Chicago 2016

For the last couple of years the Mayor (around these parts that title refers to Mayor Daly even if you don’t live in Chicago proper) has launched his campaign to bring the Summer Olympics to Chicago. I’ve followed some of the media coverage for it and have even popped over to the official website http://www.chicago2016.org/ to see what they have to present.

Now, I am probably one of the biggest proponents of telling people of how great a city Chicago is and why everyone should come for a visit, but I wouldn’t even drive the 42 miles from my house based on the information that is provided on the videos. Here’s the most recent one from YouTube:



Where’s the mention of the culture of the city? Why does it only mention the diversity in passing? What about the neighborhoods?

Some of the cities that Chicago is competing against (Madrid and Rio de Janeiro) both present themselves as fun cosmopolitan cities. Chicago branded itself as having huge parks?! I love the parks and I think the lakefront is a fantastic feature of the city, but why make that the way to brand ourselves? We are an international city and we want to host an international event so why don’t we recognize the fact that we have much more to offer than just the lakefront and its amenities. That was fine for the USOC, but we need to let the rest of the world know what Chicago is about: the diversity of its people, the neighborhoods, the culture of the museums, the theater, the festivals, and yes even the parks.