When discussing Boston as a possible Olympic city it is undeniable that issues will need to be worked out, such as traffic and cost. However, Boston’s no-frills plan, the presence of existing venues, and an existing great sports culture provide many reasons for it to host the 2024 games.
Boston’s bid centers around the idea that that they can use the existing venues such as Harvard Stadium to provide a compact Olympics. This was probably one of the reasons it defeated cities like Los Angeles where the distance between stadiums would have many miles. Dan O’Connell the president of the Boston Bid Committee said that, “The city is the Olympic park”, adding that, “It becomes a public-transit and walking Olympics.”
The problem with this of course is that currently Boston’s public transit system is in need of an overhaul. The Bid committee plans to knock out two birds with one stone by using the Olympic set up to renovate the transit system. It’s inevitable that there will be some inconvenience to the citizens of Boston but that will be true wherever the Olympics are held.
The most compelling reason that Boston is a good place to front the United States bid is the city’s personality and rich sports history. With notable Olympians like Jim Craig, Mike Eruzione, Nancy Kerrigan, and Aly Raisman hailing from Massachusetts, Boston has plenty of history with the games. Additionally, Boston’s historical landmarks and stadiums would provide a sharp contrast to the modernist trend of recent Olympic stadiums.
There are actually some economic reasons for Boston to host as well. For one thing the large number of colleges in the area provides a plethora of the short-term housing that will be necessary. Also although Boston does not have a good track record with staying under budget on large projects in the past, that experience might prove valuable in attempting to keep costs down in building for the Olympics. The bid committee says they will be able to privately finance the whole thing and though this might be naive to expect it is also pessimistic to expect something happening in Boston like what happened in Sochi.
Finally, it would be really freaking cool. Picture a gold medal game being played at Fenway (if baseball is, as expected, reinstated to the games), or shells being rowed down the Charles with the city in the background. Preparing for hosting the Olympics might be more trouble than its worth, but no one can deny that those sixteen days in 2024 would be magical.