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The official Chicago 2016 bid book will be unleashed at 10:30 a.m. this morning. Tokyo released theirs as did Madrid; Rio plans to unveil theirs at a press conference in London on Monday. So how important are the bid books? Kinda sorta.
All four cities have spent enormous amounts of time and gone to significant expense to prepare documents that will likely be read to completion by few of the 100-plus International Olympic Committee members who choose the host city Oct. 2.But the bid books, in which the cities provide detailed answers to IOC questions on 17 themes, can factor into the decision.
The information serves as a template for the IOC evaluation commission, which will visit the four finalists in April and May.
We'll be reading along with everyone else and we'll report back later today or, depending on how thick it is, early next week.
Update (11:30 a.m.) - It's out and while we haven't been able to comb through the multi-volume behemoth, we can tell you that it doesn't include any overhaul of the existing transit system. That makes total sense.
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Well, I guess the boosters who screamed the Games would bring improvements to the daily lives of local commuters can kindly shut the fuck up now.
As for those of us who were less naive, we can I told you so, but it doesn't really feel all that good, not with the massive tax grab that will be required to fund this bullshit, which, in true Chicago AND Olympics form, will come in massively over budget.
I looked over the venue section and was very impressed with the compactness of all of the venues. Almost everything is not only in the City proper but within 4km of the Olympic Village (just south of McCormick Place). The exceptions are the road cycling and mountain biking which will be in Madison, Pentathlon in Evanston, and shooting events out west of the City and equestrian events up in Lake County. Having attended the 1996 games in Atlanta I can tell you that things were much more spread out there. The drive from events downtown out to Stone Mountain was a huge PITA. The Chicago bid even has the kayaking right downtown out on Northerly Island.
In all I am very impressed with the venues and the possibility of utilizing quite a few existing facilities. That said I am still very apprehensive about the Olympics in Chicago. I just don't trust Daley and his cronies. He promises Olympic prosperity for all of Chicago but I'm pretty certain this will end up costing all of Chicago a lot of money and greatly benefit a select few. Daley is using the spirit of Olympic good will to enrich his posse. If we are selected in October I'll feel the same way I felt when one of my most irresponsible friends won almost 100k at the Casino. Happy that he won, but knowing it will all end up wasted...
That's the SAD of the Olympics to me. I think they'd be marvelous to behold and Chicago would be a jewel of a city to hold them.
But you're handing gobs of money to a massively corrupt regime with oversight by the IOC, who make Daley and co. look like pikers.
According to Tribune article, the bid book states: "Chicago's current transport infrastructure effectively delivers millions to parks where venues and celebration sites are planned," it said.
If the CTA is in such great shape that it can handle an influx of millions of additional riders, then I don't think we should see any more rate increases, eliminated routes, or whining by Daley about how the CTA need more money.
I think we all know that the CTA needs a great deal of improvements and to be expanded into underserved areas. One of the few things that made the idea of us hosting the Olympics at all acceptable was the promise of improved infrastructure, especially transportation infrastructure. That was clearly a lie.
On page 107 of the book (pg. 58 of the pdf), it states that:
"it is anticipated that federal and state funds will be committed to enhance the performance of the current transport system. The Games will serve as a catalyst to increase such expenditures and accelerate these planned, long-term investments."
This means that no specific improvements are proposed because the fed does not allocate funding until after an Olympic bid has been won. This has always been the US's stance on Olypmic capital improvements, and very much differs from how these things funded in other countries. If Chicago wins the bid, THEN we might see investment plans in the following congressional budget hearing.
Given our incumbent president hails from Chicago and has repeatedly stated a desire reallocate money toward infrastructure projects nationwide, I doubt that Chicago will get shorted in funding. Historically, Atlanta received 600 million toward infrastructure funding and Salt Lake received 1.3 billion. Given the trend, I would guess that Chicago could expect to receive 3+ billion additional funding, front loaded between 2010 and 2016.
Yes, it is anticipated (and thanks for including the cite), but as I understand the Games--haven't had time yet for a line by line reading of the proposal---you really don't need to, say, improve the north stretch of the Red Line--all you need are some shuttles and some relatively local improvements that may or may not improve the lives of daily commuters. That's generally been the case in other cities, though I am no expert on this.
But I think the bigger message now is that the proposal can live with or without CTA improvements.
And the cost estimate for a Chicago Olympics are, at best, laughable, or, at worst, a bald-faced lie.
considering the financial condition of country in general and the state and federal government specifically, anticipating funding is quite the assumption. I am not saying it won't happen, but it seems like the economic environment we are in now is quite different than in the years before the Atlanta or Salt Lake olympics. With the way Daley keeps putting more and more of a financial burden on the tax payers of Chicago, it is hard to believe we won't be left paying the olympic sized bills as well.
I agree. All of these games will probably temporarily benefit that sliver of lake front between 35th street and 47th. Any additional transportation improvements, i feel, will be temporary and all Chicago will get in return is about 6 new privately developed high-rises on the southside.
These games will benefit few and the expense of many, imo.
All that said I still want them to come here. I think it would be great exposure for Chicago a city that while internationally "heard-of" is not necessarily internationally in the way NYC London or Tokyo are.
Does the city even go that far? I thought once you got further than 31st, you fell over the edge of the earth...
i meant i agree with matilda
does Daley's endorsement letter have a typo in your version? WTF Daley!?
He must have dictated it.
It also looks like the bid book promises a "last resort" $500 million guarantee of tax payer money. The city is estimating a $500 million dollar operating profit.
The London Olympics already looks like it will cost over $16 billion - three times the original estimate. Chicago's estimate is "only" $4.8 billion. It will be amazing if we break even.
That's what some people, cynical as they may be, call a bald-faced lie, Jackson93. What's funny in a very sad way is that Daley, Ryan and their cronies are lying to even bigger liars, the IOC, a pretty corrupt group.