wopchop
Building Toronto
You can not build a DRL in 9 years. Not in the Toronto of today.
Not going to happen.
Not going to happen.
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Toronto 2020 Olympic Bid
- Thread starter FutureMayor
- Start date
Asterix
Active Member
ehh c'mon , someone has to remain optimistic on these forums!
Maybe I'm just inherently pessimistic, but I just don't see the point in throwing around phrases like "quite easily profitable with minor upgrades", "By then Sheppard, and Eglinton will be finished" or "all venues will be easily accessed via public transit".
Yeah, sure, it would be great if that were all true or would be true, but it isn't in this reality.
The largest stadium planned to be used for anything for 2015 Pan Ams in the Rogers Centre with a capacity of 56,000 for ceremonies configuration (the only other sport it will be used for is baseball - it can't hold athletics which will go in a to-be-built 6,000 seat stadium at York U).
London 2012 will feature a main stadium with a capacity of 80,000 and will host athletics (the premier Olympic sport).
And that's just the first of the incorrect assumptions/assertions.
BMO
Senior Member
ok upgrading the skydome, or building another stadium is not as expensive as building ALL the facilities needed. If it gets built i'm sure it would piggy-back on an NFL team coming to Toronto.
And as far as I'm concerned there's no indication that the subway lines will "not" be built, and neither is there any indication that they "will" get built.
Acting like the city will not improve won't do any good for anyone. It is not a secret that our transit and infrastructure sucks, eventually out of necessity the proper infrastructure will be built. To be pessimistic and find fault in every little hope and dream to come through the city will only help continue the status quo.
I'd much rather be a part of a generation that says "let's do this" as opposed to one that says "everything I can't do"
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Asterix
Active Member
Upgrading the SkyDome? To what? How?
Have a look at the size of the facilities for the various sports to get an idea that it's not just a matter of adding a couple more bleachers to turn a Pan Am facility into an Olympic one:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venues_of_the_2015_Pan_American_Games
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venues_of_the_2012_Summer_Olympics_and_Paralympics
What? Are you saying that it is a simple binary option with a 50-50 chance of unplanned and unfunded subway lines being built or not built?
I'd argue there is a difference between being blindingly pessimistic and realistically pessimistic. It makes more sense to focus on what can realistically be accomplished rather than clinging to pie-in-the-sky fantasies and criticizing any who point out obvious faults as just being negative and anti-city.
Contrary to the Mayor's belief, money doesn't just grow on trees and will not suddenly magically appear from all three levels of government or the wonderful private sector to construct billions of needed infrastructure, much of which has no discernible need post-Olympics (how much use do you think the Sydney Olympic stadium gets these days?)
I think it makes more sense to say 'let's do something smart' than 'let's do something reckless'.
BMO
Senior Member
The only stadium that would really be required is the main athletics stadium, anyone who's ever watched an olympics knows that the football (soccer) in the Olympics has nowhere near high viewership.
I didn't mean adding more bleachers to existing structures, I meant actually retrofitting existing built structures with more seats. It can be done, maybe not to the Skydome, but other facilities could I'm sure. We already have most of the biggest sports draw stadiums built, liek Basketball and Baseball, as well as Tennis. The water activities i'm sure would be easily modified to be put in areas where larger temporary bleachers etc could be set up. This is by no means an extremely difficult hurdle to overcome. If a bid is publicly put out there, i'm sure there could be alterations made to stadiums going up for the pan am games to allow int eh designs for future expansion, etc. Just like how to design subway stations for future expansion.
yea pretty much at this point.
I respect that you're being realistic, I share many of the same views to look at the costs before commiting to something, but there comes a point where you just have to "get things done", a perfect example would be the fort york bridge. Soemtimes in order to become a great city, you have to host "great" events, and build "great" bridges to attract more people to the city. Whether the olympics directly create a profit or not, is beside the point of putting Toronto in the spotlight and advertising it to the world for investment.
