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Yes, Dallas and Atlanta are different. But they are not very different compared to San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, etc.

Maybe it makes me un-American, but I really want the next US Olympic host to break down international stereotypes of Americans rather than reinforce them. Los Angeles and Dallas would not do that.

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Yes, Dallas and Atlanta are different. But they are not very different compared to San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, etc.

Maybe it makes me un-American, but I really want the next US Olympic host to break down international stereotypes of Americans rather than reinforce them. Los Angeles and Dallas would not do that.

Hence why we out here off the coast of the Malibu Ocean would like to see the last brain cell, ie Boston step up...just to reassure the Not America bit of the planet there is still someone driving.

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Yes, Dallas and Atlanta are different. But they are not very different compared to San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, etc. Maybe it makes me un-American, but I really want the next US Olympic host to break down international stereotypes of Americans rather than reinforce them. Los Angeles and Dallas would not do that.

I understand that. I just think it's a bad argument to make that Dallas won't win because it's too much like Atlanta. And most of the times that argument is made, the subtext is usually "Atlanta sucked, so we can't put forward a city that's even remotely like them or else the IOC will be repulsed." I know we talk about the argument a lot of the United States having a lot of diversity and it would be great for us to offer that up with our next Olympic bid. Well, to that end, shouldn't that be a knock against Los Angeles as well, since they're a lot like another former U.S. host.. Los Angeles. That's where the "Dallas is too Atlanta" argument becomes a lot less about Dallas and a lot more about crapping on Atlanta.

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Yeah, well. Again, though, Los Angeles is an Alpha U.S. city. Dallas is not. Los Angeles 1984 was well known for jumping starting the Olympic Movement from it's very dire days. Atlanta 1996 was well known for very tacky street vendors & getting people lost on buses.

And again, I didn't say that "all" IOC members were clueless about U.S. geography. But if all of them were as astute as your implying, why did the USOC go through the bother then, of informally polling some IOC members on the U.S. cities that were interested in the 2016 Games to gauge their familiarity with them.

I agree with Nacre that are Alpha cities are so much different from one another than our Beta cities are. And I do think that it's a point that the USOC will factor in as part of their decision & it's not as trivial as you're trying to make it out to be. Since I doubt that Dallas is at the top of their list (despite what their plans might be), unlike guess what, Los Angeles.

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Yeah, well. Again, though, Los Angeles is an Alpha U.S. city. Dallas is not. Los Angeles 1984 was well known for jumping starting the Olympic Movement from it's very dire days. Atlanta 1996 was well known for very tacky street vendors & getting people lost on buses.

And again, I didn't say that "all" IOC members were clueless about U.S. geography. But if all of them were as astute as your implying, why did the USOC go through the bother then, of informally polling some IOC members on the U.S. cities that were interested in the 2016 Games to gauge their familiarity with them.

I agree with Nacre that are Alpha cities are so much different from one another than our Beta cities are. And I do think that it's a point that the USOC will factor in as part of their decision & it's not as trivial as you're trying to make it out to be. Since I doubt that Dallas is at the top of their list (despite what their plans might be), unlike guess what, Los Angeles.

Can I say due diligence here? Or is the phrase "corrupt weasels" going to come into play again and therefore due diligence isn't possible?

I think this is one of those situations where we're agreeing with each other more than we're disagreeing with each other and we're getting caught up on the smaller points. Clearly the International community (particularly those involved with the Olympics) are going to be more familiar with Los Angeles than with Dallas. All things being equal, if the USOC had to choose between the 2, they're probably going with Los Angeles. The only way Dallas could win that head-to-head battle would be to have a far superior technical plan and from what we've seen from LA, that doesn't seem likely. Not to get into an argument over semantics since we know what that's going to turn into.. Los Angeles obviously has the edge over Dallas for plenty of reasons, the most prominent being that LA is an Alpha city and Dallas is a Beta city. I just think you're over-stating the point that Dallas, as a beta city, is indistinguishable from other cities and therefore might draw comparisons to Atlanta, which again, looking at your first sentence seems to be an argument against Atlanta moreso than it is about Dallas.

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Yes, Dallas and Atlanta are different. But they are not very different compared to San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, etc.Maybe it makes me un-American, but I really want the next US Olympic host to break down international stereotypes of Americans rather than reinforce them. Los Angeles and Dallas would not do that.

I really disagree.

