Why on earth would Torontonians (as apart from politicians!) want to host the Olympics - Montreal took 25 years to pay off their debt and Vancouver is already VERY worried.
I think the more interesting question is why 'wouldn't' they want to host? I can only imagine there were decision-making people in all the host cities that were against the games, expressing the same sort of concerns that some do here....*yet* all those cities not only concluded they wanted the games but vied for them, committing to spend the money and effort to do so. Why? Again, I haven't heard a convincing argument that says Toronto would uniquely not benefit...
... and you can't always measure the long term benefits of an investment with the immediate costs associated with it (that approach is for accountants not planners). Yes, you can eventually assess the direct economic impact of the games (tourism and number of visitors, jobs created, spin-off growth to numerous industries, building and infrastructure development etc). Yes, you can tangibly measure the monetary injections from other levels of governments that wouldn't have happened otherwise, and what the city will get with those funds (improvements to transit, public housing, sports facilities, 'city beautiful' investments, cultural investments, etc, and of course the Waterfront).
What you can't always measure is the enormous exposure a city gets from the summer Olympics in particular, an exposure that is unlike any other in terms of its international scale and focus. This is an opportunity for a city and region to capitalize on the extended captive attention of billions of people around the world, allowing it to educate the world about itself and promote/brand itself from many different angles (tourism, arts and culture, business/investment/conventions etc). This is where the Olympics can benefit over time and not just during the summer the games are held.
It's the classic Toronto inferiority complex. A very expensive way of putting us on the map. The way I see it, everyone in the world has heard of Toronto and those who haven't probably aren't the kind of people who make the world go round, anyway.
Again, I disagree. Does London have an inferiority complex? Chicago? Paris? Tokyo? Why do all these already well-known and established cities seek the games if there are no benefits? It's true that an added benefit for Toronto is exposure but I don't think we have to perceive this in a Sally Fields "They like me, they finally like me" kind of way. We all know that a revitalized Toronto with a spectacular waterfront will dazzle the world. Why wouldn't the benefits of that be huge?
For those promoting the perfectly valid opinion that "we don't need the Olympics to build the city".....I ask:
How is that working out so far?
Yes, in a nutshell that's it. We're fighting to get one subway line moved from the twenty-five year plan (and even then not likely) to a speedy fifteen-year plan. I just don't see the political will or culture at any levels of government for these sorts of major investments in Toronto, unfortunately!