You're right, I guess my wording wasn't the wisest choice. But essentially I'd rather not be told what the city can't do, I'd rather be told what the city can.
toforumer
Active Member
Rumour has it that there should be a formal announcement coming in late July
TonyV
Senior Member
A formal announcement of what exactly? Please clarify. If you are saying T.O will bid for 2020 summer games, that makes it a Toronto vs. Rome contest at this point in time. Rosie "no-one-cares-a-rat's-ass-about-Toronto" Dimanno of The Star will have a field day with this.
Personally, as far as sports are concerned, I think this city has its priorities wrong. Winnipeg just got an NHL franchise, don't you think we deserve one in Toronto? Oh, that's so bad of me, but I couldn't resist it. TonyV bad, TonyV bad.
BMO
Senior Member
lol obviously he would tell us more info if he had anymore info to give us. He's either prohibited from telling us more, or he jsut doesn't know
dlam
Active Member
if it's a head to head race between Rome and Toronto, I think Toronto gets the upper hand. London will be hosting in 2012, 2020 is too close to have another Summer Olympics in Europe. I don't care there's the difference between Continental Europe or not
Filip
Senior Member
And North America has not hosted since 1996. That's a very long time for the largest and most lucrative market of the summer games.
toforumer
Active Member
There's a good chunk of posters at GamesBids that believe Toronto doesn't have a chance in hell because its too close to Vancouver and the IOC won't reward Canada, a nation of 35 million, it's 4th Olympics when Italy has only hosted only 3.
Now the question I pose to us Torontonians! Is it too soon? Should the Winter Games be separate? The last time a Canadian city hosted a Summer Olympics was in 1976. That would be a 44 year gap in 2020. Or are we honestly be delusional thinking we have a good shot?
My personal view is I don't see the harm in bidding. I believe Toronto would have a decent shot. I wouldn't say Toronto would be shoe-ins to win but considering the depth of quality candidate cities won't be high profile as 2012 and 2016, we have a much better shot at winning then we had with 1996 and 2008. Broadcasting bidding rights for 2018 and 2020 will be taking place soon. I think its time to return the Summer Olympics to the Eastern Standard Timezone.
Now the question I pose to us Torontonians! Is it too soon? Should the Winter Games be separate? The last time a Canadian city hosted a Summer Olympics was in 1976. That would be a 44 year gap in 2020. Or are we honestly be delusional thinking we have a good shot?
My personal view is I don't see the harm in bidding. I believe Toronto would have a decent shot. I wouldn't say Toronto would be shoe-ins to win but considering the depth of quality candidate cities won't be high profile as 2012 and 2016, we have a much better shot at winning then we had with 1996 and 2008. Broadcasting bidding rights for 2018 and 2020 will be taking place soon. I think its time to return the Summer Olympics to the Eastern Standard Timezone.
Filip
Senior Member
Ya I'm honestly tempted to sign up on that website and tell some of them off. Italy is in no place to be bidding for the OG. Their economic situation is as fragile as Spain's, and they have had systemic weaknesses in their economy for the past two decades. Only now is it causing serious problems.
Given Canada's credibility and economic stability, I think Toronto has a great shot for the 2020 games. I truly hope you've heard these rumours for a trusted source as late July is around my birthday and that would be a great gift!
toforumer
Active Member
Yeah most of those comments come from our American neighbours who have also poisoned the minds of some other posters into believing Toronto has a 0% chance. It sort of makes sense though that these users would be pressed if Toronto enters again. Reasons being: 1) USA will not bid for 2020 2)If Toronto wins, it derails a USA Summer Olympics for atleasat a decade 3)They're still pressed that Chicago finished dead last in its 2016 bid and if Canada bids and win they'll just go ate shiit!
Chicago was considered a front runner by most at GB.
Filip
Senior Member
GamesBids is a Toronto-based website, is it not?
Again, are those rumours of yours from a 'trusted' source? I don't wanna get my hopes up for late July!
Again, are those rumours of yours from a 'trusted' source? I don't wanna get my hopes up for late July!
junctionist
Senior Member
Rob Ford may like the Olympics because they're a great way to get more money for public transit projects like subways and build a gigantic new stadium later usable for the NFL.