Boston 2020 Olympics

caravaggiste

Active Member
Joined
Dec 7, 2007
Messages
135
Reaction score
0
The article is a few months old and I'm sure many of you have heard the news but what do you all think about Boston's possible future bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics? I see so much potential coming out of this possibility - improved transportation infrastructure, new development, a world class event, publicity....

----------

Monday, November 12, 2007
Feasibility Studies For Boston 2020, Netherlands 2028 Summer Games
Posted 12:25 pm ET (GamesBids.com)

The Massachusetts Legislature's Joint Tourism Committee said it is considering a bill that would create a commission to study the feasibility of hosting a summer Olympic Games, reports Metro West Daily.

Senator Pam Resor who works on the committee said, ?I think it?s very worth looking into. There are a lot of venues in the Boston area that would lend themselves well to that kind of an event and it would certainly bring attention to all we have to offer?.

Rep. Paul Frost said that including all of Massachusetts and neighbouring states in the process has two advantages, sharing the work and the benefits of a potential bid, and promoting New England as a venue for other sporting events. He admitted it would be closer to decades than years before Massachusetts could be ready to host the Games, citing 2020 as the earliest possible year. He said, ?we have to start somewhere?.

Meanwhile Dutch News reports that Economic Affairs Minister Maria van der Hoeven has set aside 400,000 Euro for a feasibility study to bring the 2028 Olympics to the Netherlands.

Van der Hoeven wrote on her website, ?it would be wonderful if the Games could be held here. It would be great to host them again, a century after we first did so?.

------------------------

http://www.gamesbids.com/cgi-bin/news/viewnews.cgi?category=1&id=1194888323
 
Last edited:
Re: Boston 2020

This again? I remember when John Silber was part of a committee trying to land the Olympics, 20 or so years ago.
 
Re: Boston 2020

If Chicago lands the 2016 games, then we don't have a chance of hosting them for at least another 20 years after that (last US games were in 1996). But I've always liked the idea of a Boston olympics, especially if the olympic village took shape in the NorthPoitn wastelands. It would give a huge boost to the city's image worldwide (assuming everything goes smoothly, look at Barcelona), and force us to move faster on transit and and other improvements throughout the city. It would be nice though if they incorporated some sort of urban aspect into to olympic village, so that we wouldn't end up with a deserted sports complex after the games. A few showpiece stadiums (look at what they're building in beijing!) would be welcome in such a sports-loving city, and the main Olympic Stadium could always be reused as a new home for the Patriots...right across the river from downtown.
 
Re: Boston 2020

NIMBYs would block everything like they did for NYC. Pretty sure it would give Boston a black eye when they were unable to build any of the stadia.
 
Re: Boston 2020

Lets just lock them up then and throw away the key so we can have some actual democratic discourse over the topic. It is somewhat of a dictatorship currently. I guess that was somewhat of a contradiction, but whatever.
 
Last edited:
Re: Boston 2020

umm, isn't that ^^ what china did and continues to do?

i like the idea of improved infrastructure, but i'd just as soon pass on the olympics. with the cast of nazis, thugs and corrupt bastards of all stripes that decorate the past and present of the IOC and organizing committees (even in utah, for crying out loud!), it's little more than a lovefest for dictatorships (china, russia) in the name of "spreading the olympic values." biggest bunch of hypocrisy i've ever seen.

other than being a (dubious) feather in your cap, what lasting benefits come with hosting the olympics? the economist reported a few years back on studies that show little economic benefit for the cities that host them, and the olympic village and stadia are usually as dated and dilapidated as the commemorative pins and posters 10 years out. ... i wonder if i'd rather get the ncaa hockey championships. i'd definitely rather have the relocation of a fortune 500 company :)
 
Re: Boston 2020

Snowball's chance in...summer in Boston.
 
Re: Boston 2020

I don't think our infrastructure can handle the extra load.
 
