Question: Why was Chicago in the running for the Olympics?

[Honeycombe8]

No offense intended, but I've been to Chicago just a couple of times. Great, exciting city. (Lots of beef and pizza!) But also...lots of people and buildings. Where exactly would Olympics events have taken place? I mean, Chicago seemed to be so jam packed full of people when I went, that I was surprised there would be ample room for all the Olympics events.

Then there are usually magnificent sites or great historical relevance to the sites usually selected for the Olympics. ???? Chicago is a beautiful city, but it's just that: a beautiful city. There are many beautiful cities. (Consider the other contenders for historic relevance or beauty or uniqueness: Rio, Madrid, Tokyo (talk about a space issue, with Tokyo, eh?))

I was perplexed. Anyone know why Chicago was in the running?

[TwilightGardener]

1. I don't know. Why Atlanta?

[Honeycombe8]

4. I've been to Atlanta, too. LOTS of land and room there...for events of all sorts. Plus LOTS of

highways and streets and hotels. AND let's not forget LOTS of historical significance (the burning of Atlanta).

But I have such a bad memory that I don't recall the Olympics ever being there. I gather from your post that it was.

[TheBigotBasher]

30. Chicago and San Francisco were both up for it.

Chicago got the US Olympic Committee nod. It had a better plan and was in 2007, when the Candidate Cities were shortlisted, the most technically competent bid.

Of the Candidate Cities, Madrid had much to do to convince the IOC that a European City should be awarded the Olympics twice in a row (London 2012). That has never happened before.

The US bid was technically the strongest, in terms of planned finances, infrastructure and support (launched in the Bush years - the Democratic Party did not run down an American bid), but a McCain sponsored Act that forbid taxpayer money being used to guarantee the Olympics raised questions about finances. The US has also held the Olympics more often than any other Country, so any bid from the US would have had to have been really special. In addition, during the IOC "testing period", this did not help.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7036928.stm

Tokyo had transport and security issues, however their bid was to "urbanise" the Olympics and have the Olympic Village right in the heart of Tokyo was seen as groundbreaking and as a result was seen as the strongest on technical grounds.

No South American nation has ever hosted the Olympics, but Rio's application was on the back of successful Pan-American Games hosted in the summer of 2007.

Doha was excluded as a candidate City because it wanted to hold the Olympics in October (to mitigate the heat).

The bids from Prague and Baku did not have resident support and were considered weak.

[Rabrrrrrr]

2. Probably because most of the good cities have already hosted

so they needed a different US city to offer to the world.

Plus, some of it depends on the cities themselves offering themselves - clearly, Chicago felt like doing so this time, and managed to get through the initial screenings.

[VMI Dem]

3. Yeah, Beijing was so sparse.

[Honeycombe8]

5. Bejing is unique. No other place like it. nt

[Honeycombe8]

12. But I will add... I thought Bejing was not a good choice. Pollution and human rights issues. nt

[truedelphi]

25. People don't realize how one and a half MILLION folks were re-located to

Make room for the Olympics' buildings in China.

Imagine being evicted from a place you love so that your city can host the Olympics? That thought made it hard for me to truly enjoy the spectacle.

[ind_thinker2]

6. I guess for Mayor Daley reelection bid

ofcourse we have money involved.

[kestrel91316]

7. Because Obama is a communist Nazi muslin???

[frazzled]

8. There was a lot of space

First of all, let me assure you that Chicago has more than beer and pizza to offer its guests. It has some of the nation's finest restaurants and most creative new chefs (cf. Grant Achatz of Alinea).

Secondly, the South Side, which is where most of the events would have taken place, is full of parks. It was the site of the famous 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, which was huger probably than today's Olympics. The Olympic Village was to be built a mere 15 minutes from the main venues in the former Michael Reese Hospital. Now, thank god, we can save that important old Walter Gropius designed building and do something with it.

If you've been to Chicago and only roamed around Michigan Avenue, you don't know Chicago in the least. It would have been a great site.

That said, I'm hugely relieved we're not getting it. I was rooting for Rio from the beginning, and suspicious that our rather insular, corrupt political machine would pull off something beneficial to the general population and not just the usual suspects.

[Honeycombe8]

10. I said beeF....not beeR. I noticed there were a lot of steakhouses...

and apparently Frank Sinatra ate at ALL of them! (And hey, I live in TX, the beef state. So if I saw a lot of steakhouses, I'm pretty sure there were a LOT!)

Ahhhh....the South Side. I didn't go there.

