Handicapped for far too long by a parochial mindset, the Olympic games could catapult Boston on to the world stage and change the mentality of an entire generation of Bostonians, argues our writer.
By: Elvis Jocol Lara
Ya se oyen los berrinches. “Not with my tax dollars!” “Think of the the traffic!” “This is a 2 week party for the rich!” Those are just some of the complaints that have been thrown around from the moment the idea of a Boston Olympics was first conceived several months ago. Yesterday, those people’s worst dreams came true as Boston was selected by the USOC as the the US representative for the bid to host the 2024 Olympics. (Well, almost worst dreams. The worst could be realized when the International Olympic Committee selects the official host in 2017).
In doing so, Boston beat out Washington D.C., San Francisco and Los Angeles, all cities with arguably more international cachet and previous Olympic bid experience. Never before had Boston even flirted with the Olympics, yet today it stands as America’s best and only chance to land the games for the first time since 1996. Anyone who lives and works in the city should take great pride in the fact that the US Olympic committee has selected Boston to pit against some of the world’s most iconic cities.
Paris, Rome, Berlin, and Istanbul are among the cities who have confirmed or have been rumored to submit a bid for the 2024 games. Not even the biggest Boston homer (hand raised) can argue that our city stands on equal footing with those on the international stage. Oftentimes we Bostonians hide behind a fabricated veil of grandeur when it comes to our plucky city, but in reality, puritanical and parochial views have dominated and stunted the conversation in this town since before many of our families ever moved to this country or state.
As a second generation Latino, I love this city as much the 4th or 5th generation Irish Catholic guy from Southie and I firmly believe in its future. There are a million things to love about Boston and our history, but close minded tendencies are not among those. In an increasingly competitive global economy, cities that think small garner small results. While the Olympics are certainly not the answer to global economic competition, they do provide the city with the impetus to move on very pressing matters such as road and public transportation infrastructure.
Current reports suggest a Boston Olympics could also leave a legacy that include world class sporting facilities for local colleges and universities, an urban soccer stadium for the New England revolution, much needed dorms for UMass Boston and potentially even some affordable housing. Perhaps most importantly, however, the Olympics promise to shift the perspective of an entire generation of locals from one of small town thinking to that of global excellence.
Boston and its surrounding communities hold the potential make the region truly world class in practice and not just rhetoric. Despite the stereotypes, Greater Boston is teaming with Diversity which enhances the vitality of our daily lives. The Museum of fine Arts, the BSO and the Boston Ballet provide us with true cultural gems. Some of the world’s greatest minds call the region home, hailing from across the globe. These factors make the city undeniably great.
Unfortunately, many of those great minds spend only a few of their formative years here before returning home or opting for a sexier city like New York or San Francisco resulting in a brain drain in Boston that limits our future.
Admtittedly, things have been changing of late. Biotechnology firms from across the globe have moved their headquarters to the area or opened regional headquarters here. The leading tech firms in the world, including Google, Amazon, and Microsoft all have operations across the river in Cambridge to tap the potential of our colleges and universities. Even Facebook, who famously jilted the region in favor of Silicon Valley, has returned limited operations to the area.
Additionally, under Mayor Marty Walsh, the T now stays open til 3 am on weekends and the city has demonstrated a willingness to allow development that will transform the Boston skyline. These are all great developments that could help stem the tide of lost talent and opportunity. The Olympics hold the potential to accelerate Boston’s growth and we should embrace that, or at the very least give it a chance.
Of course, many questions must be answered and many things must go right between now and 2017 before the games are awarded to our fair city. As is at the crux of any Olympic bid, costs will be the most hotly debated item. The organizing committee has pledged to fund facility construction costs entirely through corporate sponsorships and TV revenue.
We should all hold the committee accountable for meeting that goal and the IOC’s recent move to alleviate costs for host cities should help make it possible. The city and state will, however, be on the hook for transportation improvements. That’s only fair, but many will shudder at the thought of a reported $4 billion price tag in a city where memories of the Big Dig are still fresh in the minds of many.
We’ll soon learn more about the organizing committee’s plan and, as always, the devil will be in the details. We’ll have years to debate the merits of the bid and fatigue will inevitably set in. For the moment, however, we should take some time to appreciate what this means for the city we all love and the promise it could hold for its future. You can count me in with the #Boston2024 crowd.
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Elvis Jocol Lara is Director of Digital Media at El Mundo, Founder and President of Casa Guatemala and an experienced Marketing professional who has worked with some of the world’s leading brands. A child of Guatemalan immigrants, he was born in Boston and raised in Waltham, MA. Follow him on Twitter @ElChapin.