Re: Boston 2020

It would be like when the Democratic National Convention came to Boston and residents were told to stay home and off the roads to accommodate it. We'd have either weeks of gridlock leading to the venues or the evaporation of our resident population into New Hampshire and the Cape.
 
Re: Boston 2020

2020 is out of the question, because, given Massachusetts, you would need to have stadia permitted, approved, and financed by 2010, even if you held off actual construction. You need a:

> big new stadium (80,000+ seats) for track and field, opening and closing ceremonies, soccer final
> indoor cycling venue
> swimming and diving venue
> an indoor arena that seats 10,000 for boxing weightlifting
> a new tennis facility
> a canoe / kayak course

Boston is set for:
baseball
basketball / gymnastics (assuming the Garden, Providence & Worcester)
some indoor sports (assuming BC, BU, and new Harvard)
sailing,
equestrian,
rowing (assuming Worcester)
soccer (assuming Foxborough, New Haven, Harvard, BC)

there are other sports that would require new venues, but are not big-cost facilities.
 
Re: Boston 2020

Maybe someday after enough studying of this Urban Design/Planning stuff I'll understand why having the Olympics in your city is a good thing.
Of course, I'm still trying to figure out why skylines are important, so it may take a while.
 
Re: Boston 2020

You would get a better bang for the buck by hosting a Formula One Grand Prix. It is the world's (not America's) most followed sport. Montreal gets about 125,000 very affluent international visitors every June, as well as very favorable international publicity. Logistically it would be simple compared to the Olympics, and you get the benefit of doing it every year. If Boston wants to be "world class" it ought to do something world class. (I know, the marathon, etc., but this is for high rollers.)
 
Re: Boston 2020

I don't want racecars speeding down Boston streets. Way too much potential for injuries to pedestrians (spectators) and even damage to buildings when cars spin out of control.

(And I doubt that it has a larger international following than soccer.)
 
Re: Boston 2020

That isn't how it works. There is a discrete well protected course. I'll let you do own research on the ratings!
 
Re: Boston 2020

You need a straight course for rowing. Lake Quinsigamond, near UMass Medical Center where they have the sprints, is straight, and I assume the course there is wide enough and long enough. If not, then you'd have to build one.
 
Re: Boston 2020

I too also felt that Boston would be a great place for an F1 race. Build a course out of Storrow Dr.
 
Re: Boston 2020

You need a straight course for rowing. Lake Quinsigamond, near UMass Medical Center where they have the sprints, is straight, and I assume the course there is wide enough and long enough. If not, then you'd have to build one.

I think it would be better to build one, it's too far for the out of town spectators to travel and Worcester isn't exactly a place I would be eager to show off. The F1 Grand Prix would be great too.

From my perspective though, I think Boston's greatest asset is its proximity to the water, and thus luring some sort of major yacht race to the region would be great. I'm not talking about a class championship or something like that. Between Marblehead and Buzzards Bay the local yacht clubs get enough of those. I'm talking about something like the Sardinia Rolex Cup, Swan Regatta or a trans-Atlantic race between Boston harbor and Cowes or Lisbon. I have always had a fantasy about a super-long ocean race, something more than just across the Atlantic, perhaps Boston to Capetown or somewhere in South America passing outside(east) of Bermuda. With Fan Pier maybe they could develop a true urban yacht harbor accomodating vessels over 120 feet.
 
Re: Boston 2020

I too also felt that Boston would be a great place for an F1 race. Build a course out of Storrow Dr.

Down Storrow, hairpin onto Mass Ave Bridge, Memorial Drive, back across the Longfellow Bridge...hey, this is starting to sound like a commute! What a way to annually showcase the city to the 580 million television viewers* worldwide.
*See Business Week 1/18/07
 
Re: Boston 2020

It has always been a dream of mine to have an f1 race in boston. My only question is where would they leave all the trucks, support vehicles, logistical equipment and garages?
 

Back
Top