The Chinese are scrambling to make the Summer Olympics which start in a few days a success, but really with their pollution and terrorist threats is it really worth all the hassle in the end?
We are hosting the Winter Olympics here in BC in 2010 and our biggest threat is mother nature herself deciding to come down on the Sea-to-Sky highway - like what happened this long weekend. Just getting there could be a hassle.
One almost wonders if all the effort is worth it?
For those who make money....................gold medallists, athletic companies, sponsors, t.v., etc. BUT, you raise a good point in that the people who pay for the venues are usually tax payers & some may think those dollars are best spent elsewhere.
There are exceptions - Calgary - the city was left with a wonderful legacy of trainng sites post 88.
The vent itslef is fun to watch but maybe we could tone down the hype and cost by minimizing the opneing and closing ceremonies etc.
During today's opening ceremonies, it was mentioned that Greece lost money on the games. However, their infrastructure is much improved from all the Olympic development. So, for the longer term, it was probably worth it for Greece.
In better developed nations, the improvements to infrastructure is probably not as dramatic and is probably a hinderance leading up to the event. LOL - just the roadway changes due to maintenance on my trek to work this summer is aggravating. No matter which route I take, there's construction. I'm sure an Olympic effort would be even more disruptive.
In which part of the lower mainland do you live? I live in New Westminster. So far we are not effected by any Olympic construction; however, with the Port Mann Bridge project and now the pending Patullo Bridge replacement things could get ugly here - not to mention expensive for commuting to and from Surrey.Originally Posted by heyang
I don't live in Canada. I'm in NJ. My comments about my commute were just a sign of the aggravation from standard summer construction. Some are repair related. Some are for infrstructure improvements to ease some of the traffic congestion and reduce accidents.
Oh, Your commute sounds typical of most of the commutes around these parts. Even without the Olympics our road construction is endless. People are hoping by 2010 we will have our road problems ironed out, but I doubt it. It would be too good to be true - besides how could our government come up with another tax if our horrible commutes were fixed?
Posting Permissions
Bookmarks