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Yes, Chicagoans trying to get the Olympics to go to Rio are trying to hurt the Chicago Olympic bid. That's the entire point of the website.
It might, but it looks like the site wasn't put together by Chicagoans, and may have been put together by people in Rio:
Quote:
Earlier this week, GamesBids.com reported that website ChicagoansForRio.com is backed by a group of Chicagoans who don’t want to see the Olympic Games come to Chicago. This may be true – but only if those Chicagoans are in Rio de Janeiro.
GamesBids.com has discovered evidence through emails, web forum posts and web server logs that indicate promoters of this site are likely based in a city that’s Chicago’s biggest rival for the 2016 Olympic Games – Rio.......
A webmaster of the GamesBids.com Forums server examined various posts in a topic about the new site after they failed a routine compliance check. He found that a new member had taken on the persona of a Chicagoan who was against her city’s bid and then continued as a cheerleader for the site in question. Server logs indicated that the member’s computer connecting to the forum website was located in Rio.
But suspicion piqued after discovering another member who appeared somewhat pro-Chicago in his initial post before starting the topic linking to chicagoansforrio.com. That member connected from the same computer address in Rio as the “cheerleader”. That activity violated the terms and conditions of the GamesBids.com Forums because it indicates the likelihood that a single person is using more than one alias to deceive readers.
So after a couple of wishy washy weeks, it turns out Obama is heading to Copenhagen. But why, you ask.
I have no doubt that Obama is a true blue Chicagoan, but I don't for a minute believe that Chicago 2016 is a major priority to him and why should it be, considering what he has on his plate.
Health care dominates the national scene and without a meaningful health care bill passed, Obama, the Democrats, and the nation are screwed. And the president knows it. He battles those on the right extreme who consider him a Kenyan communist hell bent on destroying this nation (btw...in case they might not have noticed, he's black, too). On the left, his base, his less than forceful stance and constant need to compromise when compromise can't take place is taking its toll.
Image counts to all presidents, this one included, and never so much as now when so much relies on image. And that image is there to be protected, enhanced, and touted. As it was in Pittsburgh with a very presidential announcement on Iran's nuclear advancements and why this is unacceptable.
Obama is going nowhere, be it New York, Pittsburgh, or Copenhagen if it doesn't make him look good, in control, and POTUSly powerful.
And so it is with the Olympics. To paraphrase another president, "Ask not what Obama can do for Chicago, ask what the Olympics can do for Obama."
What they can do, he hopes, is make him glow in the light of victory.
Chicago's odds on getting the 2016 game have been so incredibly strong all along. Beijing killed Tokyo's chances and London (with a dose of Barcelona) did the same to Madrid. Crime ridden Rio is so far down the map of the southern hemisphere that it cold fall off the south pole; in a world that is awash with economic uncertainty, nobody is banking on massive groups of fans making that plane trip to off-the-radar Brazil, even with a 7 year buffer.
Chicago's chances then have always been an odds maker's dream. What happened in the interval between Oprah/Michelle being the standard bearers of city and nation and Barrack himself going to the top of the A list:
CERTAINTY
Obama goes to Copenhagen not to convince but to be corinated. He now knows through whatever considerable means are open to him that a sure bet has morphed into a certainty and you can be damned sure he isn't crossing the Atlantic, sitting in the audience, only to hear, "Ladies and gentlemen, the slum that is Rio is the choice for the 2016 Olympic games so everybody: lock your wallet in the safe, pack heat, put on that thong, rub on the sunscreen, brush up on your Portuguese and LET'S CARNIVAL!"
It didnt really do Atlanta or La or Salt Lake any good...seems like a played out pissing contest amongst cities if you ask me. The actual sports are a different story of course. I would fly out and take my mother to the sporting events, but other than that I donno.
the trajectory of image and, quite frankly, flash over substance, constantly aims upward, even in these tough economic times.
Chicago's global visibility in 2016 will be far greater than Atlanta's in 1992. And even without the importance difference in time, difference in place matters, too. Chicago is already global and will remain so without skipping a beat win or lose on the Olympics. Atlanta was in 1992 as it is today, just an American city, an aggressive, successfully self promoting one at that, but doesn't much make the radar on the global scene. The 1992 Olympics were there to enhance Atlanta's American image. The 2016 will, if achieved, advance Chicago's global interests.
And we have, quite frankly and not giving to hyperbole, the most amazing screen set in place already for the task. Cities across the globe come with incredible beauty. None like Chicago provide a stage for it...the blue of the lake, the gold of the sand, the green of the parks, and the soaring skyline lording off the whole glorious splendor of a city that elevates flatness to an art form and thus competes with ease with the hilliest and most roughed urban terrains of the world for flatness is the ideal platform for architecture and urban planning.
