For Cities, Do Olympic Dreams Turn Into Nightmares?

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Chicago Olympics 2016

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Michelle Obama praises Chicago's 2016 Olympic bid

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While the two of Chicago's most famous and influential residents throw their support behind the Olympic bid for 2016, almost half to the city's residents oppose the bid.

President  Obama, Oprah  Winfrey and the Chicago 2016 team are making their final pitch to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Copenhagen., consider this, a recent poll shows 45% of Chicago residents oppose having the bid, while 47% support the bid and a whopping 84% disapprove of using public money, this according to the most recent poll by Tribune/WGN. Keep in mind cities must provide financing guarantees to the IOC.

So it may worth taking a closer look at the people who oppose the bid and the reasons for that opposition.

One website with the cheeky name http://chicagoansforrio.com/ lays out the case against Chicago in fun in a fun and blunt sort of way.

But the larger umbrella organization that is opposing Chicago's bid is called No Games Chicago- an organization of various community groups and residents

They have compiled an extensive 159 page document detailing their case against the 2016 Olympics. In essence, they have 4 points

"1) Lack of Finances. Our nation, state, county and city are broke and running massive deficits. There's no way to guarantee that we will have the many billions needed to complete the work needed. Chicago is famous for going way over budget on any large construction project it tackles.

(2) Lack of Competence. Our state, county and city are notoriously corrupt and populated with incompetent officials who line their pockets and make choices based not on effectiveness or the public good, but rather on how much money can be made by friends and family members. This directly translates into bloated construction projects that go massively over budget and suffer repeated delays. (Block 37 is a project that is 30 years old and still incomplete, Millennium Park was just four years late). Also, there are a number of very high-ranking corruption investigations under way and our former Governor faces trial in 2010. It's entirely possible that many of the Chicago officials the 10C has been working with may be under investigation.

(3) Lack of Infrastructure. Our city is falling to pieces around us. Our roads are pitted with pot holes and our mass transit system is badly in need of repair and upgrading. Regrettably, there are no plans for improving it over the next few years and we seriously doubt whether it can do the job of moving the crowds that come with a summer Olympics.

(4) Lack of Public Support. Despite what you are being told, the people of Chicago DO NOT want the games. When people realize that they will be picking up the tab for the games, they oppose the bid by an overwhelming majority."

On the flip side the city (like all bid cities) say  the economic stimulus, the boost to infrastructure, tourism, civic pride all make the Olympic worthwhile. Indeed, it seems the only way to get major public transit projects off the ground these days is to get the Olympics. Both Athens, and Vancouver received major transit additions

On top of that, it is tough to argue against shiny faced young athletics who have put years of work into achieving their athletic dreams. And hey, it is a good, albeit expensive, party

The question is at what cost? 

Well, look to previous Olympics for what Chicago or any of the bid cities may have in store for themselves if they get the games.

Vancouver-Whistler is hosting the Winter 2010 Olympics. According the Newshour on PBS, the cost mushroomed from $400 million to $1.6 billion, and London saw its cost increase four times to $15 billion and those summer games are still over 2 years away in 2012. Montreal hosted the Olympics in 1976 and just paid off the tab in 2006. The list goes on.

So to all those bid cities, good luck, and be careful what you ask for - you just may get it.