Thanks for your informative post. I really was just asking why, and not intended to diss Chicago at all. I just learned its population was like 9 million (when I went there), and all I saw were buildings and people and stores, etc. So I didn't think there was room, unless you ventured outside of Chicago.

I get your comment about whether it would've in the end benefited the general population and not just the "usual suspects." A pity that things so often are that way.

[Cant trust em]

9. It's only slightly more dense than London. nt

[Honeycombe8]

11. Really? Well, you learn something every day. (Or rather, I learn something every day) nt

[Cant trust em]

16. I just looked it up in response to your post.

I hope we all learn a little something new every day.

How much I remember is a different story. :)

[underpants]

13. Olympics take place in areas around cities these days

take the kayaking course they built outside of Atlanta

Beijing
Atlanta
and Chicago are all cities that completely dominate the area. Basically everything feeds off the city in one way or another.

Atlanta in particular built venues all over the place in all the surrounding counties.

[Jackeens]

15. True. The Beijing equestrian events took place in.......Hong Kong.

:shrug:

Apparently they wouldn't subject the horses to the pollution in Beijing. The humans? Tough!

[underpants]

28. Okay I did NOT know that

thanks

[Honeycombe8]

18. Ahhhhh. See, I didn't know that. That explains a lot. Thx. nt

[underpants]

27. Salt Lake City

[truedelphi]

26. In Beijing, they removed by force one and a half million folks

to give that city the elbow room needed for the Olympic buildings.

[laugle]

14. Because

Michelle wanted it there, and she's the boss............LOL

[Honeycombe8]

17. LOL! nt

[Clio the Leo]

19. You need MORE than beef and pizza? NT

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

23. Clearly she's not aware that we also have brats and beer. I mean come on. nt

[Clio the Leo]

24. Not to mention....

.... hot Chicago boys who will take you out to eat beef, pizza, brats and beer.

Used to have a couple of those in my collection ..... man that mama's boys could cook.

[Honeycombe8]

33. Nothin' wrong with beef and pizza. (We have plenty here in TX, tho I don't eat either.) nt

[AllentownJake]

20. New York was our choice to go for bid in 2012

Every 4 years a US City gets to present a case to the US Olympic Committee to put it out for bid to the IOC.

In 4 years it will be a different city for 2012. The US always seems to get to be a finalist every time, simply because we have the money to finance an Olympics.

Wouldn't surprise me if Philadelphia makes a bid for 2020

[MarjorieG]

21. Gray Line now offers a South Side tour, Obama milestones, and there is potential

in all that bleak and undeveloped land. Truth is the IOC wanted Rio, and we were always uphill, due to past politics of the Olympics. Reporter Jim Warren said we were snookered, that we thought we had 35 votes, but Africa was persuaded to vote for Tokyo by Rogge.

Whatever it was, internal USIOC at odds with IOC over media rights, Rio getting it had nothing to do with Obama. I was up at 3:00ish in the morning and found the Obamas the only compelling part of the presentation.

I'll be damned if the GOP now get to be re-elected and the prez in '12 on fiscal conservatism after what they caused. Nailing him on the Olympics, etc.

[Dreamer Tatum]

22. The Games would have been all around Chicagoland

They have water for water events, pre-existing stadiums, specialized facilities at local universities, a Velodrome somewhere around there, and so forth. Chicago could have pulled it off.

[stray cat]

29. because they were suppose to have it and it was given to St Louis?

actually Chicago rocks as a location.

[Drunken Irishman]

31. Just because Chicago is the host city doesn't mean all events take place in Chicago.

Here in Salt Lake City, most events actually took place outside of the city. The downtown acted as the central hub and the events were located in places like Ogden (40-miles north), Provo (45-miles south) and Park City (30 miles).

I'm guessing the exact same thing would happen in Chicago. All the events wouldn't take place inside the Loop.

[DailyGrind51]

32. I know, we have difficulty managing traffic for a Bear's game!

[quantass]

34. Agree with you totally...It's like having NYC in the running...Honestly, Rio would be my pick

Rio seems more exotic and full of more interesting things that fits more of an olympic theme. Chicago, although it too has history, seems a bit cliched of a modern place. Though i am a bit surprised London got it (for the upcoming Olympics) since in that case i'd prefer Chicago over London any day (assuming if that were opssible)...No offense to London but when watching videos of the city...damn it looks old and beaten, but then....so does most of the cities before they prepare for the Olympics. Cant figure out where they'd build the Olympic stuff in London since imho London is even more packed with buildings and people than Chicago