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Boston officials “imagine” Olympics at committee meeting

Boston’s Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts, and Cultural Development heard testimony Tuesday from citizens and officials advocating for New England to throw its proverbial hat in the ring, as they consider hosting the Games in 2024.

“While security is, and will always be, a major concern in any Olympics, our first responders have proven to be more than up to the task. Our Boston police, fire and EMS have proven to be the most dedicated and prepared in the world,” Boston City Councilor Matthew O’Malley said Tuesday.

“Imagine soccer matches in Foxboro, basketball in Springfield, sailing in Newport, rowing along the Charles, tennis in Lowell, beach volleyball at the National Seashore and running the Olympic Marathon down our route, which begins in Hopkinton and ends on Boylston Street.”

It seems like the idea that was originally called “far-fetched” by mayor Tommy Menino a couple months ago is gaining steam, much to the delight of the Boston Olympic Exploratory Committee, which has spent nearly a year working toward their dream of bringing the world to Boston.

Now the committee is expected to vote on State Senator Eileen Donoghue’s bill, which aims to commission a nine-member team to study the logistics of Boston hosting an Olympics, including examining the infrastructure, transportation, hospitality, venue locations, budgets, and more. If the bill passes commmittee, it will then move on to a vote in the Massachusetts House and Senate.

“It is important to hold this hearing today to discuss the Olympics,” Donoghue said. “And how we can show the world how extraordinary our city, our commonwealth and our people are.”

original story here: http://olympictalk.nbcsports.com/2013/05/08/boston-officials-imagine-olympics-at-committee-meeting/

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Interesting that security was the only thing they focused on. I might be wrong but this doesn't look that serious to the IOC at least.

That's a report on a local newscast. They chose an angle to report on and that's all they talked about. If you're looking at that as an all-encompassing report, you probably haven't watch the local news much recently. To that end..

If you check out the links below, you'll see that there was much more covered than security during the 2 1/2 hour hearing yesterday. 13 business leaders, elected officials, Olympians, and Boston Exploratory Committee members testified before the Joint Committee for Travel Tourism and Culture.

Thanks for the info and updates. I know how skeptical I was early on over how serious these efforts were, but good to see they're going through the motions here and working on making their sell to the USOC. Obviously there's more than a few hurdles in front of them, but they seem like a very determined group. Also good to see how open and accessible this whole process is. That's the way a city like Boston needs to go at it. They wouldn't benefit from doing these things behind closed doors. Hopefully this committee gets the vote that gives them the go-ahead to proceed further along.

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Read more about the Boston 2024 State House hearing:

Boston Globe:

http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2013/05/07/legislative-committee-hears-support-for-bill-study-boston-olympic-bid/ciMAmH2XSF0gy5XJHAmJaL/story.html

CBS WBZ 4:

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2013/05/07/state-officials-consider-bid-for-2024-olympic-games-in-boston/

Lowell Sun

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2013/05/07/state-officials-consider-bid-for-2024-olympic-games-in-boston/

Western Mass 22News

If you check out the links below, you'll see that there was much more covered than security during the 2 1/2 hour hearing yesterday. 13 business leaders, elected officials, Olympians, and Boston Exploratory Committee members testified before the Joint Committee for Travel Tourism and Culture.

Thank you for the update. Local news usually reach the largest number of people in the area as we know (people rarely google stuff and try to collect/learn about more data as we do here). The local TV channels should absolutely start talking about the other positive benefits the Olympics will bring to Boston and not just the potential security challenges which is basicly a turn off.

I'm excited that there's a real local government interest in this... finally!

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Thank you for the update. Local news usually reach the largest number of people in the area as we know (people rarely google stuff and try to collect/learn about more data as we do here). The local TV channels should absolutely start talking about the other positive benefits the Olympics will bring to Boston and not just the potential security challenges which is basicly a turn off.

The local newscasts are going to report the story in the way it makes most sense for them. Right now, that means to address security concerns since that's obviously weighing heavily on the minds of most Bostonites as it relates to bringing a large scale sports event to the city. It's not their job to accentuate the positives and tone down the negatives or to present both sides of the story for the benefit of the committee. I mean, whether anyone wants to acknowledge it or not, right now security is a pretty big concern in Boston.

And check out this poll for the Boston Bid. Choosing NO only points the security issue, strongly encouraging that option.

http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/poll/poll/11659682

Apparently it's not that encouraging. The No option only has 24% of the vote. Maybe has 28%. Yes has 48%

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I think they could do it. With a great campaign they could do it.

Exactly, it's not like Boston is a fricken Tulsa or Rochester, or even a Minneapolis. Boston is one of the country's most beautiful & historical MAJOR cities that anyone prematurely & naively stating that they wouldn't stand a chance have never been there themselves. Boston Harbor is absolutely gorgeous & would make a spectacular backdrop. Let's see what they have to offer first & how they would package it before some people make such fallacies. Paris, or someone else like South Africa, would be a formidable opponent for ANY city, not just Boston.

