Venues and Displacement

Never having been in a city with a legitimate Olympic bid until now, I didn't realize the level of protesting Chicago would get with the enivironmental crowd. As the bid book finalization nears, the protestations are getting more heated. See this Tribune article on the proposed Tennis Center as an example.

Environmental impact always plays second fiddle in stadium discussions to the twin gorillas of Job Gain and New Revenues. But these days 'going green' is all the rage and Chicago has a mayor who likes to show himself off as eco-friendly. (And to be fair, Daley has pushed through some great initiatives.) It's a tricky road for Chicago.

The city is too built up to cut new paths to new venues. And while we boast a healthy public transport system, it's nothing along the lines of say, London, which Daley's messengers might do well to study hard. In short: limited venue spaces are available w/o creating a lot of impact, and moving to more accomodating venues won't work if you can't get there. This one bears watching.

There's more on the Chicago venues at the official site.