Blueprint for Detroit's 2020 Olympic bid

[ThaFuzz]

This is one of the most ridiculous threads I've ever read here.

No kidding. I'm still waiting for iheartthed's hyperbole- and wishful thinking-free explanation concerning how Beijing was in worse shape than Detroit is now when it won its bid to host the last summer Olympics [[from the Detroit 2020! thread) Luckily I haven't literally been holding my breath while waiting.

Reading iheartthed's posts is like listening to Jenny McCarthy rattle on about the evils of vaccines.

[iheartthed]

No kidding. I'm still waiting for iheartthed's hyperbole- and wishful thinking-free explanation concerning how Beijing was in worse shape than Detroit is now when it won its bid to host the last summer Olympics [[from the Detroit 2020! thread) Luckily I haven't literally been holding my breath while waiting.

Reading iheartthed's posts is like listening to Jenny McCarthy rattle on about the evils of vaccines.

Another DYesser with a reading comprehension problem... What a surprise?

I said that Detroit is probably farther ahead now than Beijing was when it was named host of the games. And that's true. The Detroit area has hosted several major sporting events already. Beijing had hosted none. The Detroit area has numerous sports facilities as well as convention space available to host events. From what I have read, Beijing had to build virtually everything from scratch.

Of course, I fully expect you to misread this and twist it into something that I was not saying.

[ThaFuzz]

Another DYesser with a reading comprehension problem... What a surprise?

...

Of course, I fully expect you to misread this and twist it into something that I was not saying.

Of course, I fully expected you to avoid citing specific examples in your arguments. I'll be sure to devote a whole page in my secret diary to your stinging insults. I'll try real hard to squeeze out a few tears, I promise!

[iheartthed]

Of course, I fully expected you to avoid citing specific examples in your arguments. I'll be sure to devote a whole page in my secret diary to your stinging insults. I'll try real hard to squeeze out a few tears, I promise!

Aww, you keep a diary! That's so cute!

[1KielsonDrive]

what exactly are you expecting? While the economy has slowed much of the new development, you can't say the Super Bowl, All Star game, etc. didn't have a positive effect on the city.


And yes everything hasn't been peaches and cream over the past 10 years, but you can't expect to fix 40 years of disinvestment with one event, even if it is the Olympics. However, a successful Games would help to change Detroit's image in the world and especially in the U.S.

The past 10 years? Try the past 50 years of no peaches and cream and disinvestment. I didn't say the events you listed didn't have a positive effect on the city. I'm saying the 'Saviour Syndrome' has never worked and will not work. A successful 'Games' will do no more for the city of Detroit than did the 'Super Duper Pooper Bowl'. If you think that's considerable, so be it. Look around the neighborhoods. Detroit's image will not be changed in my lifetime no matter what is done. I don't care. I enjoy Detroit for what it is now. When the Detroit political elite manages to get their shit together to deliver basic, efficient, friendly, services to Detroit residents and businesses, then they can concentrate on 'Saviour' events. Meanwhile, we're in a depression. What in the hell are they doing about that? Read the other link here at DY about troubled Detroit properties - Penobscot, First National, etc, etc. How long do you think the Book can hang on? The premise of this link is akin to someone having a heart attack saying I'm going to run an ultra-marathon tommorrow.

[1KielsonDrive]

BTW, you can lay all the usual crap and BS on me you'd like to. I've owned properties in Detroit. I've owned businesses in Detroit. I've lived in Detroit. I'm not claiming I'm an expert, but I am claiming some expertise and a lot of experience. Let's hope [[and work, and pray, if that's your bag) for a new city council, better schools and garbage pick-up. Jeeziz Criminy, you can't walk into city hall without being assailed as an outsider and uppity. I'm speaking from first hand.

[Danny]

You all go to Downtown Detroit and take a look of the post Great Depressionesque skyscrapers and little retail along the Woodward Corridor.

You all go to each sides of Detroit ghettohoods and look how war torn it is; plagued with not only with rats, mice the size of rottweilers and giant cockroaches and pigeon-rats, but also po'folks, mutants, schizoblacks, spookies and DEAD [[C)KRAK HEADS.

You all go down to Detroit and see blacks killing blacks, blacks robbing and scaving anything in site and blacks aguing each other saying 'I WANT THIS AND I WANT WHAT THE WHITE FOLKS IN THE SUBURBS WANT!'

You all go down to Detroit and find out what those crooked city politicians are doing to exploit its services and making Detroiters so angry that they have to call Fox 2 Problem Solvers and Ruth to the Rescue to lobby and force them to do their job or face certian federal penalties.

You all go down to Detroit and see the kids getting raped robbed and killed out in the ghettos for their certian animosities such as for Tommy Hillfiger clothes, sunglasses, food and basketball shoes.

Detroit is DEAD BROKE! and do have enough regional revenue money to pay for multi million consumers and Olympic Athletes.

