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2016 Olympics in Phila???

3K views 23 replies 13 participants last post by  volguus zildrohar 
#1 ·
What would the Olympics do for Phila??? The only things that I am worried about are the lack of transportation (only two subway lines in what is supposed to be a world-class city is pitiful!!!!!!!!!!!!) and the airport not being served by international carriers is another thing. Other than that, I believe we can do good with having the Olympics.
 
#3 ·
i've heard that there are some pretty nice venues for the bid. the linc would be the soccer stadium, the wachovia center would be for basketball and some other stuff, and citizen's bank park would be for baseball (i thought they were getting rid of baseball though). all these facilities would need some upgrades, but they would probably need them anyway, and this would force those renovations. the delaware river in bucks county would host rafting, and the areas around fairmount park would host cycling, the marathon, etc.

i think the only thing philly really needs is more hotel space. i remember reading that philly is just below the required minimum. the minimum probably wouldn't be enough anyway.

as for air travel, us airways runs direct flights from philly to germany and i think a couple other places. my friend always flies from philly to frankfurt when he travels to or from his temporary home in muenster.
 
#8 ·
The notion that Philadelphia doesn't have international carriers is false... PHL has Air France, British Airways, Air Canada, Air Jamaca, Lufthansa, and U.S. Airways International... With those airlines, you could make a connecting flight from anywhere in the world to the US.
 
#9 ·
I dont think a summer olympics has even been held in the Northeast corridor of the US. I think Philadelphia has more venues that meet the requirments than London has currently. The federal & state money that would pour in would only add to the growing momentum that is building here. There is a lot of energy in this city that I have not seen in my lifetime (due to Live 8 event, Comcast Center & Circa Center, Residential Boom, 3rd year in a row Philly Public schools have increased scores, more civic pride) so I think its time for this once great city to take its place amongst the greastest once again.
 
#10 ·
jackooboy said:
The notion that Philadelphia doesn't have international carriers is false... PHL has Air France, British Airways, Air Canada, Air Jamaca, Lufthansa, and U.S. Airways International... With those airlines, you could make a connecting flight from anywhere in the world to the US.
Well, we need MORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
#12 ·
Yes, Philadelphia does have most of the venues required. One thing it does not have is a main Olympic Stadium for track and field as well as opening and closing ceremonies. Franklin Field is way too old and small for this. The question is, what do we do with the olympic stadium when the games are over?
I propose making it a soccer/outdoor lacrosse/rugby stadium. For the olympics, it would need on the order of 80,000 seats, but for a soccer etc stadium, it would probably only need 20-25,000. So the upper tiers would have to be removed, which would dramatically reduce the bulk of the structure. Of course, we would need teams such as an MLS soccer team, which has been threatening to come into the Philadelphia market as soon as we have a suitable facility and an ownership group. The definition of a suitable facility has changed since the league started: it once was that they would not allow an artificial surface field such as we had at the vet. Then we built the Linc, and MLS changed the definition to "soccer-specific stadium", which meant not a huge NFL stadium that always looks empty when soccer games are held there. So even though they have moved the goal line on us in that regard, this might be the opportunity to satisfy the new soccer stadium requirements.
Where to build this? how about FDR park?
 
#13 ·
samsonyuen said:
It'd be nice. Maybe a joint bid with NY!
Cities aren't allowed to make joint bids. Just imagine if Phily did get the Olympics. I bet New Yorkers would be doing some seething. Toronto wouldn't be too pleased either I suspect.

wander34 said:
What would the Olympics do for Phila??? The only things that I am worried about are the lack of transportation (only two subway lines in what is supposed to be a world-class city is pitiful!!!!!!!!!!!!) and the airport not being served by international carriers is another thing. Other than that, I believe we can do good with having the Olympics.
Two subway lines isn't so terrible for NA. Toronto only has two large lines and one shorter line. Are they the kind that each go in two different directions from downtown? That kind of setup makes the subway sound smaller than it is.
 
