Boston 2020 Olympics

[kennedy]

A decade is a shockingly short amount of time to plan such a huge event as the Olympics. Look how long it takes to get a measly condo or office project built! 2020, as much as I would like an Olympics in Boston, is too soon. 2028 or 2032 is a much more likely bet. If we host an Olympics, it better be the best in recent memory. A hastily arranged bid will not win, and if it did, would ruin Boston for years to come.

 

[aquaman]

I don't think any North American city will get the 2020 games.

The IOC considers No and So America to be one continent. That belief is reinforced by the IOC's main source of revenue: television broadcast rights. Holding two successive summer games in roughly the same time zone (or at least in the same continental time zone) would dampen TV revenues from European and Asian broadcasters. Think of it this way: if two future summer games (say 2020 and 2024) were held in Tokyo and then Sydney, how much would NBC pony up to broadcast two successive summer games 13 hours outside the western hemisphere's time zone?

I would like to see Boston get its act together enough to be a candidate city, perhaps with its ultimate goal to land the games by 2024 or 2028. Getting its act together would be reward enough, if you ask me.

Personally, I think the next games will be in Cape Town (Africa has never hosted) or maybe Tokyo. (I think London in 2012 and Sochi, winter 2014) will satisfy the IOC's need to go to Europe for another cycle or two. And there's a rumor that Denver wants the 2018 games, which would further dampen the US as a host nation for the summer games in 2020.

 

[Justin7]

A decade is a shockingly short amount of time to plan such a huge event as the Olympics. Look how long it takes to get a measly condo or office project built! 2020, as much as I would like an Olympics in Boston, is too soon. 2028 or 2032 is a much more likely bet. If we host an Olympics, it better be the best in recent memory. A hastily arranged bid will not win, and if it did, would ruin Boston for years to come.

Are you running for office? You sound convincingly like a politician. A decade is too short a time to do anything! Let's aim for 18-22 years!

It would be nice if we could have a serious discussion about what needs to be done in order for Boston to host the 2020 games instead of just spewing negativity.

While nothing is guaranteed, the United States is positioned very well for a shot at 2020.

Boston is a world city.
Boston is beautiful with insanely nice summer weather.
Boston is a tourist capital full of hotels.
Boston has one of the best mass transit systems in the US.
Boston is an extremely compact walking city.
Boston is an education capital and as such has a variety of sporting venues already built, in addition to the TD Garden, Fenway Park, and gigantic convention center that can be adapted to host various Olympic events.
Boston is surrounded by water, needed for rowing/sailing.
Boston is the most European city in the US, which should be an advantage since Europe dominates the voting council.

Could Boston host the games tomorrow or a year from now? Of course not. Ten years out, however, few places are better set to compete.

 

[sidewalks]

If you were going to host a forum on a Boston 2020 bid, who would be invited?

 

[ant8904]

Anything or anyone who aims for aims for greatness usually aiming high, many of them missed. To follow an expectation of aiming "realistically" could easily underestimate the true potential.

Additionally, aiming for 2028/2032 means 18 or 22 years of preparation, you say 10 years is too little time, but do you know how slow is 18-22 years is? How can anyone hope for Boston to return to being a more dynamic and bustling city when the aim is two decades to get something done. At least the Chicago dissent for the Olympics is about how to pay for it rather than not being up to stuff. When cities make a bid, they don't start the bid 18 years before, but around now, 10 years before. Better for Boston to aim higher, make large amount of improvements and promises of improvements to Boston in rapid succession and fail than slowly upgrade the city on a 20 year plan.

If by some chance we actually get it, Boston will have no choice but to improve itself. Other cities with more corruption and less infrastructure have done it, we need to have the same expectation.

BTW, if Boston is to hope to getting the Olympics, is through the universities of Boston, advertising itself on its history, collegiate athletic prowess, and the title "Athens of America." If Boston were to decline to irrelevance, the universities will the last holdout (for example, the development of IT in Boston in the 128 belt before most moved out to Silicon Valley was arguably because so many students was in these schools, it's too bad we couldn't retain them) and likely the biggest resource we have. I wonder if we can get universities to aid in this like corporate sponsorships, Harvard still have billions and it would be far less commercialized than taking in a ton companies for the bill.

 

[pelhamhall]

Boston Olympics does not make sense for 2020, but 2032 sounds about right. That's when Gillette Stadium will have run its course and need replacement. My guess is that this isn't even a considerable option until we have a need for a real, 80,000 seat stadium. Soccer ain't going to cut it.

By 2032 we may be talking about building this on the grounds of the former Logan Airport, or all of the massive waterfront oil depots in Revere, Eastie or Chelsea. God only knows.

