Toronto 2024 Olympic Bid

[casanova]

The Federal Government has been approached about a bid, along with the Provincial government the proposals have been viewed favourably
The civic government is another matter, the Ford regime does not want to put itself out on something like the Olympics and the COC is very concerned about a Toronto bid being perceived to be incapable of delivering what it promised due to poor civic leadership (the current transportation battle highlights this)
The COC has told all parties involved that it is out of the question to spread the games out as much as the Pan Ams have been.
The COC has recieved encouraging support from various factions of the International Sporting Federations and within the IOC. Specifically the French, German and Swiss.
The COC wants to bid and thinks that there is no better time to bid then 2020 with it being as wide-open as it is and with so many European nations wanting 2022.

Oh and according to one source:

Japan, Spain, Italy and Canada have all hosted games within recent memory. Out of the 4 Canada and Spain left the best impressions on the IOC and that could mitigate the closeness of it. All will be going for their 2nd summer games and all but Spain have hosted the winter version twice, most successfully by Canada.

[jje10001]

Rob Ford #1!

Maybe if we get it, we can get the private section to build and name all the sporting venues.

[isaidso]

Toronto may very well be able to extend its building boom all the way to 2020 if this all pans out. Maybe 10 more 200m+ buildings, the Downtown Relief Line, a finished waterfront, 3-4 more major streets with granite sidewalks, and a Yonge Street that is presentable to the world? That's the short list!

A top 6 summer Olympics team would be nice too.

[yin_yang]

Originally Posted by isaidso

Toronto may very well be able to extend its building boom all the way to 2020 if this all pans out. Maybe 10 more 200m+ buildings, the Downtown Relief Line, a finished waterfront, 3-4 more major streets with granite sidewalks, and a Yonge Street that is presentable to the world? That's the short list!

A top 6 summer Olympics team would be nice too.

yes. yes. yes.

[mr.x]

Originally Posted by blacktrojan3921

Weeeeelll; at least it's not in the billions like the Big Owe. If the losses stay below $750 million dollars I think Vancouver would come out of the post Olympics with only a few scrapes and bruises.

The units were overpriced to begin with because the City of Vancouver insisted on going overly "green" with the design, but that has since been ramified by slashing prices.

Original fears in 2009/2010 were losses of $750-million, but new data came out this past month. The Olympic Village is now 70% occupied: after doing some rebranding, sales are now quite brisk and even exceed original expectations. The City of Vancouver now only expects to lose just $50-million from the Olympic Village. It's all good.

Not to mention that the Olympic Village (8 city blocks) is just 1/5th of the entire Southeast False Creek Redevelopment Project. The Village has been a huge catalyst for the redevelopment of the entire area into more condo mid and high-rises, developers are coming in quickly and there is ample construction going on in the neighbourhood.



I do think that Vancouver wasn't decorated well-enough for the Olympics...i.e. city decorations. VANOC had massive and really incredible plans to cover the city with Olympic rings and its blue/green livery, but this all fell victim to the recession.

Still, it was a wonderfully organized Olympics.

[Mollywood]

Originally Posted by Taller, Better

Montreal was graft and overspending, in my opinion. I'll bet we hear more about unpaid bills for the Vancouver Olympics in the upcoming years.

You NEVER, ever get the true figures with an Olympics. They play this game, where they hide expenses, in other departments and intentionally try to mislead the public in the real cost of putting on the games. They always make claims like "we were going to build that subway anyway" so we will not include it in the costs. The reality is, an Olympics is a very expensive party.

I'm not anti-Olympics, I would just like things to be open and honest. With politics involved, it never will be. I'd still like to see an Olympics in Toronto, for my own selfish reasons.

I like to have fun and see new buildings go up. I also like to meet new people from around the world. I'm not so excited about the sports but build Toronto a few iconic sporting buildings, on the waterfront and I will be happy. Now if they could include one major museum or art gallery, I would be really happy!!!