I think it's small-minded and stereotypical of you to write those cities off as incapable of showcasing a new USA.

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I really disagree.

I think it's small-minded and stereotypical of you to write those cities off as incapable of showcasing a new USA.

At the risk of scaring Athensfan.. I agree with him on this one. I totally get Nacre's point that certain cities represent this country better than others. But I don't think it's possible to find 1 city and 1 Olympics that can truly represent the entirety of the United States. It's just not going to happen. The nature of an Olympics in this country simply won't allow for. The best you can hope for is to find a city that can tell their story and show the world their piece of America.

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Yeah, well. Again, though, Los Angeles is an Alpha U.S. city. Dallas is not. Los Angeles 1984 was well known for jumping starting the Olympic Movement from it's very dire days. Atlanta 1996 was well known for very tacky street vendors & getting people lost on buses.

And again, I didn't say that "all" IOC members were clueless about U.S. geography. But if all of them were as astute as your implying, why did the USOC go through the bother then, of informally polling some IOC members on the U.S. cities that were interested in the 2016 Games to gauge their familiarity with them.

I agree with Nacre that are Alpha cities are so much different from one another than our Beta cities are. And I do think that it's a point that the USOC will factor in as part of their decision & it's not as trivial as you're trying to make it out to be. Since I doubt that Dallas is at the top of their list (despite what their plans might be), unlike guess what, Los Angeles.

Yes, well again Boston is not an Alpha city.

Yes, Dallas and Atlanta are different. But they are not very different compared to San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, etc. Maybe it makes me un-American, but I really want the next US Olympic host to break down international stereotypes of Americans rather than reinforce them. Los Angeles and Dallas would not do that.

Really? Like everyone else said, no city will ever truly represent the states. The best thing to do is bring them around to showcase different regions.

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Just in case anyone is wonder below is a ranking of US Global Cities:

Alpha++ = NYC

Alpha = Chicago

LA

Alpha- = San Francisco

Washington

Miami

Boston (I revert my previous comment, still Boston is not a pure Alpha city)

Atlanta

Beta+ = Dallas

Philadelphia

Houston

Beta- = Minneapolis

Cleveland

Seattle

Detroit

Denver

San Diego

Gamma+ = Baltimore

St. Louis

Phoenix

Charlotte

Tampa

Gamma = San Juan

Raleigh

San Jose

Cincinnati

Milwaukee

Gamma- = Columbus

Orlando

Kansas City

Portland

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Just in case anyone is wonder below is a ranking of US Global Cities:

Alpha++ = NYC

Alpha = Chicago

LA

Alpha- = San Francisco

Washington

Miami

Boston (I revert my previous comment, still Boston is not a pure Alpha city)

Atlanta

Beta+ = Dallas

Philadelphia

Houston

Beta- = Minneapolis

Cleveland

Seattle

Detroit

Denver

San Diego

Gamma+ = Baltimore

St. Louis

Phoenix

Charlotte

Tampa

Gamma = San Juan

Raleigh

San Jose

Cincinnati

Milwaukee

Gamma- = Columbus

Orlando

Kansas City

Portland

Who made this ranking based on which criteria?

As a European who's never been to the US, I'd still bet that more people globally know Orlando (for the theme parks there) than Charlotte, Raleigh or Cleveland. It's just a silly list with no meaning whatsoever in terms of Olympic hosting qualifications.

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Who made this ranking based on which criteria?

As a European who's never been to the US, I'd still bet that more people globally know Orlando (for the theme parks there) than Charlotte, Raleigh or Cleveland. It's just a silly list with no meaning whatsoever in terms of Olympic hosting qualifications.

A global city (also called world city or sometimes alpha city or world center) is a city generally considered to be an important node in the global economic system. The concept comes from geography and urban studies and rests on the idea that globalization can be understood as largely created, facilitated, and enacted in strategic geographic locales according to a hierarchy of importance to the operation of the global system of finance and trade.
This isn't a list for tourists. It's about economic and political strength which is why you don't see Orlando on there. Theme parks don't tend to make for good Olympic venues. It's an international research firm that puts this together, so it's not like it's some silly list that bernham pulled out of his ass. So while these rankings can't predict which cities would or wouldn't win an Olympic bid, I think it does say a lot about their Olympic hosting qualifications.
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A global city (also called world city or sometimes alpha city or world center) is a city generally considered to be an important node in the global economic system. The concept comes from geography and urban studies and rests on the idea that globalization can be understood as largely created, facilitated, and enacted in strategic geographic locales according to a hierarchy of importance to the operation of the global system of finance and trade.
This isn't a list for tourists. It's about economic and political strength which is why you don't see Orlando on there. Theme parks don't tend to make for good Olympic venues. It's an international research firm that puts this together, so it's not like it's some silly list that bernham pulled out of his ass. So while these rankings can't predict which cities would or wouldn't win an Olympic bid, I think it does say a lot about their Olympic hosting qualifications.