The International Olympic Committee don't want to see that negative activity in Detroit and if Detroit put a bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics they have pay over nearly 2 to 3 billion dollars in promissory notes and development insurances . If we lose the bid, the Detroiters have to pay back the money to the IOC. That's a risk this city can't take.

Unless Detroit have billions of dollars of regionalization money, neighborhoods and retail development, better police protection, good city services, reduces city corruption, little or no eyesores from vacant and abandon buildings and stop racially bickering and bashing at white folks in the suburbs. Detroit WILL NOT, even in the 100 years get the Summer Olympic Games.

The bid for the 2020 Summer Olympic games is OFF!

[hudkina]

I was referring to the re-investment the downtown area has been experiencing since the late 90's. While everything hasn't gone as great as it could have, I think the greater downtown area today is SIGNIFICANTLY better off than it was 10 years ago and 5 years from now with the LRT/streetcar in place things will only get better.

You're the one who is referring to an Olympic Games as a "savior" event. I've already made it clear that the fundamentals of the city need to be changed and no amount of sporting events can do that. I've made it clear that the city needs to work on reducing crime, improving education, lowering taxes, attracting businesses, etc. if it ever wants to be more than a national punchline. My point is that as the city does those things, there's nothing wrong with hosting an Olympic Games.

Even if Detroit reduced its crime and unemployment rates to average levels, even if Detroit demolished every abandoned building in the city and created massive urban parks, even if Detroit stopped its population loss and even began to see modest gains, even if all those things happened the image that Detroit creates in the nation's mind wouldn't change significantly. Hosting a successful Games will help improve that image, as long as it is backed up by real change. You can't assume that everything has to be perfect before the city can host the Olympics. There will still be neighborhoods of abandoned houses, there will still be areas where crime and poverty are extremely high, there will still be basic city services that aren't of the best quality. Do you think Atlanta didn't have crime or regional infighting before, during, and after hosting the Olympics? Do you think Rio de Janeiro won't have a massively high murder rate before, during, and after the Olympics?

If "Detroit" were just a city of 915,000, then of course it wouldn't have what it takes to host the Olympics. As a region of 4+ million, "Detroit" really isn't as bad as many people around here think, and it certainly is more than capable of hosting a major two-week sporting event.

Remember, while the host city will be selected in 2013, the games won't even occur until 2020. Just because you think Detroit is in a depression now, doesn't mean that the city will be in the same economic boat 10 years from now. As long as planners can create a solid bid that is acceptable to IOC voters, than everything else is irrelevent. The city and region do not have to be perfect for the IOC to select Detroit, they just have to be ready, able and willing.

[dtowncitylover]

Remember, while the host city will be selected in 2013, the games won't even occur until 2020. Just because you think Detroit is in a depression now, doesn't mean that the city will be in the same economic boat 10 years from now. As long as planners can create a solid bid that is acceptable to IOC voters, than everything else is irrelevent. The city and region do not have to be perfect for the IOC to select Detroit, they just have to be ready, able and willing.

I like this last paragraph. Also remember in 1955 Detroit was it's height in terms of economic power and international prestige. By 1970, the city was already the butt of jokes. Rebuilding though is slower than destroying. I don't support a 2020 bid as that's a bit too soon, but I would support a viable bid.

[1KielsonDrive]

hudkina, I appreciate your follow up comments. In that light it seems your idea is a bit more reasonable. But I still don't agree with entertaining an Olympic bid because it would only divert attention from the basics Detroit needs. I believe Detroit will be in a rebuilding process for 50 years before it becomes a liveable, modern, well-run city. I've watched it tumble downward for that many years. And as downtowncitylover said, rebuilding is slower than destroying. I'd like to buy into your dreams, but I think it more important to buy into reality.

[youngdetroiter]

While the United States would have a good shot at being awarded the 2020 Olympics, Chicago being eliminated in the first round by the IOC makes me pessimistic about a Detroit bid. Chicago has "it." Chicago has the people, the image, the global influence [[or international importance), the land and space [[including the sprawling Chicagoland), aesthetic attractive with its beautiful downtown, and plenty of culture.

If Detroit makes a bid, I would like to see a joint Detroit-Windsor 2020 [[United States-Canada) bid. Even if Windsor is not formally part of the name for the bid, we should capitalize off of our unique location and cultural ties. I imagine that doing so might be a logistics nightmare, though, with the current border security levels in the U.S. That, in itself, would take years of planning.

Many have suggested using current facilities that we currently have. And yes, I know that it is neither economically feasible nor sensible to build numerous facilities that cannot be used after the Games, but I would love to see the city rebuilt.

I have always thought that Detroit's downtown is just too small. The city needs to be a lot more dense. Outside of Downtown, the city is much like a big, residential suburb. And historically, that is what most of modern-day Detroit was. Most of what Detroit is today were annexed "suburbs".