#14 ·
Nouvellecosse said:
Two subway lines isn't so terrible for NA. Toronto only has two large lines and one shorter line. Are they the kind that each go in two different directions from downtown? That kind of setup makes the subway sound smaller than it is.
The two subway lines are perpendicular to each other: the Market Street Line goes east-west, the Broad Street Line goes north-south. They intersect at City Hall.
 
#15 ·
Nouvellecosse said:
Two subway lines isn't so terrible for NA. Toronto only has two large lines and one shorter line. Are they the kind that each go in two different directions from downtown? That kind of setup makes the subway sound smaller than it is.
The major difference between Philly and Toronto is that Toronto has a 24-hour mass transit system which is efficient and covers the whole metro Toronto area by train, bus, or trolley, and they're extending the subway system from what I hear, whilw Philly's subway system doesn't even cross the city limits, with the exception of 69th St in Upper Darby), there's no further plans for extension, all the stations are dirty and outdated, low ridership, and even the commuter rail ain't that extensive compared to Toronto's. We had the third largest mass transit system in America behing NYC and Chicago, until SEPTA was formed, and took most of the commuter rail service out and made it what it is, the worst transit agency in America!!!
 
#16 ·
wanderer34 said:
The major difference between Philly and Toronto is that Toronto has a 24-hour mass transit system which is efficient and covers the whole metro Toronto area by train, bus, or trolley, and they're extending the subway system from what I hear, whilw Philly's subway system doesn't even cross the city limits, with the exception of 69th St in Upper Darby), there's no further plans for extension, all the stations are dirty and outdated, low ridership, and even the commuter rail ain't that extensive compared to Toronto's. We had the third largest mass transit system in America behing NYC and Chicago, until SEPTA was formed, and took most of the commuter rail service out and made it what it is, the worst transit agency in America!!!
I think it still is the third largest system in the country, as poorly run as it is. There are some plans for extension, especially for the Broad Street Line. They want to extend it to the Naval Business Center (formerly the navy yard) and possibly into NJ (although I don't see that happening.)
There is also the plan for the Roosevelt Boulevard Line, which is currentlt dead as far as I know, but has died several deaths in the past and always seems to get resurrected. They should call it the Lazarus Line. Maybe one day it will be built.
In all, though, you're right: SEPTA sucks. They should privatize it completely, sell all its components off to someone who will run it properly.
 
#19 ·
LA just had the olympics 20 years ago, I personally think that takes them off the list.

Philadelphia Magazine had a piece in this months issue saying Philadelphia is definitely going after the 2016 olympics hard. They have a number of heavy hitters behind the scenes. PIDC, Sunoco, Comcast,Pew etc.

The magazine says the main competition will be SF Chicago, and LA. Stiff competition for sure.

The magazine also said following Atlanta hosting the olympics, Atlanta went from middle of the pack blah mid sized city to leading the entire country in housing and hotel construction. There is definitely huge rewards for getting to host the olympics.
 
#20 ·
i've heard that houston will be a big player for the 2016 olympics. they put in a strong bid for the 2012 olympics, and gave a good fight to world class cities likw new york and washington. they want to at least win the us bid and go up against international cities. so i would consider them as competition too.
 
#21 ·
samsonyuen said:
Wanderer 34: The TTC doesn't cross city boundaries either.
WhatI meant was that the TTC subway system used to cross the municipalities os North York, York, Scarborough, and Etobicoke before Toronto annexed all those cities into one entity. It's still a good system, way better than what we have here in Philly!!!!
 
#22 ·
samsonyuen said:
dreadnought: Is the system bigger than Boston's and Washington's, really?
The subway system is not bigger than those two cities, but if you look at the overall system including commuter rail lines, bus and trolley lines, etc, it is bigger. I can't find the link to the spreadsheet that shows the overall ridership and extent of each system in terms of miles covered, etc., but that is what I remember reading.
 
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