Yes, Chicago can get more sports-mad

April 14, 2007 12:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (372) | TrackBacks (0)

Today is the big day when we find out whether Chicago gets the 2016 Olympics. By then, I'll be long gone, but if I'm ever going to attend the Olympics, I'd like it to be right here. During the summer months, it's not too hot, it doesn't rain too much, there is lots to do besides sports and the people are (mostly) very friendly. Still, I'm always wary of sports-based economic development, given the fact that smaller-scale projects like Miller Park in Milwaukee and the Camden Yards complex in Baltimore is wasteful and usually a big giveaway to moneyed interests. I'm unhappy that the Olympic Stadium will be a new facility on the South Side instead of an existing facility like Soldier Field, which is within walking distance of the proposed facilities on Northerly Island.

Perhaps the best benefits will take the form of better infrastructure. In Athens, the Olympics left two bedraggled and underused stadiums away from the center of town, but they also left two brand new subway lines and a tram system that is a popular way to avoid the tangle of ancient streets that one must navigate to get anywhere. Currently, the El is at capacity and there are only so many more buses that can be added before they create their own traffic jams on Michigan Avenue and Lake Shore Drive. Replacing train cars (average model year: 1981) and building new lines could leave the city with a legacy that could rival that of the 1893 World's Fair, which gave Chicago the South Side el and several new parks, among other things.

The real reason why I want Chicago to get the Olympics: By the time 2016 rolls around, a good portion of my law school friends will be successful partners with huge mansions where I can crash. In Los Angeles, Tokyo or Rio, I'd have to pony up for a hotel.

UPDATE: Chicago got the U.S. nod! Now, all the city has to do is defeat Rio de Janeiro (too topless for the tastes of some), Madrid (too hot), Rome (too many carbs), Tokyo (too prone to giant lizard attack) and Prague (soooo five years ago).

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