I know, I know, Rob Ford will have none of that but Rob Ford can't take away my dreams. He certainly isn't in them.

[Taller, Better]

absolutely, molly. I agree 100%. They keep massaging each Olympics, and leaving out costs like Security from the official tally. All a load of crap.

Is Rob Ford in anyone's dreams?? (aside from Gino, that is....)

[COTO]

Apparently the Brothers Ford have gotten behind an Olympic Bid, something tells me another couple days and we'll have an answer.

If the Olympics come to Toronto, I would be ecstatic. Beyond the physical infrastructure noted by most people above, I think it could give Torontonians a true sense of pride. It could bring us together as a city and as a country. Check out this video, it makes me want to cry.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kz8tzP3oeDg

[Mollywood]

Originally Posted by COTO

Apparently the Brothers Ford have gotten behind an Olympic Bid, something tells me another couple days and we'll have an answer.

If the Olympics come to Toronto, I would be ecstatic. Beyond the physical infrastructure noted by most people above, I think it could give Torontonians a true sense of pride. It could bring us together as a city and as a country. Check out this video, it makes me want to cry.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kz8tzP3oeDg

How could the Ford twins be screaming bloody murder about spending tax payer's dollars and then support spending BILLIONS of those tax payer's dollars on an Olympics? That would be the height of hypocrisy.

If we can't even afford the basics, should we be spending money on frills like sports? We already have the Pan-Am Games and that will cost us a lot but it's really hard to justify an Olympics, if we claim we are broke. I'm not saying I buy into the line, that we're broke. I think it was manufactured for political reasons but still, if you're going to claim that, then act accordingly.

Do we really need the buildings that will be left over, from an Olympics? Why would we need another huge stadium or a velodrome, after the Olympics are over? It's a huge waste of money for a 2 week event. If you read about what happened to cities, after they hold an Olympics, none of the claims of huge tourism benefits or new business, ever materializes. In some cases, tourism even goes down. The organizers know this but they try to keep it their dirty, little secret.

[Marbur66]

I don't think I would want the olympics here just because of the sheer influx of people that would make my daily commute a living hell. I like watching on TV, but only if it's held elsewhere.

[blacktrojan3921]

I actually sent Mr. Ford an email regarding this subject back on July 31st, here's his automated reply:

Thank you for your email.

As I promised during the mayoralty election, I am dedicated to delivering customer service excellence, creating a transparent and accountable government, reducing the size and cost of government and building a transportation city.

I will continue to work on behalf of the taxpayers to make sure you get the respect you deserve.

This note is to confirm that we have received your email and that we are looking into your matter.

Please feel free to follow up to check the status of your email.

Thanks again and have a great day.

Yours truly,

Mayor Rob Ford
City of Toronto

We're all in this together.

Here's my original email

>>> aedenbalfour 07/31/11 04:36 >>>

Dear Mr. Ford.

As you are probably aware of this, in just about a month is the deadline to submit a bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics, which in two years from now the IOC will decide who will be deserving of hosting this event. I am sending you this email because I do believe that 2020 is Toronto’s time. No. Canada’s time to show the world that we Canucks are a sports powerhouse that shouldn’t be taken for granted, and this is couldn’t be a more perfect time to bid for the Olympics. As you are probably aware, it will be 24 years since North America has last hosted the Olympics back in 1996, so that’ll increases our chances of getting a turn. There’s also gaining the experience to hosting large-scale events thanks to the 2015 Pan American Games; and most important, there is a severely low chance of the United States bidding due to they’re economic crisis, which is –while very tragic for the Americans- a good thing for us since it’s essentially saying that we should take the bidding seat representing North America. We also got a abnormally low amount of confirmed bids; only Tokyo, Rome, Madrid, and Istanbul have admitted themselves into the race, with no African nation planning to present they’re city since South Africa says they’re not going to bid.

All of this combined, this is the perfect opportunity for us to take the mantle as the Olympic Destination for 2020, so I urge you and Toronto to apply on hosting the olympics, and win the race so that our country will shine.

