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Toronto 2024 Olympic Bid (Dead)

AlvinofDiaspar said:
They chose to go crazy with a Starchitect (as much as I like Zaha Hadid's work, really?), it's their problem. More London 2012, less Beijing 2008 please.

AoD
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So, honey, the dress was regularly $2000, so at 50% off I saved $1000...

Or, if you prefer, I didn't buy the Armani, so I figured what the heck and got 2 suits instead...
 
One fascinating fact about Paris' bid is that by the sounds of it - only a new pool and a athletes village are required. They have everything else, either in permanent stadiums (ie Stade de France for Athletics) or the area's for temporary ones (ie archery and beach volleyball). It's very much a Agenda 2020 bid. However Bach is very fond of Canada, and the COC is doing everything it can to make him comfortable. Paris was the clear favourite for 2012 but still lost.
 
AlvinofDiaspar said:
Less snark directed at me would be appreciated, thanks.

AoD
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Hmm. Okay. I'll stick to straight-ahead anti-Olympic posts, but I'm not going to stop polluting this thread with reminders that these Olympic dreams come at a stupefying cost that pro-Olympic boosters seem to brush off like dandruff from their shoulders.
 
Ya, because most of those things we'd need anyway.

Very few Olympic-level athletes are produced by the GTA, mostly because our sporting infrastructure is garbage. The Panams will fix some of that, but we're not quite there.

Then there's the infrastructure spending, the city beautification (IMO also sorely needed) because there's a deadline! and suddenly the governments are much more generous with their wallets.

I'm not a summer sports fan, but I support the Olympics because they give Toronto a deadline, and the city does fairly well against them. Otherwise we'll just negotiate and rehash old plans for the next few decades ad nauseum... Sigh
 
I find it difficult to comprehend how any UT aficionado of design, architecture, urban renewal and planning would be disappointed by an Olympic Games. It's like a child being down on Christmas because there are needy children in the world.
 
Filip said:
Then there's the infrastructure spending, the city beautification (IMO also sorely needed) because there's a deadline! and suddenly the governments are much more generous with their wallets.
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But of course the example of how QQ is redone without the Olympics would be brought up - like, if not for a) the kick that is the 2008 bid (recall the circumstances around how WT - then TWRC was constituted), and b) the fact that it took 10 years (!!) from competition to completion? Like, it's nice and all - but at the heart of it QQ is merely a street rebuild - it shouldn't have taken 5 years, much less a decade.

Tewder said:
I find it difficult to comprehend how any UT aficionado of design, architecture, urban renewal and planning would be disappointed by an Olympic Games. It's like a child being down on Christmas because there are needy children in the world.
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Toronto is exceedingly timid with grand plans, much less implementing however few of those we have. Time to change that - it's a big city now, start acting like one.

AoD
 
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tiffer24 said:
Wasn't that the motto of Toronto's now defunct "Bread Not Circuses" wet blankets--there shall be no celebratory days in this city until child poverty, armed conflict and right-wing governments are eliminated from this world.
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And of course, we're told that not having the Olympics will somehow redirect the public imagination to these things, leading to Nirvana. Obviously that happened. If only they could have directed their energies to more than the vaulted "resistance", the world would be a much better place.

AoD
 
Tewder said:
I find it difficult to comprehend how any UT aficionado of design, architecture, urban renewal and planning would be disappointed by an Olympic Games. It's like a child being down on Christmas because there are needy children in the world.
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How is it difficult to understand that people into design, architecture, urban renewal, and planning realize that improvements in the urban realm need to be made regardless of whether or not we win Olympic bids?

Since when did the Olympics become our decision making body? We are directly in control of our own outcomes. When we elect morons like Rob Ford as Mayor, we get exactly what we are asking for... Nothing! We should be electing politicians that are pro infrastructure, design, and planning, and relying less on winning Olympics to get these things.

That being said, I do support an Olympic bid, as I feel that the PAG have made Toronto pay attention to itself for once. The pride I have seen amongst Torontonians during the past week has been incredible. Hopefully this sets off a wave of support for large scale projects that continue to improve the City.
 
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