Like there already is in Boston, San Francisco now has a coalition of citizens and politicians getting vocal in the press about their opposition to the city's bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics. Leading the charge is former Supervisor Chris Daly, who penned an op-ed in the Chronicle last week decrying the the Olympics idea as "courting ruin." And now he's made it official and tells ABC 7 that the group "SF No 2024 Olympics" will take this to the ballot if they have to. Which: of course.
It may not have to come to that, though, since the US Olympic Committee will be making a decision Thursday as to which US city they'll be putting forward as a candidate for the 2024 games. As the Business Times notes, USOC CEO Scott Blackmun called it a "four-way tie" between the four major cities in the running: SF, LA, DC, and Boston. LA has hosted the games before, in 1984, however odds-makers in Vegas still say LA has the best shot at the current bid, with Boston a close second.
Supervisor John Avalos, who also vehemently opposed the America's Cup, is on the anti-Olympics train as well. The goal of SF No 2024 Olympics is to ensure that taxpayers don't end up on the hook for what promises to be a hugely expensive construction and infrastructure undertaking to prepare for and host the Olympics. As economist Andrew Zimbalist has written on this topic, the 2008 Beijing Olympics cost something in the range of $44 billion, and every Olympics since 1960 has had cost overruns averaging 179 percent.
The SF bid committee is saying that the Olympics here would cost $4.5 billion, and would help to draw investment in infrastructure projects like an extension of the Central Subway to Fisherman's Wharf.
Here's an outline of where Olympic events would take place, utilizing already existing and about-to-be-built facilities in the city like the Warriors Arena, Kezar Stadium, Marina Green, Moscone Center, Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, and Golden Gate Park. Opening and closing ceremonies would take place in a new, temporary stadium to be built on landfill in Brisbane, and Levi's Stadium would be the place for rugby.
In any event, we we may only have to fret about this for another two days. But SF's bid ends up being successful, as Larry Baer dearly hopes, brace yourselves.
