Washington, DC 2024, anyone?

[Viper]

An Olympics in DC, right in the middle of a presidential election campaign. What could possibly go wrong?

Baltimore-area venues would stage Olympic events under a Washington, D.C.-based group's plan to explore a bid to host the 2024 Summer Games.

"Our intention is to have this be the entire region," said Robert T. Sweeney, president of DC 2024. "Quite honestly, we can't do it without Baltimore. Baltimore is a big partner in our game plan."

DC 2024 formed several months ago and has been working behind the scenes to build support for a bid, Sweeney said.

[LAWeaver]

So this will be the 2024 Beltway Olympic Games? This could be really good or really bad.

[AnythingChicago]

Living in a town that is nestled right between Baltimore and Washington, the prospect of this is most certainly exciting. But in retrospect, who knows if I'll still be living in the area in 11 years?

Truthfully, though, I don't think this is going to happen. There was a serious, formal proposal for super high speed rail between Baltimore and Washington a few years ago that would have solidified a 2018 Olympic bid, but the NIMBYs stopped it as soon as the proposal got passed the beginning stages. Such a rail line would probably be integral to a 2024 bid, so I'd have to guess that the NIMBYs won't allow it to be built once again and this isn't going to amount to much of anything.

[NJTank]

Terrible idea.

I think the best US city to host the games will be Los Angeles

[LAWeaver]

New York is already culturally diverse, so why not have the Games there? The only thing I see them having issues with is the pain in the butt traffic. They have a football field which can be used for something, a soccer field for the Red Bulls, tennis courts (US Open?), etc.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

If an indoor arena ever gets built, Seattle would be a great option for an Olympics. KeyArena, Tacoma Dome, Hec Ed and the Hansen Dome provide a lot of options, and there are two 60-70,000-seat stadiums in the area. Safeco could be converted for another use as well.

Regional (but not in-city, unfortunately) mass transit expansion is underway and there are plenty of hotels among Seattle, Bellevue and Tacoma. The only new construction necessary would be an aquatic center. Put Olympic Village at the Seattle Center, and you're on your way.

[BBTV]

Would rain be a factor? Seattle seems to be the right size and layout for an event like this. Not sure if it has the world wide known "name" though, but that might not matter.

I think DC and NY would be disasters. Imagine the security required for either, plus the road shut downs required, plus the impact on critical daily functions. The nation is affected by the activities that occur daily in those two cities, and any possible impact on that should be avoided at all costs.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Would rain be a factor? Seattle seems to be the right size and layout for an event like this. Not sure if it has the world wide known "name" though, but that might not matter.

It generally doesn't rain in Seattle during the summer, so it would be okay. As far as name, it can't be much higher or lower than Lillehammer or Nagano, right?

[dfwabel]

The USOC sent letters to mayors and civic leaders of 35 cities looking for someone bite. Here is the lest from February: Phoenix; San Jose, Calif.; Los Angeles; Sacramento; San Diego; San Francisco; Denver; Washington; Jacksonville, Fla.; Orlando, Fla.; Miami; Atlanta; Chicago; Indianapolis; Baltimore; Detroit; Minneapolis; St. Louis; Las Vegas; New York; Boston; Rochester; Charlotte, N.C.; Columbus, Ohio; Tulsa, Okla.; Portland, Ore.; Philadelphia; Pittsburgh; Memphis; Nashville and Davidson County; Austin, Tex.; Dallas; Houston; San Antonio; and Seattle. The USOC will then decide sometime in 2014 whether they'll go ahead with a bid at all.

Back to DC, they still must defeat other cities to earn the USOC bid. WaPo: "Economist: It's a Terrible Idea". Keep in mind that every bid city not only needs adequate hotel space (45,000 rooms minimum), but they must also construct an Olympic Village to house 16,500+ athletes and operations space for 15,000 news media members (aka a large enough convention center). An extensive public transportation network is required, and the letter states that a work force of 200,000 people is necessary. Lastly, keep in mind that Dan Snyder is supportive of the plan, so that he can move his NFL team back to DC proper. (I say "NFL team" because if he gets any public money, the name Redskins is going to go away.)

[Saintsfan]

I would say the only really viable US cities for a summer Olympics right now would be New York or LA. I find it amazing that NY has never had an Olympics, at least of the summer variety, if you include Lake Placid. If London can do it, New York can, using a similar template. I think it could be a pretty spectacular event.

DC isn't really big enough, though it could make for a dramatic background. LA has had two Olympics, given New York hasn't had one, I'd place it behind the Big Apple, but its the only other choice, really.

[tBBP]

An Olympics...in Indianapolis.

That's both hysterically funny and downright frightening at the same time.

[Lee.]

As someone who's lived in a town where the Olympics were held, I can say this.

They were a hell of a lot of fun, but there's debt that will never be paid off. Not in my lifetime, not in my kids' lifetimes. The Olympic Village condos are being sold off at pennies on the dollar. There were infrastructure improvements made to areas that didn't require infrastructure improvements to be made. As far as parties go, we're just shaking off the hangover now and seeing what kind of damage was caused.

They're a good time, yes. Are they worth the money? No. Never. Nyet. Nein.

[Burmy]

I'd always wondered what if Milwaukee and Madison tried bidding for a Winter Olympics...plenty of venues already in place between the two, only question is whether the skiing hills would have enough snow then.

But as Lee said above, we're trying to AVOID debt in Wisconsin...so it's not gonna happen. Still nice to imagine, though.

