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Old 03-07-2010, 11:35 PM
GLS
 
1,985 posts, read 5,364,185 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by brikag View Post
GamesBids.com - Preparations Are Underway for a 2022 Olympic Winter Games Bid in Montana, USA

Can this be pulled off? There will be competition from Denver and Reno/Tahoe area.

Denver will never get the Olympics b/c of the past history of 1976. That's a fact!

Reno/Tahoe area (Squaw Valley) may have a chance.

Bozeman?

The pros and cons....Discuss
Although I am a big fan of Olympic competition, I can't believe that any Montanan would seriously consider this proposal. There have been countless threads on this forum, which I have followed for over two years, that detail the insidious degradation of a unique way of life. The raping of land by unscrupulous developers, the focus on material conveniences at the expense of natural beauty, the rudeness of people that are here "just visiting" with no sensitivity to native Montanans, etc, etc.

The Olympics would bring the two poisons that Montanans have been railing against: money without a conscience, and hundreds of thousands of people with little respect, if any, for Montana. If you think you can barely afford the cost of living around Bozeman now, just wait for the speculators and "quick-buck" artists that will invade to capitalize on the Olympics. If there is a fishing hole left near Bozeman now, it will be paved over for an ice skating arena. That little 20 acres you used to hunt on will be developed for a new hotel. And the view from the chair you sit in to watch the sun slowly slip over the mountains at sunset, is going to blocked by the shadow of the ski-lift. Those pesky ranch cattle will need to be relocated to make way for the electric tram to ferry tourists to the corn dog stands.

Putting the Olympics in Bozeman (or anywhere in Montana) makes about as much sense as locating a whorehouse in a church. You may make a lot of money, but I don't think you'll like what it does to your value system.
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Old 03-08-2010, 01:26 AM
 
Location: Brendansport, Sagitta IV
8,083 posts, read 15,082,265 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GLS View Post
The Olympics would bring the two poisons that Montanans have been railing against: money without a conscience, and hundreds of thousands of people with little respect, if any, for Montana. If you think you can barely afford the cost of living around Bozeman now, just wait for the speculators and "quick-buck" artists that will invade to capitalize on the Olympics.
Exactly!! Not to mention that it would leave the state bankrupt, and there is also a serious risk that it would turn MT into a permanent tourist economy... which means MT would be forever at the mercy of other economies, with no way to recover.

Never forget: when you market commodities everyone needs to live (food, energy), you always have something to fall back on; but when you depend on other people having extra money to spend, every time things get a little tight for them, you starve.

Side thought: One wonders if the IOC does a little submarine marketing to convince suckers to host the Olympics -- since historically, there has been only ONE case of a city that didn't lose its shirt. But think of the prestige, the glory, the tourists! No, no, don't think of the billions of dollars of construction now sitting idle, you'll find SOMEONE to rent it to, right?? RIGHT??

As Olympic glow fades, Athens questions $15 billion cost / The Christian Science Monitor - CSMonitor.com and
2004 Summer Olympics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In 2008 it was reported that almost all of the Olympic venues have fallen into varying states of disrepair: according to those reports, 21 of the 22 facilities built for the games have either been left abandoned or are in a state of dereliction, with several squatter camps having sprung up around certain facilities, and a number of venues afflicted by vandalism, graffiti or strewn with rubbish....The annual cost to maintain the sites has been estimated at £500 million, a sum which has been politically controversial in Greece.[24], though it should be noted that many of these facilities are now under the control of domestic sporting clubs and organizations or the private sector.
Is this what you want? I don't:
The Heights - Olympics Drain Canadian Economy (http://www.bcheights.com/marketplace/olympics-drain-canadian-economy-1.1173829 - broken link)
"The total cost is estimated to exceed CAD $6 billion."
How many years of MT's total economy is that?? (that number works out to a cost of over $6000 for every man, woman, and child in MT.) And remember, Vancouver already had a lot of the necessary infrastructure... and by 2020 or so, costs can be expected at 2 to 3 times as high, while revenues are likely to continue to shrink.
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Old 03-08-2010, 01:33 AM
 
Location: Brendansport, Sagitta IV
8,083 posts, read 15,082,265 times
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Article from the Greek Embassy:
Cost of Athens 2004 Olympics
Of that 8.954 billion euro total, an estimated 7.202 billion was footed by the State, with the remaining 1.752 billion euro coming from the Athens 2004 Organizing Committee (ATHOC) and financed by the committee's revenues from ticket sales, television broadcast rights, Olympic-logo product sales, and sponsorships.
In short, Greece had to cough up 7 billion euro (somewhere around $10B U.S.) and one has to wonder to what degree that contributed to their current economic collapse.

