03 Blue 07

October 2nd, 2009 at 2:51 PM ^

Note: I'm operating under the assumption that, for any organization or person, the best single predictor of future behavior is past behavior.

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1926094,00.html
"The problem is, it didn't quite do that. Winning the 2007 Pan American Games was considered a big, if sometimes chaotic, success for Rio. To triumph over rival bidder San Antonio, officials used the same argument — that this was Rio's turn. To back that up, they promised to transform the city with a new ring road system, something called a "via light" railway (presumably a light railway), a new state highway and 54 km of new metro lines.

But none of the roads, nary a kilometer of metro line, were built. Authorities also promised to clean up the Guanabara Bay, the fetid body of water whose smell assails visitors driving into town from the international airport. Although hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent, the stench persists and the bay remains a stinking eyesore. "

I realize that is in regard to the Pan Am games, but my understanding is that construction hasn't started on many of the projects/stadia for the 2014 games yet, and there are concerns re: funding, the budgeting, and the infrastructure. Perhaps I'm misinformed, but I don't believe so. If so, I'd be open to changing my opinion if you can link to a couple articles or something. They couldn't handle the projects of the Pan Am games. It's not that the Pan Am games were terrible or anything, but they didn't do what they said they'd do, etc, and that's kind of my point. Credibility matters.

Hannibal.

October 2nd, 2009 at 3:35 PM ^

What I've always read or heard about the Olympics is that they never turn out to be the great revenue-producing economic boon that they are expected to be. Maybe it's okay that Chicago didn't get these games.