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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHow does Rochester, New York end up on the USOC 2024 Host Cities List?
In canvassing for its next potential Olympic city, the United States Olympic Committee sent letters to the mayors of 35 American cities on Tuesday to gauge their interest in making a bid for the 2024 Games.
The list includes 25 of the largest cities in the country and others that have previously expressed interest in hosting the Olympics. They range in size from New York, with 8.2 million people, to Rochester, with 210,000, and many are probably virtually disqualified by the requirements listed in the letter, which include having 45,000 hotel rooms available for the Games.
The U.S.O.C. says it has not decided whether to pursue a bid in 2024, but it has begun the decision-making process in unusual fashion. The selection pool of potential United States bid cities is usually limited to the very largest, for logistical reasons as well as the need to compete with major international cities to win the Games. The last two American bid cities, New York (2012) and Chicago (2016), each spent more than $10 million, only to be eliminated early in the voting by the International Olympic Committee.
The U.S.O.C. is clearly interested in trying again, and it is being far more inclusive than usual. It said in the letter that it has just over two years to select the city for the United States bid. The I.O.C. is to choose the 2024 host city in 2017.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/20/sports/olympics/olympic-board-asks-35-us-cities-about-bidding-for-2024-games.html?_r=1&
As a resident and taxpayer in Rochester, NY I'd like to be one of the first to say thanks, but no thanks...
Rochester
(838 posts)I do not want to deal with the traffic, massive crowds of people, price gouging, road closures, Gestapo-like security, and general pandemonium associated with any major spectacle. Keep the games far, far away!
That said, I did enjoy standing on the corner of East and Culver on June 17, 1996, to see the torch-bearer run past on his way to Atlanta.
dsc
(53,212 posts)spread out the traffic etc.
How about adding Utica to the list? God knows, Utica could use some economic development.
Actually Rochester is a lovely city. All of that part of NYS is lovely, and a joint several city bid could make a huge amount of sense.
NightWatcher
(39,370 posts)Just because we're big doesn't help our chance. We screwed up the local infrastructure several years ago to try to get a Super Bowl. I can only imagine how horribly we'd ruin the Olympics.