Los Angeles is currently 12 months away from being a major host in the World Cup Soccer Championship and three years away from winning the world stage as hosting both the 2028 Summer Olympics and Paralympics.
Tens of thousands of athletes and tourists are poured into the region from all over the world. It reminds me of the classic film “Sunset Boulevard” declared by Gloria Swanson.
Is LA ready for close-up?
It’s a question I intend to explore semi-regularly and you are invited to worry and wonder along with me by sending your comments and questions to [email protected].
To let you know where I came from, I am a sports fan who watches the Olympics on TV despite politics, doping scandals and the corporateization of the game. But I’m also a professional skeptic, and my questions go far beyond whether we’re ready for a close-up.
Here are some:
Does the advantages of a host outweigh the burden?
Does the average Southern Californian get something from the long-stage accumulation and staging of the game?
Also, will basic services and infrastructure near the Olympic venue be upgraded at the expense of long-term improvements in other areas?
The answer to that question is a big “yes,” says Monica Rodriguez, LA councillor who represents the northeastern San Fernando Valley.
“What I saw with the (latest) budget is that the area hosting some of the Olympic events prioritizes,” she said. That means her district is off the radar.
It is worth noting that the city of Los Angeles does not run these Olympics (this is the job of a private nonprofit organization working in conjunction with the International Olympic Committee) nor does it host all of the events. Well beyond the right thing in Los Angeles, there’s volleyball in Anaheim, for example, cricket in Pomona, cycling in Carson, swimming in Long Beach. The softball and canoe slalom tournament will be held in Oklahoma City.
However, Los Angeles’ reputation is on track as a lead host and partner in staging mega-events that will win the international spotlight.
One of the financial benefits the 2028 game enjoys at previous Olympics is that it doesn’t require the construction of large and ridiculously expensive new stadiums and arenas. For example, there are soccer in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, track and field at LA Coliseum, and baseball at Dodger Stadium. All of this keeps the overall cost of the game down.
However, playing the role of a host at the Primary Limpics takes as much risk as the opportunity.
According to an analysis last year by the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, “the damage to the budget that puts strain on public wallets… the militarization of public spaces… and the expulsion of residents through sweeps, gentrification and evictions,” “there are society in the game that hosts them.”
Without that, there are many issues in LA, and the close-ups at this point aren’t pretty portraits.
Tens of thousands of people are homeless and financial audits are confused amid a terrible audit, so unless there is a quick turnaround, cities will be covered in blue tarps to see the world. Meanwhile, the planned, surgent liability claim settlement is expected to cost $300 million this year, plus abruptly revealed to local leaders that the city had broken a few weeks ago.
“The situation in our budget is significant,” Mayor Karen Bass wrote in an April letter to the city council, outlining the deficit of around $1 billion and proposing numerous program cuts and layoffs.
The city council will trim, but the outlook remains harsh, with hundreds of workers losing their jobs. Bass and other local leaders claim that playing hosts for mega events will help replenish the Treasury. But the opposite could be true, and if it doesn’t break, an already tied city will be slapped with a $270 million relief tab.
For all the hands at city hall, the current fiscal deficit should not have come as a surprise. Revenues are declining, and homelessness dealing with big budget chunks (no transformational progress made for investment).
That’s why (cities are much faster to pay millions in travel and fall cases), and there’s an estimated $2 billion postponed maintenance for facilities in the recreation and parks sector. And journalist Alyssa Walker reports that LA fell 90th in the annual rankings of the largest 100-city park system.
Speaking of bad looks, moving thousands of athletes and tourists around town is key to success in the game, but some of the so-called “28 by 28” and my colleague Colleen Charby reported that Metro’s lack of predictive forecasts is a huge thing over the next five years.
” she writes. “The agency is still leasing nearly 3,000 buses, confirming $2 billion in funding, which is essential for the transit first goal for the Los Angeles game.”
Michael Schneider, founder of the nonprofit, said the LA budget crisis is “at the worst possible time.” While we should not link the provision of basic infrastructure needs to a major sporting event, we wanted the Olympics to make a significant investment in “only bus rapid transits, networks of bike lanes, unbroken sidewalks, curb ramps, infrastructure nuts and bolts.”
The former professional footballer, a professor at the University of the Pacific and who studied the social and economic impacts of several recent Olympics, has not been surprised by the LA records so far.
“I thought Los Angeles would be in a better shape,” Boykov said. “I’ve been surprised by the issues that exist and how much they haven’t been done.”
The real goal is not only to host the Olympics, but to do so in ways that will bring about long-term improvements.
“Any Smart City” uses the game to “benefit everyone in the city. In 2004 Athens got the metro system,” he said, in 2016 Rio de Janeiro got the transit link and last year’s host Paris got the bike lane system.
L.A. has a gold medal aspirations, and the city is improving transportation. It also has a wealth of distinctive natural wonders that show off from the mountains to the sea, just as Paris’ games featured the Eiffel Tower and the magical evening skyline.
But now, three major hurdles are preventing you from reaching the podium.
Budget restrictions (which could get worse between now and 2028), resources shifting to parliad’s wildfire recovery, and uncertainty about federal financial support from President Trump, who desperately needed to not place Los Angeles on his list of cities he likes.
The race can be won by a runner moving from behind the pack, but LA can still find its stride, show pride and avoid being embarrassed.
That’s what I’m rooting for.
But just a year after the World Cup, the clock is ticking three times away from the Olympics, and it’s almost too late to catch up.
