Putting Together an Olympic Bid Part 1: Overview

Let's bring this back in 2024!
With Los Angeles officially announcing its candidacy to host its third Olympics last week, many questions come to mind.  While the city and the Olympics themselves will likely look very different in 11 years, LA is certainly one of the best equipped cities in the world to host the games.  In this post, I'll take a quick look at why Los Angeles would make a great host and examine some things that will need to be done in order to put on such a large event.

The 1984 Olympics were one of the most successful games in history, proving that the Olympics could be staged without losing huge sums of money for the host city.  In fact, the 1984 games made a profit and have had a positive legacy for Los Angeles to this day.

Los Angeles last bid for the 2016 games, which eventually went to Brazil.  Although this was a serious bid, there seemed to be a general lack of imagination that the Olympic committees look for in choosing a host city.  For example, only one new venue would have been built (for shooting).  Also, an unimpressive (and very temporary) renovation was planned for the Coliseum.  The bid seemed to emphasize the fact that LA could host the games on the cheap.  While profitability is seen as a positive, any future bids will need to provide proof of a lasting legacy for the city after the games leave.

A smart strategy for LA to take would be similar to New York's failed 2012 bid.  Although the city lost the Olympics, it still accomplished many of the infrastructure improvements that would have been built in the name of the games.  For Los Angeles, these improvements could include several proposed parks, light rail connecting LAX, and a renovated Coliseum (just to name a few things).  The city should take the position that these projects will be happening regardless of whether or not it hosts the games.  If the Olympic Committee wants to get their name on these projects, all the better.

Los Angeles is perfectly capable of hosting an Olympics next year, if it had to.  The venues are already built, the city can handle huge volumes of tourists, and the infrastructure is already in place.  LA is a very different, and in many ways better place than it was in 1984.  However, if the city wants to make a serious run at hosting the games, it needs to put together an imaginative list of projects that will leave a lasting legacy after the Olympics end.

In future posts, I'll take a look at venues, the Olympic Village, upgrades to the Coliseum, and potential projects that would make the bid more attractive.
Park 101 - why not Los Angeles Olympic Park?

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