Sincerely~

Andrew Eden-Balfour

[Diesel_Power]

Originally Posted by COTO

Apparently the Brothers Ford have gotten behind an Olympic Bid, something tells me another couple days and we'll have an answer.

If the Olympics come to Toronto, I would be ecstatic. Beyond the physical infrastructure noted by most people above, I think it could give Torontonians a true sense of pride. It could bring us together as a city and as a country. Check out this video, it makes me want to cry.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kz8tzP3oeDg

The Ford brothers are behind the Olympics because they'll hope it'll provide an excuse to use our tax dollars to build a NFL stadium.

The only reason I would want Toronto to get the Olympics is because it'll hopefully provide a kick in the ass to our federal government to invest more in improving Toronto's shotty transit.

[flesh_is_weak]

I think we're allowed to bask in the glow of civic pride, at least once in our lifetimes...and Toronto 2020 could be that big event for us

And I know that Toronto doesn't have to prove anything to the world, but do take a look at a map of the world and see that there's only few of the world's great cities that have yet to host an Olympiad...in our continent, there's only New York and Toronto left (heck, even Mexico City beat us decades ago) and only about a handful left elsewhere in the world (and no, Dubai isn't one of them)

[Melb_aviator]

After Canada just hosted the Winter Olympics, I wouldnt expect 2020 to go to Toronto, even if the city would be a great host for the event.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by Melb_aviator

After Canada just hosted the Winter Olympics, I wouldnt expect 2020 to go to Toronto, even if the city would be a great host for the event.

Winter Olympics 1956: Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy
Summer Olympics 1960: Rome, Italy

Summer Olympics 1964: Tokyo, Japan
Winter Olympics 1972: Sapporo, Japan

Summer Olympics 1976: Montreal, Canada
Winter Olympics 1988: Calgary, Canada

Winter Olympics 1980: Lake Placid, United States
Summer Olympics 1984: Los Angeles, United States
Summer Olympics 1996: Atlanta, United States
Winter Olympics 2002: Salt Lake City, United States

The IOC doesn't seem to have an issue with awarding Winter and Summer Olympics to the same country within a few years of each event. I'd rather that Toronto waited till 2024 or 2028, but 2020 is shaping up as our best opportunity to win a bid. The Summer Olympics will have been outside north America for 24 years at that time, yet no US city looks likely to bid.

[COTO]

I think it would be a shame to turn down a chance to host the Olympics. In terms of the Fords, they're for it because of the Federal and Provincial dollars that would flow to the city rather than have to come up with the money themselves.

I'm feeling that somethings going to happen very soon.

[flesh_is_weak]

in the spirit of PanAm 2015's not so interesting logo, here's something i cooked up for Toronto's 2020 bid



it's supposed to represent five athletes in motion, representing the olympic rings and forming a stylized 'T' for Toronto; note also that the logo resembles a human eye, which would have to with the slogan, a play of words based on the common phrase '20-20 vision', i.e. "Visions of Excellence / visions de l'excellence"

[jje10001]

Originally Posted by flesh_is_weak

I see this in the center:



By the way, isn't the logo a bit too 90s? I mean, it looks like a product from Microsoft!

[arzaranh]

Originally Posted by flesh_is_weak

in the spirit of PanAm 2015's not so interesting logo, here's something i cooked up for Toronto's 2020 bid



it's supposed to represent five athletes in motion, representing the olympic rings and forming a stylized 'T' for Toronto; note also that the logo resembles a human eye, which would have to with the slogan, a play of words based on the common phrase '20-20 vision', i.e. "Visions of Excellence / visions de l'excellence"

umm don't see it

[flesh_is_weak]

Originally Posted by jje10001

I see this in the center:

By the way, isn't the logo a bit too 90s? I mean, it looks like a product from Microsoft!

Oui, it's made with MS Paint...now that post embarrasses me I was drunk when I made that logo and posted it