Anyone know offhand when they announce the Olympic city?

[iceman66]

I know it's supposed to be some time Friday morning, local time.

[bbinacan]

1. Here you go.

http://in.news.yahoo.com/137/20091001/375/tsp-timetable-of-events-at-2016-summer-o.html

[Gabi Hayes]

2. they're going live all over Chicago for the announcement. EDIT for time

just checked the tribune site, and they say it'll be just before noon, Central Daylight time

I really hope that Rio gets it

gonna screw things up throughout the Chicago area for the next seven years, and leave untold socio-economic damage for years to come

makes me sick to my stomach....

[vadawg]

3. i hope madrid gets it, might be worth going then...

[iceman66]

4. Thank you.

I'd like to see Chicago get it just to spite all the right wingers who want to see Obama fail at everything.

Maybe it wouldn't be as bad as you think. It didn't seem to screw up Atlanta that bad.

[undeterred]

6. If Chicago gets it, the midwest economy will be stimulated.

So I hope Chicago gets it.

[stray cat]

11. Great for jobs -and good for working Americans

[Gabi Hayes]

10. hope you're right if we 'win,' but if you know anything about how crooked/crazy

Daley is, you'd be worried about how out of control the spending is going to get, who's going to benefit, who's going to be displaced, whose lives will be ruined, vs. whose lives will be positively affected

IIRC, Cook County already has the highest sales tax in the nation

anybody who thinks that's not going up, well, all I can say is ha ha

that's not counting all the other little taxes they slap on visitors to chicago itself: hotels, theater, sports, booze, etc.

[joeybee12]

7. When I lived in Seattle, some pols wanted to start a bid for the Olympics...

...public backlash was incredible...I don't blame you.

[WeDidIt]

8. It'll put Chicago back to work and rebuild the CTA infrastructure, you mean

Without the 2016 Olympics, the CTA will completely fall apart by 2016.

Chicago desperately needs to win this bid.

[WillowTree]

12. I'm with you. Really pulling for Rio.......or Madrid.......or Tokyo.......or anywhere else.

Overall, the Olympics will be an economic negative for Chicago and Illinois in general, not unlike Mayor Daley's genius idea to raise money for the City by leasing the parking meters for 75 years to a company that raised parking fees to the point where small businesses are losing business because the nearby parking is prohibitively expensive.

Not to mention the fact that I don't look forward to the crowds. No thanks. I'll watch on TV.

[Gabi Hayes]

15. did you hear they're talking about adding lanes to LSD? how on earth are they going to do that?

and can you imagine what that's going to do to traffic?

I hardly ever go downtown anymore, just for that reason. it's a pain in the ass enough to go anywhere as it is....can't imagine the nightmare it's going to be like if they start building/'improving' thins all over the area

man, am I ever OLD!

[City Lights]

5. The Chi-Trib has a countdown clock...17 hours, 10 minutes, 38 seconds

at the time of this post.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/

[Gabi Hayes]

9. Millenium Park...Blueprint for Olympic boondoggle?

Awe-inspiring as it is....

estimated at ~ $150 Million, it ended up costing over $450-500, depending on who you believe

It was more than 300% over budget. how does that bode for Olympic costs in one of the most corrupt cities on the planet?


Like so many other pubic projects in Chicago, the park became a political boondoggle almost immediately from its inception. It became bogged down in bureaucratic turf battles, allegations of graft, and cost overruns. Few dispute the notion that Millennium Park was created at the behest of Mayor Richard M. Daley as a self-promotion tool. It was his vision that guided the process, and his forceful nature that managed to push it through in spite of the obstacles involved. Naturally, all of the promotional material for the park bore his image at the time it opened. Some speculated that he might want to re-name it "Daley Park" in honor of himself. That speculation was mostly laid to rest when the mayor ordered Meigs Airport bulldozed in the middle of the night in order to create another massive park on the lakefront. Some feel the future of that land will be his lasting legacy.

http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/Building/1292/Millennium_Park.php


Daley is a deeply disturbed megalomaniac, and that's an understatement.

lord knows what's going to happen, but I don't think it's going to be pretty

that said, I hope for the best.

I'll make a killing renting out my condo, that's for sure

[BlooInBloo]

13. If the unmatched apocalyptic death and destruction resulting from having the Olympics is so bad....

Why are many DUers pulling for Rio or Madrid? Why do they hate Rio and Madrid so much?

[Gabi Hayes]

16. nimby, baby.

[ET Racer]

14. Add me to the anywhere but here voter rolls

Chicago corruption on an Olympic scale is scary stuff.