[Kramerica Industries]

Would rain be a factor? Seattle seems to be the right size and layout for an event like this. Not sure if it has the world wide known "name" though, but that might not matter.

It generally doesn't rain in Seattle during the summer, so it would be okay. As far as name, it can't be much higher or lower than Lillehammer or Nagano, right?

You can't really compare Winter Olympic locales' with Summer Olympic locales'. The Winter games require the proper nearby terrain to conduct many of the events. Cities like Paris or London can't host the Winter games because they don't have mountains anywhere around them. There's a reason why so many Winter games in the past have been held in Alpine cities or in the mountainous regions of Japan or North America; there aren't big-city alternatives, really. Off the top of my head, the only Winter cities I can think of (and, admittedly, I'm not a wizard when it comes to remembering what years what cities hosted the event) that could possibly pull off a Summer games would be Munich, Calgary, and Vancouver. It's probably a stretch to include Calgary in there, but the rest of the Winter cities I can think of are the likes of the two you mentioned, Innsbruck, Nagano, Lake Placid, Salt Lake City, etc., essentially, resorts.

In regards to another poster - the West Side Stadium proposal in 2005 for the Jets was going to be an integral piece in (I believe) a NY 2012 bid, but when that proposal fell through, so did New York's bid. I also believe both the new stadiums for the Yankees and Mets were already factored into that, so I don't believe Citi Field and/or Yankee Stadium would make any difference now.

Thanks to Wikipedia, here's a summation:

The final plans for what is now Citi Field were created as part of the New York City 2012 Olympic bid. After plans for a West Side Stadium fell through, New York looked for an alternate stadium to host the opening and closing ceremonies and track and field. The Olympic Stadium project on the West Side was estimated to cost $2.2 billion, with $300 million provided by New York City and an additional $300 million from New York State. If New York had won the bid, Citi Field would have been expanded to Olympic events while the Mets would have played at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx for the 2012 season.

The Mets playing an entire season in a rival ballpark just four years after their own ballpark opened. Can you even imagine? I mean, yes, the Yankees played two seasons at Shea in 1974-75, but that's because Yankee Stadium was a decrepit, dilapidated ballpark that was not safe to use without a full-on renovation. Entirely different circumstances.

[LAWeaver]

The Olympics in Ohio, huh? Pretty much what Buc said. Funny, but scary. But then again, I would only live 2-3 hours from the games.

[MadmanLA]

I was four years old when the Olympics were here in Los Angeles in '84, as our family lived at the time just a couple miles south of the Coliseum. A Summer Olympics may be the best (and perhaps, the only) way a new Coliseum gets built, even now with USC having operational control of the facility. You have venues in place you could use for basketball (Staples Center), gymnastics (the Sports Arena or perhaps Pauley Pavillon), volleyball (USC's Galen Center), baseball if they decide to bring it back (Dodger or Angel Stadium), and swimming (Argue Swimming Stadium, next door to the Coliseum).

As far as transportation, it'll be much different now with the rail lines in the city, including the Expo Line, which bypasses Staples, Galen, the USC campus, and the Coliseum. The new Crenshaw/LAX light rail line is scheduled to be completed by 2019, and with that it'll give a direct connection to the hotels in and around the airport area.

[smzimbabwe]

The only new construction necessary would be an aquatic center.

The King County Aquatic Center was built for the 1990 Goodwill Games and still hosts major competitions, such as U.S. Olympic trials. Don't know what the requirements for an Olympics are, but it should be adequate.

I myself am behind the Anchorage 2026 bid. They were a candidate in 1992 and 1994, and were basically told by the IOC that they were the overwhelming favorite for 1998, but the USOC decided to back Salt Lake City instead for the 98 games.

[Saintsfan]

As someone who's lived in a town where the Olympics were held, I can say this.

They were a hell of a lot of fun, but there's debt that will never be paid off. Not in my lifetime, not in my kids' lifetimes. The Olympic Village condos are being sold off at pennies on the dollar. There were infrastructure improvements made to areas that didn't require infrastructure improvements to be made. As far as parties go, we're just shaking off the hangover now and seeing what kind of damage was caused.

They're a good time, yes. Are they worth the money? No. Never. Nyet. Nein.

I disagree. The east end of London has been revitalised by the 2012 games. I think there are poor models for how to host an Olympics, and good models. London, Barcelona and Sydney are good examples, Athens and Atlanta, for instance, poor models.

[tBBP]

The only new construction necessary would be an aquatic center.

The King County Aquatic Center was built for the 1990 Goodwill Games and still hosts major competitions, such as U.S. Olympic trials. Don't know what the requirements for an Olympics are, but it should be adequate.

I myself am behind the Anchorage 2026 bid. They were a candidate in 1992 and 1994, and were basically told by the IOC that they were the overwhelming favorite for 1998, but the USOC decided to back Salt Lake City instead for the 98 games.

Yeah...speaking of that, how the hell has Anchorage NOT had an Olympic event yet? (Or have they and I just never knew?)

Not the biggest city in the world, I don't remember much hotel space up there--and I don't even wanna think about the infrastructure improvements they'd have to make, that's one thingo I DO remember--but then again, they wouldn't have to worry about lack of snow or thawing ice. (Hell, the streets themselves become 3-inch-thick ice rinks sometimes...just play the games in the streets!)

[Needschat]

Washington-Baltimore should be eliminated for just traffic problems they have NOW!