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We all know about the massive potholes cropping up across the city. And we know how important the upcoming International Olympic Committee visit is to Mayor Daley's the City of Chicago's bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics. And this is why we're not surprised in the least that proposed Olympic venue sites are getting first crack at pothole repairs. When the Trib writes, "The work raised questions for some who fear taxpayers will suffer as the city directs scarce resources toward impressing Olympic officials," our knee-jerk reaction is: Really? Who didn't see this coming? Transportation Department spokesman Brian Steele even admitted, "We wanted to hit some of the streets near the planned Olympic venues before the IOC visit."
And potholes aren't the only thing that are getting a spit-shine. Last week, we had a reader write in to tell us:
I work for a company who once a year has our sidewalks power washed before restaurants put up their sidewalk cafes. We just received a call that the company that does this for us would like to start Monday, but that instead of the 4 trucks they usually send they are only able to send 1. The reason is because apparently the mayor has hired nearly every truck in the city to power wash O'Hare, Midway and the entire downtown area from Oak Street to Roosevelt (!) in advance of the IOC meeting here next month.
The city is going to put its best foot forward, showing the IOC the gleaming, shiny buildings of the Loop and River North and the lushness of its city parks while trying to sweep the less savory citizens and neighborhoods under the rug, away from prying IOC eyes. ("Violence on the Southwest Side? We don't know what you mean, Mr. Swiss Representative. Say, did you know President Obama has a house in Hyde Park? Let me show you it.") We just find it amusing that given all the potential clusterfucks involved with the 2016 bid, it's potholes that gets the major media outlets all cranky. [Tribune, CBS 2]
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This isn't really uncommon behavior. Every city wants to look its best for any event, and especially an event that will make the city money. You better believe Atlanta has a face lift during the Olympics.
True,
But it shows what most of us have predicted. The Olympic facelift will only benefit the minority of Chicagoans who live around the loop or touristy areas. I would like to make the committee drive down one of the streets in my neighborhood that's nearly impassable.
Amen. Why don't they just put blinders on the committee like the do race horses to insure they see only what the city wants them to see.
Ignore the man behind the curtain, indeed.
I wish the Olympic committee was going to be driving down Grand Ave between Halsted and Desplaines. It's pretty much a dirt road at this point.
To be fair, it's not like anyone lives outside of the future Olympic Sites.
Most of Chicago is just prairie.
Sincerely,
1718
For some reason I can't reply to JessNevins' comment (WinXP FF 3.0.7)
"To be fair, it's not like anyone lives outside of the future Olympic Sites.
Most of Chicago is just prairie.
Sincerely,
1718"
That's hilarious.
I see what happened.
The problem beaureve is that the city is swearing up and down that they aren't going to spending tax dollars on this whole Olympic concept, and then we find out these things. And this is just the beginning if we are unlucky enough to get the bid. Go Rio!
The corner outside my building floods every time it rains. This is because the storm drain is in the middle of the street, which is convex. So water collects on two corners. During heavy rains, it flows over the curb and up onto the sidewalk. Cars send up 4-foot sheets of filthy water all day. It's impassable for pedestrians, who have to cross the street. This winter, the freeze/thaw has caused the area to turn into a huge pothole four feet long and about 7 inches deep. Cars slam into this repeatedly. so the pothole is growing. My neighbors say this corner has flooded like this for at least 12 years because there's literally nowhere for the water to go. Calls over the years to Daley-appointed Mary Ann Smith's office have been met with indifference. Apparently, there's nothing that can be done. Chicago is no longer a city that works. I wonder if it ever was. When I moved here, there were no pedestrian crossing signals at Lincoln/Addison/Ravenswood. It took a woman being killed in a hit and run and embarrassing letters to the alderman from the students at St. Andrews elementary school for them to finally put in modern-day crossing signals there. Maybe when a sinkhole forms at my corner, swallowing a car or drowning a toddler, Mary Ann Smith will stop advocating for elephants and voting to relocate the Children's Museum to address a nuts-and-bolts infrastructure issue in her ward.
maybe instead of hosting the olympics we could money towards mental health care/combating poverty/fixing up the project housing situations around the city? Blago would love to see the money go to anything but...