OK, thanks. Given the horrid colour coding and some recent posts by bernham, I was maybe too harsh on that one.

As for hosting qualifications, anything below Beta- (to be generous, for Summer Games) is a no-go anyway, I guess. And all of those above that line are probably a matter of taste and concept in their concrete bid.

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http://architecture.risd.edu/work-in-progress/advanced-studio-olympics/

I found a website that has four plans that people have made for Boston

Most of these look like a high school project gone bad. Interesting to see what 4 random people put together, but let's not try to pretend any of these represent any sort of official plan from those tied to Boston in case anyone was going to go there

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I think it's small-minded and stereotypical of you to write those cities off as incapable of showcasing a new USA.

Every Olympics is an invitation for scrutiny by the global media. A Texas Olympics would start with two years of condemnation of the USA on capital punishment, George Bush, the fact that Texans have voted to ban gay marriage, the US-Mexico fence, etc.

Texans are very proud and are not going to sanitize their state or culture to appeal to Eurosnobs. I see no reason to believe either side would enjoy dealing with the other.

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Just in case anyone is wonder below is a ranking of US Global Cities:

Alpha++ = NYC

Alpha = Chicago

LA

Alpha- = San Francisco

Washington

Miami

Boston (I revert my previous comment, still Boston is not a pure Alpha city)

Atlanta

Beta+ = Dallas

Philadelphia

Houston

Beta- = Minneapolis

Cleveland

Seattle

Detroit

Denver

San Diego

Gamma+ = Baltimore

St. Louis

Phoenix

Charlotte

Tampa

Gamma = San Juan

Raleigh

San Jose

Cincinnati

Milwaukee

Gamma- = Columbus

Orlando

Kansas City

Portland

Time to bring up the Global City Brand Barometer, again!

Global-City-Brand-Baromet-013.jpg

(I think this is based off of international recognition?)

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/cities/datablog/2014/may/06/world-cities-most-powerful-brands-get-the-data

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Most of these look like a high school project gone bad. Interesting to see what 4 random people put together, but let's not try to pretend any of these represent any sort of official plan from those tied to Boston in case anyone was going to go there

Yeah, that's what I thought
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I don't know about that. He's not criticizing anyone. He's just suggesting a more streamlined approach. That said, the last thing the IOC should do is become more like FIFA.

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What sheer stupidity. Especially in light of the Qatar 202 allegations. Yes, IOC.. be more like FIFA! :blink: How can you even suggest removing the rights of the majority to give the very few power?

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Alpha- =

Boston (I revert my previous comment, still Boston is not a pure Alpha city)

Beta+ = Dallas

Even going by this list that you posted, Boston is still in the "Alpha" category, unlike Dallas. I'd find Boston mich more intriguing for an Olympics. Rich in history, a well-known, eclectic city by international standards, & in a part of the country that's never hosted a Summer Olympics before.

Dallas would just seem, meh. I'd be concerned that they'd be another city that would include pick-up trucks as part of their opening ceremony, &/or some rodeo action. I wonder how many IOC members (& dignitaries) can relate to that. Yeehaw!

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At least he complements the EB for being "supposedly the most sophisticated and knowledgeable people in the membership"

Even going by this list that you posted, Boston is still in the "Alpha" category, unlike Dallas. I'd find Boston mich more intriguing for an Olympics. Rich in history, a well-known, eclectic city by international standards, & in a part of the country that's never hosted a Summer Olympics before.

Dallas would just seem, meh. I'd be concerned that they'd be another city that would include pick-up trucks as part of their opening ceremony, &/or some rodeo action. I wonder how many IOC members (& dignitaries) can relate to that. Yeehaw!

What was that again? I mean you can not really shame another states culture. I'm not open to a Dallas Olympics more than everyone here, but their culture makes them unique and the games would go to a new region/culture.

With that said I would prefer Boston more, but LA above them all.

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