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Washington DC 2024


woohooitsme83

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Since the other cities are getting their own thread, why not DC?

The Washington Post has been feeding some venue plans over the past few days. Based on the articles, it seems DC is also aiming at a walk-and-transit themed Olympics (like Boston!)

Venue Plan (large image, sorry!)

Olympic1.jpgOlympic1.jpg

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Nice. I was going to post this graphic as well.

I'm originally from the DC Area, so I certainly think it would be a beautiful games, albeit mired in national politics.

That said, Annapolis would provide such a great sailing venue. Hains Point volleyball would be amazing, but so would a temporary facility on the National Mall. The most interesting, though, is the Canoe-Kayak. Athen's had the only course with seawater, and this would be the only course on a mountain top.

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Aside from all the political hurdles that make DC's bid, at best, a difficult sell.. this venue plan seems spread out all over the place. DC is not a driving-friendly city. Much like Boston or San Fran, they need to rely on public transportation. So if these sites are not easily accessible, I don't see them having much of a chance.

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I can't see them being a contender. The venues (especially the headliners like aquatics and gymnastics) are too spread out. It's sad, because it is such a beautiful and diverse city. Guests would love DC and the history paints an amazing backdrop, but it doesn't seem feasible...

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As in 1984 and 1996, the DC area at least gets one of the football/soccer venues. A consolation prize for the area.

If the US gets 2024, why don't they give the three losers from the domestic race a soccer venue. That way everyone wins :)

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This is as good a place as any to put this. It sounds like all 4 US bids are proposing budgets under $5 billion.

http://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion/national/2014/11/us_cities_urged_to_keep_price_tags_down_for_2024

That's probably right. But the Agenda 2020 could make things both simple and complex for the USOC. Like SF does not have a T&F stadium yet; that alone is budgeted at $350 mil. (Will probably cost at least $400 mil.) It has no velodrome -- or under Agenda 2020, can SF (I know this is the DC thread) or the other cities dispense w/ major sports and still be competitive? What if Baku and Doha offer ALL the sports? They would certainly get the votes of those federations.

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If the US gets 2024, why don't they give the three losers from the domestic race a soccer venue. That way everyone wins :)

Ironic that they are the same four areas that hosted the 1984 soccer tournament. The venues then were the Rose Bowl, Stanford, Harvard, and the Naval Academy. Now they could use MLS stadiums such as the StubHub Center in Carson, the new Avaya Stadium in San Jose, DC United's new stadium (if it gets built) and now the Kraft family are making their annual noise about building a new stadium in Boston for the Revs. Of course there are larger capacity options as well in every region.

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Ironic that they are the same four areas that hosted the 1984 soccer tournament. The venues then were the Rose Bowl, Stanford, Harvard, and the Naval Academy. Now they could use MLS stadiums such as the StubHub Center in Carson, the new Avaya Stadium in San Jose, DC United's new stadium (if it gets built) and now the Kraft family are making their annual noise about building a new stadium in Boston for the Revs. Of course there are larger capacity options as well in every region.

Why the hell is DC United not in on this deal? They could get a freaking Olympic level stadium in the heart of the capitol from this bid.

I swear this bid is not making sense at all. That venue plan is way too spread out and the organizers are not even trying to capitalize on all the sport construction going on in the city. San Francisco's venue plan is in better shape then this mess.

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They seem more interested in getting the NFL team back from the suburbs and using a potential Olympic stadium to do so than building a stadium for United than can then be retrofitted to accommodate the typical 15000-20000 fans who attend MLS matches. DC United probably has not even thought of that possibility, and the fact it would involve another 10 years (if the bid were successful) at RFK and they want to be out of there ASAP.

I agree with you about this venue plan. It totally ignores the many university facilities within the district at GWU, Georgetown, Howard, and American as well as the downtown arena, Nationals Park (should baseball ever return), and FedEx field. A dearth of quality venues should not doom this bid.

