Boston’s missed opportunity to tackle big problems
By: Leo Saul
As thousands of athletes on 85 boats came down the Seine, many thought that it could have been Boston. Bostonians could have watched the Olympics from the BB&N boathouse, just like so many students do for Head of the Charles, while enjoying the infrastructure improvements that come along with hosting the Olympics. As citizens think about what could have been, the government needs to take a hard look at some of the investments in Boston’s future that it still hasn’t made.
In September 2014, a group of Bostonians submitted a bid to hold the Olympics. In January 2015, that bid was chosen as the U.S. candidate for the summer 2024 Olympics. However, within just a couple of months, the plans lost the support of the greater Boston community. The Olympics then went to Paris, and many of the plans to build infrastructure have been forgotten, but it is a good time to remember, Olympics or not – Boston failed to make progress on serious issues such as transportation and housing.
The Olympics posed a solution to many problems which Boston faced. The MBTA is the oldest and is widely considered one of the worst public transit systems in the U.S. According to an analysis by the Brattle Group, who the City of Boston brought in to study the plans, if Boston hosted the Olympics, one of the major improvements made to the city would have been public transit. The group stated that nearly 2.5 billion dollars would go toward funding transportation. Another benefit that hosting the Olympics would have in Boston would be the construction of additional housing. The proposal stated that Boston would build housing for athletes and spectators during the games, much of which would then be converted into permanent housing for residents of Boston after the games ended. While the law at the time stated that only 15% of the housing had to become affordable housing, and most of the homes would be luxury apartments, that 15% would still have had a positive impact on the metropolitan community.
There were valid reasons the bid fell apart, primarily transparency and cost. From the very beginning, a lack of transparency sparked concern for Bostonians. Because of this, they feared that these problems would only get worse with the added pressure of an international event. Arguably the biggest reason why so many people were against it was the cost. Most cities that host the Olympics experience financial losses. The proposal had the Olympics being privately funded, and if they couldn’t raise the funds, the city of Boston did not want the responsibility to pay for it to fall on the taxpayers. One major group that was against the Olympics coming to Boston was No Boston 2024. The group organized numerous events, wrote many emails to the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), and much more. No Boston 2024 was a major reason why the Summer Olympics were in Paris, not Boston.
Regardless of the city’s decision to not host the Olympics, it is important that the citizens of Boston don’t ignore the things that would have been upgraded for the Olympics. Boston still needs to upgrade our public transit system to a standard where it is not under constant federal investigations due to safety concerns. We also need to continue to build affordable housing to allow low-income and hard-working citizens to have a place to live without having 50% of their income going towards rent. These are the things that are going to make our generation stay in Boston.
Reflecting about what could have been, it’s important for each of us to get involved and remember – hosting big events or not – there are still major upgrades that need to be made for the citizens of Boston, and these are non-negotiable.
Leave a Reply