Chicago's Best Bet
March 27, 2009
Question: which city hosted the Olympics in 2002? Do you remember? Do you care? I went to Salt Lake City in 2004 and locals were nearly apologetic for how dreary and lackluster the city had become. They were still talking about how great and exciting Salt Lake City had been in the years leading up to the 2002 Olympics and how since it's been, well... not. In the months after the 2002 games, the LA Times declared that "the post-Olympic blues have hit Salt Lake City hard" and the New York Times wrote:
Nevertheless, earlier this month Chicagoist reported that long-proposed CTA Circle Line had several million dollars earmarked in Congress's omnibus spending package.
It's true that Olympics bring improved infrastructure to the host cities. In the case of Chicago, Circle Line plans might still be locked up in a drawer somewhere right now if it weren't for the Olympic bid. The Olympic Committee will select the host city in October. There is no guarantee the Circle Line won't get scrapped if Chicago's bid gets rejected; but if the project continues to progress regardless of the outcome, then perhaps Chicago can cash in on a few solid infrastructure improvements without the burden of having to actually host the games.
Alas, downtown Salt Lake City is struggling and has been for some time. Many downtown stores, especially along Main Street, are in deep trouble. Empty buildings that were spruced up and filled with souvenir shops during the Games have ''For Lease'' signs plastered on what are now grimy windows.The situation isn't just specific to the Western United States. The Boston Globe has recently commented on Beijing's fallout from the 2008 summer games. There is no doubt that China has experienced explosive growth in the past decade; but now that entire skyscrapers sit completely vacant, one had to wonder how much of it was merely for show. While the jury is still out on the long-term benefits for cities that host the Olympics, Mischa Gaus recently wrote in In These Times that the games would displace thousands of Chicagoans, disrupt progress toward providing affordable housing, and put money in the pockets of the wealthy at the expense of the poor. Although traditional economic models would still classify this as growth, its obviously not always so straightforward.
Nevertheless, earlier this month Chicagoist reported that long-proposed CTA Circle Line had several million dollars earmarked in Congress's omnibus spending package.
It's true that Olympics bring improved infrastructure to the host cities. In the case of Chicago, Circle Line plans might still be locked up in a drawer somewhere right now if it weren't for the Olympic bid. The Olympic Committee will select the host city in October. There is no guarantee the Circle Line won't get scrapped if Chicago's bid gets rejected; but if the project continues to progress regardless of the outcome, then perhaps Chicago can cash in on a few solid infrastructure improvements without the burden of having to actually host the games.
I've done a lot of research on previous Olympic host cities. There are a few ingredients that stand out as important to their leaving a lasting positive legacy, or being a blip in the city's history:
1. If the Olympics happen within a broader context of business and economic development in the region, then they often give a huge boost that benefits a wide swath of the population (assuming that you believe that more employment opportunities, better parks and better transit are good for all).
Look at Atlanta -- the 1996 Olympics happened during a decade long boom that accelerated in the years following the Games. Sydney too experienced a boost, although a lesser one as the 2000 games happened just prior to a worldwide economic slowdown.
2. A key ingredient for Sydney and Atlanta was that local and regional governments used the Olympics as leverage to promote the area to global businesses. Salt Lake City's efforts in this regard were less ambitious and the city faced a challenge of not already being a globally-known city. Vancouver and BC have business attraction teams around the world leveraging off the 2010 Games.
So business-wise and economically, I think Chicago would benefit. It's already a globally known city and has undergone somewhat of a re-birth in recent years that could be leveraged off to help local business grow globally and global business come.
On other issues you raise... As a resident of the 2010 host city, I can say "be careful what you wish for." The disruptions to daily life of trying to do about 10 years of construction in 30 months are real. Metro construction has divided the city in half for over 2 years now. The highway to Whistler has similarly been subject to massive delays for several years. And now that security is in training, large military helicopters can hover for hours -- I can only imagine this will be 24 X 7 during the Games.