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Boston/Philadelphia/SF are more in the "classical/Euro-type" category than Dallas/Houston are in the "brash/upstart newcomer" slot.

I think the best way to describe it to an outsider who is not as familiar with the United States.. Boston and Philadelphia represent the beginnings of the United States when we broke away from the British. Both cities very much can tell the story of the birth of the United States and even before that going back to the 17th century.

Dallas and Houston represent more the transformation of middle America from the Wild West and frontier days (a theme Salt Lake played on) and Texas's integration into the existing United States. They certainly can represent their own history and tell their own story of this country, but they're less representative of the entire country and it's history than a Boston or Philadelphia.

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I would hardly call Dallas and Houston historical cities, at least in the way a city like Boston is historic. Dallas and Houston are the standard Western American style of cities that began their rapid growth after WWII, which means that they are sprawling and car dependent so their design is lousy and unfriendly. This is changing and as the cities continue to grow in the upcoming century they will become more dense, more sustainable, and more walkable for example; however, all of these qualities already exist in a city like Boston right now.

Although pairing Dallas up with the abomination that is Houston is a bit unfair as Dallas is much bit better than Houston, Dallas still can't compare to any East Coast city (or San Francisco or future LA).

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I think they could do it. With a great campaign they could do it.

Indeed. It's all about that campaign. I'm actually looking forward to see how the city will market itself... what major themes/elements it would use to present itself to the world.

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Indeed. It's all about that campaign. I'm actually looking forward to see how the city will market itself... what major themes/elements it would use to present itself to the world.

Takes a little more than a campaign to win over the IOC. There needs to be an actual plan behind it or else all the marketing in the world will be useless. New York saw that first-hand for their 2012 bid which was almost all style and very little substance. Boston's narrative will be important, but that's only a small part of the puzzle. I don't doubt that Boston can promote themselves well, especially if they're motivated, but unless they have a solid technical plan to start with, the USOC probably won't even select them as their candidate.

The city can only market itself if there's something to market. After that, they can talk about themes and elements. Before any of that can happen though, they will eventually need to present some sort of venue plan to the USOC (who then has to chose their proposal over whatever other prospective cities the USOC is interested in). Let's not put the cart before the horse and start marketing this thing as if they're already up for a bid.

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Takes a little more than a campaign to win over the IOC.

Winning over the IOC is not what I was thinking about. It's the USOC elections and the potential competition from Dallas, Houston and other interested U.S. cities. If Boston's campaign depits the city as "more global" compared to other competing U.S. cities, it has a shot at winning the USOC vote.

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Winning over the IOC is not what I was thinking about. It's the USOC elections and the potential competition from Dallas, Houston and other interested U.S. cities. If Boston's campaign depits the city as "more global" compared to other competing U.S. cities, it has a shot at winning the USOC vote.

The USOC election process isn't the same as it used to be though (we presume). This is not going to be the same type of open bid process that it's been in the past. The USOC is going to decide which cities they want to engage with and then those cities will make their pitch to the USOC. The type of campaign you're talking about is exactly what the USOC is trying to avoid (again, we presume) in order to streamline the whole process. Of course cities are going to have to make some sort of pitch to the USOC (again, that's assuming the USOC is interested.. they may very well tell certain cities not to bother), but it doesn't seem like it's going to be about a campaign this time around. From what we've seen of this new bid process so far, I'd say that's a good thing.

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  • 1 month later...

The most likely American candidate cities for 2024 seem to be San Francisco, Philadelphia, Boston, Dallas, a potential San Diego/Tijuana joint bid, and Los Angeles, which would be aiming to host its third Olympics since 1932.

Boston's efforts are continuing to evolve! http://www.facebook.com/boston2024 @Boston2024

http://olympictalk.nbcsports.com/2013/06/11/usoc-looking-to-whittle-potential-2024-olympic-bid-cities-by-december/

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  • 1 month later...

Boston bid web page is up.

http://www.boston-2024.org/

video recently made showing around the city. Not many sporting venues are presented, and wish other points in the city were shown to but I thought it was very well made, some filter effects weren't necessary but overall I really like it. Gives u an idea on the vibe :

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Next to Chicago, Boston is my favorite U.S. city. I think they could offer an amazing atmosphere for the Games. I have considerable concerns about where they would find space for all of the venues, but if they can develop a workable plan, I would be all for Boston as the U.S. bid city. The 2024 bid would likely be more of an "introduction" of the city to the IOC, but if they're willing to go the distance and bid again for 2028 or 2032, I think they could win.

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