I would prefer that homes are not built on these large tracts of vacant land throughout the city. I would like to see the CBD or "skyscraper district" expand. Detroiters fail to see the beauty between the contrast of old and new. Modern cosmopolitan glass towers complementing the Albert Kahn-type buildings. Let us build more rowhouses and townhouses. Use other land to build more parks and natural settings. Build an amusement park like Edgewater. Create an entertainment district like the Barrio Antiguo of Monterrey, Mexico.

If we want to get real fancy, we could unearth some of the "forgotten" rivers that run through the city that were built over with our concrete jungle.

If we enjoyed the density of cities such as San Francisco or Boston, boast a million people and still reserve half of the city's land for parkland.

But I digress. If urban planning and new infrastructure is properly planned and executed, then Detroit would not only gain a new image for the wonder that she is, but she would receive a fresh breath of life for herself and her chidren, Detroiters.

[Danny]

The International Olympic Community have their reasons and their judgement call not to pick Chicago to host the 2016 Summer Olympics.

1. The IOC member[[s) must have research Chicago's economy, race relations, violent crimes, police protection. Their results: more gang activities, poor police protection in poor and crime laden neighborhoods, more youth violence and the way how the Chicago Aldermen board wants to put the Olympic Village at Hyde Park near the south side in which its dangerous area.

2. The IOC did the some hard thinking in a long time about giving various South American cities a chance to host the Olympics. After all of South America including African cities had never host the Olympic games. They chose Rio de Janiero [[ Despite with growing homeless problem) because booming ecomony, clean air, they way they preserve its enviroments and great race relations. very respectful to primitive tribal nations. Rio de Janiero is a great place to host the Summer Olympics much better than Bejing and Los Angeles combined. I have to congraduate those Brazilians for a job well done to putting less revenue money for lobby the IOC to bring the Olympics in their beautiful nature preserved nation. I give them credit. We Americans can't have too much of the hosting the Olympics games in our supercities. Therefore we have to let the IOC give other international cities a chance to host the Olympic games.

[Melstina]

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[Danny]

Detroit's bid for IOC for the 2020 Olympics is not going to happen. The bid goes to Tokyo, Japan. It would another 100 years before Detroit ever get the Olympic bid. Forget it!

[mtburb]

Detroit's bid for IOC for the 2020 Olympics is not going to happen. The bid goes to Tokyo, Japan. It would another 100 years before Detroit ever get the Olympic bid. Forget it!

Will any of us be still alive in 2120, when Detroit does host the Olympics?

[night-timer]

Does the IOC award the right to host the Games as a way of saving a city's ass? Is that how the decision on who hosts the games is made?

What about Detroit's bankruptcy? Is that going to send a red flag to the IOC that Detroit may struggle to put the show on?

Don't get me wrong, an Olympics in Detroit would be fine, but it will be a challenge to win.

[MikeyinBrooklyn]

Concentrating on an Olympic bid at this point is silly. When our finances are stable, our neighborhoods and safe and growing, and decrepit buildings all over the city are rebuilt, then we can start to think about it. Optimistically, maybe we can start in 15 or 20 years. But now it is just distracting [[although I suspect we all have "Dream Detroits" in our heads).

[EastsideAl]

Yeah, yeah, Olympics blah blah blah... but what about those SUPER BOWL HOTELS?

[canuck]

Olympics are an excellent source of scandal; part of a recommended daily allowance of corruption, collusion, cost overruns, etc...

[Danny]

Will any of us be still alive in 2120, when Detroit does host the Olympics?

Detroit will get the Olympic between 2072 and 2120. Most of us will be alive to see it happen.

[night-timer]

Detroit will get the Olympic between 2072 and 2120. Most of us will be alive to see it happen.

I won't. Tokyo won't get the games because it just hosted the winter games in Nagano. I'm super skeptical about the US/Canada cross-border [[Detroit/Windsor) games, too.

[Al Publican]

Why are the Atlanta Braves moving out of the stadium built for the 1996 Olympic Games 17 years later? Just heard something on the radio this morning about a new Braves stadium.

[MikeyinBrooklyn]

Looks like Boston is going to get a strong push as the "next" American city bidding for the Olympics. If unsuccessful, other cities could bid for 2028. If successful, there probably wouldn't be an American city in contention until 2036 or so.

http://olympictalk.nbcsports.com/201...omney/related/

[night-timer]

Even at my age, I prefer short-term plans ;-)

[rbdetsport]

Why are the Atlanta Braves moving out of the stadium built for the 1996 Olympic Games 17 years later? Just heard something on the radio this morning about a new Braves stadium.

They are moving because of the lack of transit connection [[currently one must get off of MARTA rail and transfer to a bus connection), lack of expressway connection, and lack of control of the surrounding parking lots that could be ripe for redevelopment.

Coming from someone who recently moved to Atlanta, and seeing all of the positive things going on around here, I am not happy about this. I understand the reasoning, but I can't say this is good for the city. Plus the fact that Cobb County is putting $400 Million of taxpayer dollars into it...