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If the US gets 2024, why don't they give the three losers from the domestic race a soccer venue. That way everyone wins :)

That's a lot of distance between them. You realize the flight to and from the east and west coast is about 5hrs, if not more each way? With the abundance of NFL and NCAA American football stadiums they can definitely have all of the soccer and rugby games well within a radius of a few hundred miles with either of the cities winning the games.

Ok just checked on Kayak. From DC to LAX it's 5hrs and 50mins, But going back it's about 4hrs & 50 mins.

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That's a lot of distance between them. You realize the flight to and from the east and west coast is about 5hrs, if not more each way? With the abundance of NFL and NCAA American football stadiums they can definitely have all of the soccer and rugby games well within a radius of a few hundred miles with either of the cities winning the games.

Ok just checked on Kayak. From DC to LAX it's 5hrs and 50mins, But going back it's about 4hrs & 50 mins.

Atlanta and LA both spread soccer out across the country. London did (although on a much smaller scale) and Rio will do the same. Remember that there are several rest days during the soccer tournament and it's really only the knockout games that need to be staged close to the host city.

Ok, looking more closely, Atlanta was pretty regional. LA was spread out though and Chicago proposed a pretty expansive venue plan.

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The problem isn't being too spread out, but the real problem is being spread out in a way that doesn't seem to suit the transportation of the city or the existing sports infrastructure (as some have pointed out, DC is car-centric, therefore they have ass traffic).

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The problem isn't being too spread out, but the real problem is being spread out in a way that doesn't seem to suit the transportation of the city or the existing sports infrastructure (as some have pointed out, DC is car-centric, therefore they have ass traffic).

Well sadly most of the US is car-centric (with very few exceptions) and traffic will forever be an issue. It's sad that we don't embrace public transportation as much as other cities like in Europe, or even closer to home like Toronto.

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Well sadly most of the US is car-centric (with very few exceptions) and traffic will forever be an issue. It's sad that we don't embrace public transportation as much as other cities like in Europe, or even closer to home like Toronto.

Washington DC ranks number 4 in the US (behind NYC, Newark, and Jersey City.. so they might as well be number 2) in terms of most households without a car. So if any of these 4 US bids need to rely on public transportation more than the others, this is the one. I've driven through DC before and it's a massive pain in the ass. Can only imagine what it would be like for visitors from around the world.

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Washington DC ranks number 4 in the US (behind NYC, Newark, and Jersey City.. so they might as well be number 2) in terms of most households without a car. So if any of these 4 US bids need to rely on public transportation more than the others, this is the one. I've driven through DC before and it's a massive pain in the ass. Can only imagine what it would be like for visitors from around the world.

The problem isn't being too spread out, but the real problem is being spread out in a way that doesn't seem to suit the transportation of the city or the existing sports infrastructure (as some have pointed out, DC is car-centric, therefore they have ass traffic).

So we have one person saying it's car-centric, and another saying it's pretty much not. Which is it? lol

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So we have one person saying it's car-centric, and another saying it's pretty much not. Which is it? lol

This venue plan is car-centric. The city itself has a pretty nice metro system, but it will be pointless with a venue plan this sh**ty.

Just for those unfamiliar with DC's metro here is a map I found on Transit Maps (Tumblr)

2njvzgy.jpg

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Atlanta and LA both spread soccer out across the country. London did (although on a much smaller scale) and Rio will do the same. Remember that there are several rest days during the soccer tournament and it's really only the knockout games that need to be staged close to the host city.

Ok, looking more closely, Atlanta was pretty regional. LA was spread out though and Chicago proposed a pretty expansive venue plan.

LA 1984, being the first Summer Games in 52 years, LAOOC really wanted to get as much of the country into Olympic fever, hence they placed 2 of the soccer cities in the heavily populated northeast where America's day starts (forget Guam here). DC was purposely given a venue because LAOOC already had an office in DC to handle relations with the Feds; so why not put a venue in the area as well.

Atlanta had its soccer sites mostly in the eastern time zone. There was a matter of timing; i.e., Atlanta chose from bids of cities that didn't make the 1994 WC cut, I guess except for DC and Miami.

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