Weary of megaprojects, Boston turns on its Olympic bid.
If Boston’s bid to host the 2024 Summer Olympics were the central
narrative device in a tragedy about urban development in
twenty-first-century America, it would be too perfect. The cast includes
an enthusiastic assembly of civic leaders pursuing a project of
questionable value, a tangled network of financial and political
backers, and a chorus of residents whose voices have largely been
ignored. The backdrop of international athletics adds a dimension of
sleaze and frivolity to the proceedings.
But Bostonians aren’t following the script. They well understand the
implications of hosting a marathon each year for 30,000 athletes and
500,000 spectators; they can extrapolate what hosting the Olympics would
be like. They lived for decades through the “Big Dig,”
the nation’s largest-ever highway project, whose costs overran from
$2.6 billion to nearly $15 billion. Polling in the city and the
surrounding area shows widespread opposition to the Olympic bid, with
support bottoming out at 36 percent (with 52 percent opposed) in March
and improving slightly to 40 percent (with 50 percent opposed) in April.
Opposition climbed to 62 percent among those who say that they have
heard a lot about the bid. In April, No Boston Olympics, an advocacy
group, scored a higher favorable rating than the Boston 2024 organizing
committee.
The committee hasn’t helped its cause with its lack of transparency
and frequent political miscues. Members claimed that their bid wouldn’t
require public funding, but documents released via a Freedom of
Information Act request made clear that it would. The proposal calls for
use of an expanded Boston convention center, but Massachusetts governor
Charlie Baker recently put that expansion on hold. Plans also called
for a country club in Brookline to host the golf tournament, but the
town has voted to oppose the bid. The Boston 2024 website
highlights various projected economic gains for the city from hosting
the Olympics, ranging from jobs and tourism to infrastructure and
housing. But there is little evidence that these kinds of events bring
in new investment or other real economic gains.
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