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Old Posted Feb 16, 2010, 5:26 PM
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mwadswor mwadswor is offline
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Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Tempe, AZ
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Leo the Dog View Post
Let's be realistic: Phoenix would have to create an Olympic Village. No way this city is willing or able to take on that kind of expense.

I'd be in favor of it if they would bulldoze down Garfield and take over the whole sq. mile and build an urban village with thousands of units to house the athletes during the games and new residents afterwards.
Let's be more realistic, the Olympics aren't about what the host city can provide, they're about what the selection committee wants. Lots of cities could host the olympics. Phoenix is better positioned than most because of the number of Spring training sites, but it is loaded with nimby's, it doesn't have the transit infrastructure to move the millions of people that would show up for the games (or at least that the Olympics plan on showing up), and we would never vote to tax ourselves enough to upgrade our infrastructure the way it would need to be upgraded. Very little sets us apart from other cities in the US, much less the world. I love Phoenix, but I just don't think we have what the selection committee would be looking for, and I think a lot of people living here prefer it that way.

More to the point, Phoenix is in the US. The US hosted the olympics 14 years ago, and 12 years before that. I think a big part of the reason Chicago got passed over is because the selection committee is trying to pick more diverse cities (London snuck in there somehow) and countries. Mexico City or somewhere in Canada or even the Carribbean has a much better chance of passing that standard.

Oh, and I think at least 1 marathon runner would actually die if we tried to do a marathon in June or July
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