Yesterday evening, a coalition of a dozen community groups and labor unions from Chicago's South and West Sides held their second press conference in two weeks near the recently-closed Michael Reese Hospital to voice their concerns about the city's bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics. Dubbed Communities for an Equitable Olympics 2016 (CEO 2016), the coalition does not oppose the idea of hosting the games; rather, they're demanding that the city sign on to a legally binding "benefits agreement" that lays out a plan for protecting affordable housing and living-wage employment in the communities potentially affected by the games.
Following is a five-minute video we put together on the event:
Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 08/16/2008 - 16:00
You really don't have to worry about winning th Olympics site. I was born and grew up in Chucago and now live in Madrid. Cihicago, fpor its political correctness and 19th century subway system is not going to win. Madrid is already building stadiums for 2016. Forget about it. Any Daley know this.
EdgewaterJoe (not verified) on Sat, 08/16/2008 - 18:19
With all due respect, Madrid, the Olympics are in Europe (London) in 2012 - and the IOC NEVER stays back-to-back in the same continent for Olympiads.
If Obama wins, Chicago gets it. If McSameAsBush wins, Rio will get it. That's that.
George M. Allen (not verified) on Sun, 08/17/2008 - 00:15
The IOC desperately wants to put the Games South America, which has never hosted. The United States had the Games in Atlanta in 1996 and Atlanta produced an ugly mess.
Beijing will be in everyone's rear view mirror as they look to the award of the 2016 Games. Forget China's politics and repression and just look at the venues and organization. Superb by any standard.
Chicago's venues are weak to non-existent except for Soldier Field, which has now been rendered useless for track and field events. The U.S. Government cannot be relied upon to pump in the billions needed to make Chicago look plausible. What they will kick in will make it look a lot like putting lipstick on a pig. Brazil, meanwhile, is booming, is independent of foreign oil and Rio already has several massive football (soccer) stadia. Chicago should be treating the process as a trial run for a serious run for 2020, which looks a lot more likely for Chicago.
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