing to accept the loss. Boston would not have been able to handle the potential loss.

[AtkinsonDan]

Originally Posted by bohemka

Walsh and company were trying to put financial safeguards in place to protect public funds from potential financial catastrophe, and the USOC demanded they sign to move forward before those safeguards could be put in place. Terminating the project was the only decision the mayor and the city could make. Anything else would've been horribly irresponsible.

It has nothing to do with cosmopolitan vs. provincial. When you gamble, you have to be willing to accept the loss. Boston would not have been able to handle the potential loss.

The transportation and logistical resources in Massachusetts are severely disjointed. Massachusetts should never be considered a good location for national or global events. I see the suburbs as being the biggest cause of these limitations. The inner suburbs prevent Boston from growing into a normal sized city geographically. Boston is like an eight person family trying to live comfortably in a two bedroom house. The other big factor that harms the region is haphazard zoning. The haphazard zoning wreaks havoc on transportation and logistics right down to daily commuting.

[Mr. Joshua]

Originally Posted by pennyone

Well, I do think Boston's mindset is still very provincial, and it is what it is. Boston will forever be a very cultured, educated and provincially small city, which is charming but it's never going to be world class.

I hear Beijing just got the 2022 Winter Games. The Chinese plan on using their infrastructure buildout from the 2008 games for the 2022 Games and add most of the ski events in Zhangjiakou, which is a bit of a hike away from Beijing itself. Beijing will use many of the 2008 venues for the opening ceremony and the ice events like figure skating, speed skating and hockey etc. Now that's like getting 2 bangs for their buck and it's really smart. It will be the only city that will have hosted both a summer and winter game.

So you think Stockholm is not world class either?

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/stockho...1233--spt.html

Of course then Munich would be out of world class status too huh penny one?

Voters deliver resounding no to Munich 2022 Winter Olympics bid | News | DW.COM | 11.11.2013

[Urban Peasant]

Originally Posted by pennyone

Yes, and it lifted more poor people out of poverty in the three decade than any other country in world history. Say what you will, and I am not saying China is perfect, but to brush its achievements aside with that implied "commies are bad" statement is a bit simplistic.

Regardless, my point is that there are many ways to maximize the utility to the cost of hosting an Olympics. This can be done regardless of the political system. One way is to reuse the venues for another Olympics, Chinese style. It's call thinking outside the box instead of running away. Provincialism vs Cosmopolitanism.

In any case, it's a moot point now.

Los Angeles is also probably thinking about reusing its 1984 Olympics facilities if it does compete for 2024. It's a fortunate thing to have existing resources so that you don't have to build everything from scratch. China probably pitched Beijing for this instead of pitching another Northern city like Shenyang or Harbin, which might have resulted in them losing the vote.

[Mr. Joshua]

Originally Posted by pennyone

Yes, and it lifted more poor people out of poverty in the three decade than any other country in world history. Say what you will, and I am not saying China is perfect, but to brush its achievements aside with that implied "commies are bad" statement is a bit simplistic.

Regardless, my point is that there are many ways to maximize the utility to the cost of hosting an Olympics. This can be done regardless of the political system. One way is to reuse the venues for another Olympics, Chinese style. It's call thinking outside the box instead of running away. Provincialism vs Cosmopolitanism.

In any case, it's a moot point now.

Beijing thinks outside the box but Boston, the world's center for education and medicine along with being one of the world's top 5 cities for technology, is a cultural backwater.

Btw, Beijing went up against Almaty Kazahkstan (the home of Borat) for the bid after yet another of your provincial backwaters, Oslo, voluntarily pulled its bid.

[robr2]

Originally Posted by Urban Peasant

Los Angeles is also probably thinking about reusing its 1984 Olympics facilities if it does compete for 2024. It's a fortunate thing to have existing resources so that you don't have to build everything from scratch. China probably pitched Beijing for this instead of pitching another Northern city like Shenyang or Harbin, which might have resulted in them losing the vote.

Los Angeles in their earlier proposal noted that 80% of the venues they would use did not exist or have been remodeled since the 1984 games.

They propose:

renovating the Coliseum for the opening and closing ceremonies and track and field
Staples Center for basketball and gymnastics
beach volleyball on Santa Monica beach
a new Olympic Park next to USC
Nokia Theatre for martial arts
proposed soccer stadium next to the Coliseum will be temporarily converted to a swimming center
two separate new Olympic villages
expanded convention center for other sports.

There will be plenty of money spent.

As for Beijing, they are one of the few places that can easily guarantee that any cost overruns will be handled without any issues. I believe that by choosing Kazakhstan, the IOC knew that their economy could have been crippled by the financial needs of the game which would have created bad press for the IOC.

Ideas of permanent Olympic sites have been discussed in the past. There would be 3 summer and winter locations around the world that host every 12 years with infrastructure being updated regularly.

[xS☺B☺s]

Originally Posted by bohemka

Walsh and company were trying to put financial safeguards in place to protect public funds from potential financial catastrophe, and the USOC demanded they sign to move forward before those safeguards could be put in place. Terminating the project was the only decision the mayor and the city could make. Anything else would've been horribly irresponsible.

It has nothing to do with cosmopolitan vs. provincial. When you gamble, you have to be willing to accept the loss. Boston would not have been able to handle the potential loss.

Exactly. Go Marty. One thing I like about Boston is they don't fall victim to global predatory real estate scams like so many others do. Medium size cities like Boston really can't afford to throw away millions if not billions of dollars for an event that will last for a month and then be over.

Do you folks know what becomes of olympic sites after the circus moves on? Check it out:

https://www.distractify.com/haunting...197627259.html

The Olympics wouldn't bring any good to Boston. It would just loot the economy and leave ruins. Just like the Democratic National Convention. That should have been really nice, but it was more like the North End was under siege. And like how the Patriots spazzed out that time in the 90's demanding they get space in Southie or they were gonna move to Palookaville? Or how bout when the Sox demanded to build a new stadium with public funding?

Or of course, the biggest fail in Boston History - the "Urban renewal" of the West end? Immediately followed by the Central Expressway.

Before: http://www.bostonredevelopmentauthor..._o_FOR-WEB.JPG

After: http://affordablehousinginstitute.or...ry_traffic.jpg

Really - the Olympics make B a "World Class City"? World class sucker maybe.

[pennyone]

Originally Posted by Mr. Joshua

So you think Stockholm is not world class either?

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/stockho...1233--spt.html

Of course then Munich would be out of world class status too huh penny one?

Voters deliver resounding no to Munich 2022 Winter Olympics bid | News | DW.COM | 11.11.2013

No, actually I don't think of them in the same league as Rome, or Paris, or Beijing. Like I said, it's a moot point now with Boston. Whatever.

[bohemka]

Originally Posted by pennyone

No, actually I don't think of them in the same league as Rome, or Paris, or Beijing. Like I said, it's a moot point now with Boston. Whatever.

I don't either. Stockholm and Munich are run efficiently and prosperously.

[pennyone]

Originally Posted by bohemka

I don't either. Stockholm and Munich are run efficiently and prosperously.

ok....