Last edited by Reziac; 03-08-2010 at 01:34 AM.. Reason: flunked arithmetic :)
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Old 03-08-2010, 01:44 AM
 
Location: Brendansport, Sagitta IV
8,083 posts, read 15,082,265 times
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Here's a great article on the aftermath of the Olympics, going back over the past 3 decades:

After The Party: What happens when the Olympics leave town - Olympics, Sport - The Independent

Over and over, the theme is: a few distinct benefits (primarily to airports and public transport; only of value if you're already a big-city transportation hub), a huge financial loss (paid for by taxpayers), a spike in property prices (note the Barcelona segment; sound familiar?), and a bunch of lightly-used facilities sitting empty and now either crumbling or being maintained at taxpayer expense.
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Old 03-08-2010, 07:34 AM
GLS
 
1,985 posts, read 5,364,185 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Reziac View Post
Better yet, exile them to wherever the winter Olympics finally wind up. And put them in charge of the economic cleanup.
My suggestion for the 2022 Olympics city is Las Vegas. It can be held indoors in July in 120 degree heat, because by then, all sports will be played only on video games.
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Old 03-08-2010, 11:32 AM
 
475 posts, read 1,492,406 times
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I was in Bozeman in mid January, it is a really nice town. But it definately does not have sufficient hotels, restaurants and transportation to support something like the Olympics. And I would hate to see this wonderful town to be grown into a mega city in order to support a two week event.

And that does not address the cost; or the other issues already mentioned.

There is alot to be said for a wonderful small town where people are friendly. The thought of what could potentially happen to Bozeman under the crush of the media alone - not to mention the specitators.

You know once you let the genie out of the bottle you can't put it back in.
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Old 03-08-2010, 11:59 AM
 
Location: NW Montana
6,259 posts, read 14,621,715 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by reziac View Post
okay, here are some numbers -- it looks like any city hosting the olympics, summer or winter, can expect to be left with massive debts, and only occasionally do they turn a profit... And then only if you spin the numbers just so:

winter olympics profit loss - google search
which olympic host cities have made a profit rather than being left with debts? - yahoo! Answers (http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20091002113643aaxfqpt - broken link)
olympic caveats: Host cities risk debt, scandal : Npr
mediapost publications nbc scores olympic profit 01/26/2009 (http://www.mediapost.com/publications/index.cfm?fa=articles.showarticle&art_aid=99008 - broken link)
re: Caught under a mountain of olympic debt - armed volunteers patrol mexican border - aol message boards
the quoted article also points out that it costs hundreds of millions of dollars in upkeep every year thereafter, for facilities which post-olympics lie almost unused.

Can't see the link now but somewhere i found figures that beijing is spending $23 billion, and projects revenues of only about $120 million. So... A few bucks lost for every buck that comes in. This seems to be the norm, after all the paper shuffling is extracted. Appears that the only way to turn a profit is if all the needful facilities already exist, as was the case with los angeles.

I'd guess the only way bozeman could pay for this is to sell gallatin county to california.

:d:dlol!
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Old 03-08-2010, 12:17 PM
 
Location: Brendansport, Sagitta IV
8,083 posts, read 15,082,265 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GLS View Post
My suggestion for the 2022 Olympics city is Las Vegas. It can be held indoors in July in 120 degree heat, because by then, all sports will be played only on video games.
You're a bit late to that suggestion
Home of the Video Game Olympics!
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Old 03-08-2010, 12:28 PM
 
Location: Illinois
8,534 posts, read 7,366,705 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rickers View Post
I have a long standing grudge against the olympic games. They seem to refuse to accept surfing as a world class summer sport, but don't they have a ribbon dancing event ?
When I think of the olympics I think of corruption, steroids and host cities losing their patooties financially.
If folks don't want a flood of out of state immigrants moving in, in one giant wave then the last thing in the world they should be wishing for is for the olympics to be held in Montana.

I agree with you ~~ 100%. Even tho I do not live there, I feel the overall beauty of Montana would suffer.

Last edited by nan5623; 03-08-2010 at 12:29 PM.. Reason: spelling
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Old 03-08-2010, 12:48 PM
 
Location: Brendansport, Sagitta IV
8,083 posts, read 15,082,265 times
Reputation: 3724
Quote:
Originally Posted by Reedsmit View Post
You know once you let the genie out of the bottle you can't put it back in.
And when the bottle is already showing some cracks is not the time to whack it with a hammer!!
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