In other words, it's not even conceivable today to think about what it might look like.

Menino will run for a six term in 2014, and seventh (2018) and eighth (2022) if he doesn't die. This will make him mayor until approximately 2026 - he'll only be 84 so this is not at all inconceivable.

Zombie Massachusetts voters mindlessly re-elected Ted Kennedy to a term that would run out when he was in his early 80s... zombie voters will probably mindlessly re-elect Menino until he dies as well. I don't see him giving the job up for any other reason.

So it'll land on his successor to decide whether it's a political fight worth fighting, and whose pockets he'll have to line to make it happen. And it'll be decades from now before we even have to think about it. And in a neighborhood that we probably haven't even considered.

 

[Marley]

Maybe they could use the Olympics as an excuse to upgrade the Green Line to Heavy Rail...

 

[Shepard]

... Or turn the Commuter Rail into an astrotrain with stops on the Lunar surface.

 

[ant8904]

Boston Olympics does not make sense for 2020, but 2032 sounds about right. That's when Gillette Stadium will have run its course and need replacement. My guess is that this isn't even a considerable option until we have a need for a real, 80,000 seat stadium. Soccer ain't going to cut it.

Someone earlier did mention that previous cities have designed that the stadiums can be easily downgradable from 80,000 to 20,000 after the Olympics.

By 2032 we may be talking about building this on the grounds of the former Logan Airport, or all of the massive waterfront oil depots in Revere, Eastie or Chelsea. God only knows.

In other words, it's not even conceivable today to think about what it might look like.

So, since planning 22 years is impossible... why should we plan for a bid that far ahead.

Menino will run for a six term in 2014, and seventh (2018) and eighth (2022) if he doesn't die. This will make him mayor until approximately 2026 - he'll only be 84 so this is not at all inconceivable.

Zombie Massachusetts voters mindlessly re-elected Ted Kennedy to a term that would run out when he was in his early 80s... zombie voters will probably mindlessly re-elect Menino until he dies as well. I don't see him giving the job up for any other reason.

So it'll land on his successor to decide whether it's a political fight worth fighting, and whose pockets he'll have to line to make it happen. And it'll be decades from now before we even have to think about it. And in a neighborhood that we probably haven't even considered.

The state is pushing this, there's more than one way to get this going and I hope Menino will be pushed out by then. Hey, currently we can muster about 49% to be against him today. Granted, not all of that 49% are united to one, that's still 2% away means a candidate in the future can muster him out, even the current candidate is not hopeless, it's not insurmountable.

Maybe they could use the Olympics as an excuse to upgrade the Green Line to Heavy Rail...

One of the reasons why we should made a bid. Even if Boston is not ready, the actions it will create in the mere attempt can produce promises (some will renege, but not all) and projects to improve itself. Better to try and fail then not try at all. Either way, Boston will be stronger for it.

 

[AmericanFolkLegend]

Boston Olympics does not make sense for 2020, but 2032 sounds about right. That's when Gillette Stadium will have run its course and need replacement.

The stadium is just not that big a deal. London will (and Chicago planned to) downgrade the size of their Olympic Stadiums following the games. This is likely to be a trend going forward for Games held in developed countries. Athens got completely burned by overbuilding new venues in 2000. The Kennedy School has a case study on this . . . .

 

[bdurden]

If this forum is a microcosm of the Boston attitude on life, no wonder this town would never host an Olympic Games, let along bid for one. The negativity is incredibly unattractive.

It is well within Boston's capacity to host an Olympic games. If all that is needed are already much needed upgrades to mass transit and a few large scale developments, there should be nothing stopping Boston. Attitude is the real reason this city never gets anywhere these days.

 

[kennedy]

If anyone else would like to berate me for being pessimistic and not entertaining discussion on what must be done to host an Olympics in Boston, really needs to start from a few pages back, and read my posts on how I think an Olympic would be run and where the venues might go. I went so far as to create a map on Google.

 

[SeamusMcFly]

The negativity in this town sucks. Let me tell you something folks. Larry bird is not going to walk thru that door. Kevin mchale is not walking thru that door.

I'm sorry I couldn't help it. I'm on my portable so I have no patience to actually write what I feel about this. But I do love the discordant discourse.

 

[bbfen]

If this forum is a microcosm of the Boston attitude on life, no wonder this town would never host an Olympic Games, let along bid for one. The negativity is incredibly unattractive.

The negativity in this town sucks.

My experience colors my attitude, but I'll own up to being a pessimist. Here's why:

Timeline It's hard to imagine being ready in 10 years. It would be 1 full year to assemble a team, 2.5 of planning, 1.5 of lawsuits, 2 of replanning, 1 of more lawsuits, and then 1 more to finish planning details. Build out in a year? 15 years to plan and execute sounds more realistic to me.