Chicago is a major presence in the world, an alpha city by any account, and a city that is as easily loved by those who visit and want to come back as it is by Chicagoans themselves. And again, I repeat: this is not hyperbole on my part. Chicago is the real deal. And forward thinking people who know that image feeds into everything have no doubt that the exposure of the 2016 Olympics, like the world's fairs of the past, will be just another notch in Chicago's continuing rise to fame. It would take a flood of biblical proportions followed by the greatest building boom in history for Atlanta to produce such a back drop for the Olympic games.
I'm not a native Chicagoan, but with a sizable amount of friends hailing from there I'm always surprised to hear that there's this consistent desire to see the bid awarded somewhere else. Maybe they're anomalies because I understand the IOC surveys show a relatively high amount of support for the Games, but with 6 days to go it's a bit worrying to hear of people actively wanting to move out if the Games do come. I realise Daley and his machine are ruinous and corrupt, but all the same I'd like to know I'm not moving into a ****storm if I head to the U of C for my postgrad studies.
My best guess is it will be like Mardi Gras most of the time from the first day of construction to two months after the the last Olympic organizer leaves. I don't think it is necessarily bad, but it will be chaotic, foul traffic, noisy, and probably inconvenience most of the people who work there and half who live there, because that is what happens when a City the size of Chicago brings in an event the size of the Olympics.
I would suggest UI Champaign for your post grad and Chicago for you doctorate - if possible. ISU at Normal has a very good reputation and a surprisingly good poat-grad school. B-N is lcoser than C-U and also closer to a larger town
If the above is out of the question, then your next best bet is ear plugs. a very good set of noise canceling headphones, and a pocket full of patience because you will need it. .I'd eat on campus, live very nearby and go north to shop - but that is just me. The day Daley learns Chicago won the bid, every hotel and room for miles will be sold out for opening and closing ceremonies if for nothing else, and rentals will be scarce and very pricey.
I suspect in the end the bottom line will be how much you are willing to put up with for grad school in Chicago. I could be wrong, but I doubt it. I've organized too many large events and worked them. too. The trouble with big events is they look really great and organized on paper a year before the event begins to come together = and that is when it starts to fall apart. "Murphy" is in the middle of everything.
I wish you well and hope you have a terrific time in a terrific city.
Nearly 200 buildings over 12 floors were constructed in the past 9 years. Life seemed to go on pretty smoothly. I really doubt construction will impact day-to-day life all that much, the exception being some parkland won't be as accessible during the construction of these venues.
As others stated, the level of support for the games has gone down, because city services have gone down in the two years since the quest for the games began. That's not all Daley's fault, as services have been impacted by the recession in cities across the country, but there have been plenty of mishaps that are solely the mayor and council's responsibility.
Really, when you see how badly they screwed up the parking meter lease, and you see the discrepancies between the revenue numbers they project vs independent reports, its hard to see how this will be done without falling on Chicago taxpayers, who are already shouldering enough of a burden.
I'd love to have the Olympics here. Just not at a cost of hundreds of millions to city taxpayers, which will be the likely result.
Nearly 200 buildings over 12 floors were constructed in the past 9 years. Life seemed to go on pretty smoothly. I really doubt construction will impact day-to-day life all that much, the exception being some parkland won't be as accessible during the construction of these venues.
Talk to the Museum Campus institutions about how badly their attendance/revenue suffered due to the Soldier Field construction.
At least that was an infrastructure improvement (parking) in the long run - this is going to really hurt the Shedd, Adler and Field due to their proximity to Northerly Island, and the fact that you can't get building materials there without causing a huge hassle for tourists, school groups, etc.
Talk to the Museum Campus institutions about how badly their attendance/revenue suffered due to the Soldier Field construction.
At least that was an infrastructure improvement (parking) in the long run - this is going to really hurt the Shedd, Adler and Field due to their proximity to Northerly Island, and the fact that you can't get building materials there without causing a huge hassle for tourists, school groups, etc.
The changes to Northerly Island could arguably be a much bigger infrastructure improvement and draw to the area than the architectural eyesore and parking created by the Soldier Field reconstruction.
There are a number of concerns I have with winning the bid. The museum campus' viability isn't one of them.
The changes to Northerly Island could arguably be a much bigger infrastructure improvement and draw to the area than the architectural eyesore and parking created by the Soldier Field
By definition anything done at Northerly Island is (at least supposedly) going to be temporary.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jdiddy
There are a number of concerns I have with winning the bid. The museum campus' viability isn't one of them.
I have numerous concerns as well, but I think you may seriously underestimating the economic impact the Museums have on Chicago.
Unlike sports teams, which largely derive revenue locally (ie, money that would be spent in the area anyway), the Museums have a massive international draw, which provide a hotel and entertainment/food multiplying effect. Nobody stays at the Hilton after seeing the Bears, and the Museums are open year-round.
Direct spending by all of the MIP museums and their visitors had an estimated $490 million economic impact on the city in 2007, according to the Chicago Park District which allocates money to each museum in its budget every year.
The kayak and canoing venues would be permanent, and in my opinion would make Northerly Island a much more interesting place to visit.
I realize the tourist impact the museums have. I just have doubts they will suffer all that much from the Northerly Island construction.
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My best guess