Momentum A staggering disparity in class, a transient population--some 45% of the city, a hysterical vocal minority with disproportional influence, no cohesive transportation leadership at the state or local level, a broken city planning agency and gutless elected officials at every level should be considered. These are generational issues, not decadal problems to be solved by an Olympic bid. The very geography of the city that makes it a candidate for water events, plus the segregation of what middle class there is, hurts Boston.

Construction Unions would love it (there's our middle class from the edges of the city), but who's footing the bill for infrastructure improvements in Boston/Cambridge/Brookline? Who's paying for the venues and the Olympic village? Western Mass will howl at the moon. I don't see how any governor or the Boston Olympic Committee can overcome that. Not even with Mitt Romney at the helm.

I'm not opposed to the Olympics in Boston, I just think they're not viable. Sorry if that's negative, in your opinion. I just think it's the reality of the situation, in my opinion.

 

[tommym96]

The negativity in this town sucks. Let me tell you something folks. Larry bird is not going to walk thru that door. Kevin mchale is not walking thru that door.

I'm sorry I couldn't help it. I'm on my portable so I have no patience to actually write what I feel about this. But I do love the discordant discourse.

"And if they do, they'll be old and gray."

HAHA, I was hoping somebody would post that.

bdurden - the negativity does suck but after seeing the way things work/hopes for projects crushed, it just doesn't seem realistic.

 

[Lurker]

Keeping the Unions from having a monopoly on Olympic construction would be the only way to get the games built here on time and on budget. Otherwise you might as well dump a few billion dollars in a few bosses' and politicians' pockets in any cost estimate.

 

[KentXie]

My experience colors my attitude, but I'll own up to being a pessimist. Here's why:

Timeline It's hard to imagine being ready in 10 years. It would be 1 full year to assemble a team, 2.5 of planning, 1.5 of lawsuits, 2 of replanning, 1 of more lawsuits, and then 1 more to finish planning details. Build out in a year? 15 years to plan and execute sounds more realistic to me.

Momentum A staggering disparity in class, a transient population--some 45% of the city, a hysterical vocal minority with disproportional influence, no cohesive transportation leadership at the state or local level, a broken city planning agency and gutless elected officials at every level should be considered. These are generational issues, not decadal problems to be solved by an Olympic bid. The very geography of the city that makes it a candidate for water events, plus the segregation of what middle class there is, hurts Boston.

Construction Unions would love it (there's our middle class from the edges of the city), but who's footing the bill for infrastructure improvements in Boston/Cambridge/Brookline? Who's paying for the venues and the Olympic village? Western Mass will howl at the moon. I don't see how any governor or the Boston Olympic Committee can overcome that. Not even with Mitt Romney at the helm.

I'm not opposed to the Olympics in Boston, I just think they're not viable. Sorry if that's negative, in your opinion. I just think it's the reality of the situation, in my opinion.

+1. It's not being pessimistic, it's being more realistic. Sure, it's easy to say, Boston will be ready with the given time but seeing from experience, it is much harder to get things going in this city. It took decades to get Fan Pier off and decades for other projects, the MBTA failed to upgrade significantly for decades, squabbling delayed the Big Dig, etc. You can dream all you want but I'm going to base my judgement on past events and those past events just don't look good.

 

[Patriots_1228]

The negativity in this town sucks. Let me tell you something folks. Larry bird is not going to walk thru that door. Kevin mchale is not walking thru that door.

I'm sorry I couldn't help it. I'm on my portable so I have no patience to actually write what I feel about this. But I do love the discordant discourse.

But if they were....

Kevin Garnett, Larry Bird, Paul Peirce, Ray Allen, Kevin McHale.

Decent starting five right?

 

[Lurker]

Write in candidates for public office?

 

[castevens]

The legislation is H. 3143, and it is before the Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development. A public hearing is currently scheduled (but could be subject to change) for November 16, 2009, in Hearing Room B-1, starting at 11 am. The House Chairman is Rep. John Keenan and the Senate Chair is Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz. The following is the contact information for the committee and the chairs.
Rep.JohnDKeenan@Hou.State.MA.US
Sonia.Chang-Diaz@state.ma.us
JOINT COMMITTEE ON TOURISM, ARTS AND CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT
Room 195
State House
Boston, MA 02133
Telephone: (617) 722-2015

The State House webpage for the Committee is http://www.mass.gov/legis/comm/j30.htm

(written yesterday by Rep Paul K. Frost on the Boston2020 Facebook group)